Death by Alternative Medicine: Steve Jobs

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I was just reading this article about Steve Jobs.  http://gawker.com/5849543/harvard-cancer-expert-steve-jobs-probably-doomed-himself-with-alternative-medicine 

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

According to this expert, the cancer which killed Steve Jobs has had a 100% survival rating for a while, and the only people that die from it are people that stay away from mainstream medication and keep seeking alternatives... Or people with no money to pay for treatment.  But we don't talk about those people, because it makes us think there might be something wrong with this country.

Anyway, the point is... alternative medicine is great.  When alternative medicine is effective, they start calling it... medicine, and doctors start prescribing it all over the place. 

Most of these old alternative medicines that have been around for a long time and are still "alternative" have had scientific studies done that show that, in some cases, there is a placebo effect, and in others, no effect at all.   

So, for those that need heavy hitting western medicine, please, please do what you can to get it.  Alternative medicines are fine and nice, but evidence based medicines will be better 99% of the time.

Related articles

• Steve Jobs might have killed himself (rt.com)
• Steve Jobs Day in California (macficionado.wordpress.com)
• Steve Jobs Designed the iPhone 5 (newser.com)

Sex with multiple partners causes cancer. Seriously.

In my trip back up to Salt Lake from St. George, I was listening to NPR. There was a guy talking about cancer. Apparently at this point it has been shown that 20% of cancers are caused by viruses. Most recently (and newsworthily), it is suggested that people (women?) receive the HPV vaccine, because it will immunize you against cervical cancer. Anyway, the good news about this is that viruses can be prevented. Additionally, it is now noted that antibiotics will actually help with some causes of cancer. There are even some kinds of breast cancer that are apparently caused by a virus. THIS IS HUGE, because viruses can be stopped.

Here's a link to an article explaining how oral sex causes more throat cancers than smoking. Seriously. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/03/01/133968901/virus-passed-during-oral-sex-tops-tobacco-as-throat-cancer-cause?ps=sh_fthdl Of course it's not just sex, it's sex with multiple partners, or with someone that has had multiple partners, that is dangerous. According to the article, a person that has had oral sex with 6 people is 8 times more likely to get throat cancer.

Here's another article that talks about how viruses are being looked at more and more as causes of cancer. http://www.livescience.com/10023-viruses-cancer-previously-thought.html

I really wish I could find a link to the interview that I heard earlier. He explained a couple of times that the virus gets into a cell, and then it causes the cell to replicate with a slightly altered composition. Not a full on "I'm a viral cell!" composition, but one that makes the body think that these cells are normal players to be left alone. Eventually, often years later, these altered cells 'wake up,' and surprise! you've got cancer.

Maybe some of you all already knew this. I didn't. I thought cancer was caused by having different genes period. Guess not. Anyway... Rock on!

Jeff