And how it can ruin your life.
That’s the headline of an email that I received from Dr. John McDougall recently. He’s referring to how our money-driven medical industry has successfully convinced the majority of Americans that prevention means early detection, and we accomplish that by screening every single person—repeatedly.
A near-opitmal plant-based diet is the most powerful cancer-prevention methodology known to humankind.
But repeated screenings and early detection are not prevention. They are the primary vehicles for recruiting cancer treatment customers. Then comes the anguish, the pain and the suffering as the patient undergoes costly treatment that is all directed at the symptoms—none of it addresses the causal factors.
The message from Dr. McDougall was all about his February Advanced Study Weekend which is already sold out. He writes:
“Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, MD, the world’s expert on the “over-diagnosis of cancer,” has published within the past year life-saving articles in the Archives of Internal Medicine and the New England Journal Of Medicine that could save you and your spouse from unnecessary painful tests and debilitating treatments.” (See links below my signature)
Dr. John McDougall, one of the five MD’s featured in our book, the five who provided the “common ground” foundation for our 4-Leaf Program
Like colonoscopies to screen for colon cancer, everything is based on the risk of developing the disease and dying from it. In an earlier post (see below) about Dr. Oz, I talked about the $50 billion business of screening, just for colon cancer—a disease that carries a 7% likelihood of causing your death.
Oz shares colon story; “cancer screening $$ business” gets bigger
But what if that risk was lowered to one half of one percent? Do you think we’d still have a $50 billion business to screen for it. Would you go repeatedly for screenings if the risk of dying from the disease was 1/2 of one percent, 1 person out of 200? I wouldn’t and I don’t.
As a matter of fact, I stopped having any screenings about nine years ago when I first discovered the power of plant-based nutrition. And after almost a decade of eating a near optimal diet, I have concluded that my risk of cancer is not worth taking the risk of being harmed during a screening procedure or a treatment regimen. Dr. Mcdougall seems to agree.
Here’s what he has to say about cancer and diet.
The bottom line. Screening is not prevention. Eating a whole foods, plant-based diet is the single most powerful method that we have for prevention of all chronic diseases.
Yet, we don’t teach much about that method in medical schools and there is no money to be made by everyone getting healthy. For a ton of information on this topic and many others, visit Dr. McDougall’s site at http://www.drmcdougall.com. Here are a few other of my posts on the topic of cancer:
Drugs for preventing cancer — now everyone can be a customer!
Carolyn’s cancer story — it could save your life…
Screening for cancer…a very big business
Want to receive some occasional special news from us? You may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page.
If you’d like to order our book on Amazon, visit our BookStore now.
J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.
And if you like what 4Leaf eating is doing for you and your family, you might enjoy visiting our new “4Leaf Gear” store. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.
—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com
Dr. Welch in the Archives of Internal Medicine and also in the New England Journal Of Medicine
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J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy. 
@barbaraH
Thermography appears to be a better option for routine testing (only a biopsy can actually detect cancer). Check this side by side comparison…..
http://www.breastthermography.com/mammography_thermography.htm
Hopefully as a focus to a more healthy “4 LEAF” diet becomes popular and studies/comparisons from non-4 LEAF individuals with those that are truly 4 LEAF there will be substantiated data that can’t be refuted. Information is powerful and as it becomes popular to not eat Greasy, unhealthy food much like now it is very UN COOL to smoke cigarettes that faster we will all live longer healthy lives full of enjoyment and not the pain and suffering that most families expeirence with loved ones daily.
Dr. Fuhrman wrote a very good article about breast cancer and mammograms. Go to drfuhrman.com, click on the library of articles and scroll down to “Dr. Fuhrman on Breast Cancer.”
TODAY: More reasons to avoid the medical businesses and take care of yourself via WFPB!
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http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/11/health/dishonest-doctors-survey-brawley/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Dishonest doctors: Why physicians lie – CNN.com
By Dr. Otis Brawley, Special to CNN
updated 3:05 AM EST, Sat February 11, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Survey published in Health Affairs shows one third of doctors don’t share medical errors.
Results are unsettling, doctor says, but we should remember that physicians are human.
Doctors often try to soften the blow of a prognosis by not giving all the negative details.
Editor’s note: CNN conditions expert Dr. Otis Webb Brawley is the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, a world-renowned cancer expert and a practicing oncologist. He is also the author of the book, “How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America.”
Etc. . . . .
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I expect that the percentages are much worse, if doctors told the real truth!
J.
One of the best books I have read regarding cancer recently was by Ty Bollinger called “Cancer-Step outside the Box.” I highly recommend it for a better understanding of the facts regarding the medical approach to cancer and the actual biological cause.
Regarding Barbara’s note above:
People, including Woman, need to step up and start looking out for their own health. If they are not interested in first, understanding what a healthy diet is and second, making the changes required to get healthy, then getting these test are only going to confirm that they are on the wrong path. What usually ends up happening to these uninformed people, is that they get sucked into the medical money grab of testing, chemo, surgery, and radiation and then on to an early death. As the farmers say “a fat pig goes to market first” meaning if you are not going to make the personal effort to change then you will be led to slaughter.
I say this from experience as I was heading down that slippery slope myself and it was not testing, or my family doctor that caused me to make changes in my life. I pulled up my boot straps and got on the internet and did the research to find out what our diet should be and then removed all of the bad things from my life. Knowledge is power and if you do not get it then you are at the mearcy of the so-called experts. The same thing applies to all areas of life from car and home repair to medicine. As P.T. Barnum used to say “There is a sucker born every minute”. Overweight people are the current examples of that idium.
Sorry for the harsh note but this is part of the problem. Too much coddling and not enough cold hard facts.
Bill
It’s true that mammograms don’t prevent cancer, they only diagnose it – and imperfectly, at that. I think many women view their mammograms as a kind of vaccination – get one annually and you’ll never get breast cancer. Obviously, that’s not the case. And there are all kinds of problems, as Dr. McDougall makes clear.
On the other hand, for a subset of women, they are very effective. While Dr. McDougall is right in terms of the general heath of an entire population, that doesn’t mean he is right for each individual within that population. Many women in this country have eaten a standard American diet all their lives, gotten very little exercise, are overweight, and are at very high risk for breast cancer. But they stumble upon a newsletter from Dr. Mcdougall or a post like this and it’s their justification to cancel their healthcare visits. They don’t just stop going for mammograms – they stop going for check-ups completely. I know many women who do this. They don’t even change their diets – they focus on the occasional broccoli they eat, ignore the extra 30 pounds they carry around, and shove the idea that they’re at risk into the farthest corners of their minds. Why not hedge your bets? Change your diet, get your exercise, be realistic about the value of a mammogram, but consider, carefully, how prudent it is to skip them entirely.
Barbara