By Martin H
Published in July 2018

Book review by Rob Harrison

A book on alternative methods to treating cancer has arrived in the Nerve office.

Written by Martin H it goes by the title ‘God’s Medicine’. The book begins in conspiratorial mode with the assertion that the various cancers that inflict us in the modern world would have been relatively unheard of before World War Two.

In his new book Martin puts forward the theory that we are the creators of this toxic environment that we now live in..

The information which the author relies upon is similar to research from a study made by Manchester University in 2010, and puts forward the proposition that perhaps the malaise of cancer is man made.

This seems to be the line which the author takes throughout the book. But if we fact check we can see that new evidence supports this claim in terms of an acceleration of various cancers after the Industrial Revolution, especially in children where the age factor would not count .

I mentioned in the last review of a cancer related subject that the disease is like Brexit in terms of being a political hot potato, you could say, as it divides people, and the truth of the matter is that what you decide to believe for yourself .

For instance, the author makes the assertion of cancer really only making an appearance after World War Two, the disease itself has been around a very long time. it’s not a modern disease, as the author would have us believe.

Scientists in the United States doing research have found Egyptian mummies with cancer cells and the Greek physician Hippocrates talks about dealing with tumours and the various methods of relieving the symptoms of those who suffer from them.

Later on towards the 17th century surgery developed and became more commonplace, and this led to more detailed descriptions of how doctors dealt with the disease.

And through this medical archaeology we find descriptions of instances of the effects of environment on workers and those in high areas of risk, such as a high percentage of chimney sweeps suffering from scrotal cancer .

It’s useful to point, out at this juncture, that the treatment of cancer differs from whether you are rich or poor – our personal geography in the cancer lottery or having to deal with the tyranny of the medical profession.

My mother, for instance, was misdiagnosed with cancer. It was only for the intervention of a consultant friend that she avoided life threatening chemotherapy, which might have killed her, as she didn’t have cancer.

Wilko Johnson, the guitarist from Dr Feelgood, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. it was only after another doctor, who had accidentally read an interview with him, intervened and suggested an alternative operation. He is now not terminal and in remission.

Horror stories abound. For example, the recent situation of an oncology nurse discovering she had terminal bowel cancer. As a healthcare professional she found out about a new treatment, which was expensive, but was actually available. She asked for it and was refused on grounds that it would be a waste of money. She crowdfunded and went to get the treatment elsewhere. The story is ongoing at the time of writing.

But these are just a handful of stories. How many more are there unreported?

It’s a strange fact that the US, since 1971, has invested over $200 billion on cancer research. Despite this investment the country actually saw just a five per cent decrease overall. This, they say, could be put down to people living longer but five per cent is quite small. Really whats this money being spent on?

In the book the author looks at different more holistic natural methods to cure cancer. One is diet as a means of prevention and cure. Indeed Hippocrates the Greek surgeon, who we spoke about before, his mantra was “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.

So diet plays a very important part in being healthy. Apart from diet the environment, as we have also mentioned, plays a part. For instance do you know plastic food wrap contains phthalates. These are toxic and disrupt hormone, especially when used in microwave cookery.

Also mobile phones contain contain possible lethal doses of radiation. There are warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO) contained in the instructional leaflets. So chomping away on your sarnie and talking on your phone is a dangerous pastime now kids .

So in a nutshell the book takes us on a spiritual journey and makes the point that healing is not just a physical process but a mental one too, and spirituality is as important as a good diet.

Perhaps this has been undermined since the Industrial Revolution, taking us away from our spiritual home, that of the natural world, to work in William Blake’s dark satanic mills.

So maybe we need to retreat back to our primitive state. Is that possible though, we ask, in our current situation. One hopes we can go some way towards it.