[The Essential Garden] [Marketplace] [Table of Contents] [Prev ] [Prev ] [About WBJ] January / February *Current Issue* Special Cancer Cures Offer New Hope: Special Report on Essiac As modern science has shown, an essential part of health is a positive, affirmative attitude. A determination to live, and taking the time to live with joy in one's own unique lifestyle is essential to health. Also, for the purposes of this paper, certain nutritional supplements have been shown to be very effective and essential. As scientific investigation continues, more and more natural medicines are gaining recognition as the remedies of choice. Nutrition itself, a good, raw foods, whole foods diet, the juices of fresh vegetables and fruits are all used not only for daily dietary needs, but also to treat illnesses. Additionally, estimates range from 35-40% of the American public use alternative treatments to conventional, pharmaceutical medicine. Many medical doctors themselves use such alternatives as homeopathy, acupuncture, and physical therapies such as massage, chiropractic, herbal, naturopathic, mind-body medicine and more, and they refer their patients to such practitioners, according to Oscar Janiger, M.D. in his new book A Different Kind of Healing. Herbs, with their antiviral, antibacterial, and antibiotic properties have been included in healing regimens for thousands of years because they strengthen the immune system instead of suppress the disease along with the rest of the system as do so many modern drugs. Why one can not often find an herbal treatment, or other alternative treatment working with one's own M.D. is an engaging question. The explanations can be multiple, but at least one reason stands out: 1.) he or she simply has not learned about these options. Many feel the challenge is compounded by current laws and medical association conventions, which keep the medical profession within certain well defined, but somewhat limited practices. Many physicians wish to change this system. Individuals in today's world filled with information and knowledge that is evolving daily find it is a wise course of action to question physicians regarding their knowledge of all forms of healing. A growing number of people no longer assume physicians gained all knowledge in medical school, and many physicians are turning to alternatives as orthodox medicine faces failure after failure in treating major diseases such as cancer. [===================================================] Keeping Hope Alive Flor · Essence(TM) for a Brighter Future THE TRIED AND TRUE FORMULA * Only the Flor · Essence(TM) formula was developed and perfected over decades of clinical application by Canadian nurse, Rene Caisse, and her eventual partner and co-owner, Dr. Charles Brusch, personal physician to President John F. Kennedy. * Only Flor · Essence(TM) has been formulated with the precise percentage of herbal ingredients inherited from eminent physician, Dr. Charles Brusch [Image] * Only Flor · Essence(TM) is endorsed by internationally acclaimed health researcher and [Image] educator, Elaine Alexander, legal recipient of the Herbal herbal formula from Dr. Brusch in 1988. Elaine Solutions For Alexander now devotes her life to helping thousands Living Well regenerate their health through this powerful purifying tea. * Flor · Essence(TM) contains eight quality tested herbs, including burdock root, sheep sorrel, slippery elm, watercress, Turkish rhubarb, kelp, blessed thistle and red clover. Flor · Essence(TM) is remarkably effective for flushing out accumulated toxins, thus allowing the body to promptly return to a state of vibrant health. It is available in a ready-to-use liquid extract or a dry herbal blend to be prepared as a tea Flor · Essence(TM) is now available at most fine health food stores. If it is not in your area, contact Flora Inc., at 1-800-446-2110 [===================================================] In the U.S. today, where healthcosts top $1 trillion, where expenditures are greater than in any other country and yet where the U.S. ranks 16th in life expectancy, one encounters many alternatives to conventional drug and surgery treatments. Orthodox cancer treatments today can start at $5,000 and rise to $14,000 for a short treatment span. Side effects of chemotherapy and radiation are often devastating, and at autopsy many patients are found to have died, not of their cancer, but of the treatment. This article will look at a remarkable herbal remedy for treatment of cancer and other immune deficient diseases that traces its roots to Canada and a Native American BY medicine man. When the effects of this treatment are seen by those who have been cured, it is reaffirming of the value of tradition and the contributions of indigenous cultures to the health knowledge base in modern health care. ESSIAC IS CAISSE REVERSED In 1922 nurse Rene Caisse worked in the surgery ward in an Ontario hospital where she found an elderly woman patient with a strangely scarred breast. The woman explained to nurse Caisse that thirty years earlier doctors told her she had advanced breast cancer and would need to have the breast removed. She declined the surgery. A Native American friend in Ontario had offered to heal it with herbal medicine, and she decided to accept. The man, an Ojibway herbalist, gave her the herb recipe, showed her how to make a brew of it, and she drank the tea daily. Her tumors shrank and then disappeared. She was still totally cancer free over thirty years later as she spoke with nurse Caisse in the Ontario hospital. Caisse obtained the recipe for herself thinking she could use it if she ever had cancer. It turned out that shortly afterward Caisse's aunt was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer and given six months to live. Caisse asked the physician, Dr. R.O. Fisher, for permission to try the tea on her aunt. He consented. Her aunt drank the herbal brew daily for over two months and recovered. She lived for twenty years more. Dr. Fisher and nurse Caisse began treating cancer patients who had been diagnosed as terminal by their doctors, and many of them improved dramatically. They modified the combination of herbs somewhat, and Caisse named the concoction ``Essiac,'' which is her name spelled backward. Through the years, Caisse treated thousands of cases. The vast majority were brought to her for treatment after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy had failed, and the patients were pronounced incurable. One example is Annie Bonar. She was diagnosed with uterine and bowel cancer, which had spread after radium teatments, and her arm had swelled to double its size, turning black. The night before the arm was to be amputated, she opted for Essiac therapy instead. During four months of the herbal treatment, she went from 90 to 150 pounds and her arm returned to normal. A series of exams revealed she was cancer-free. The Royal Cancer Commission of Canada listed her case as ``recovery due to radiation.'' Canadian officials, concerned about laws against ``practicing medicine'' without a license, as well as many others in the medical community attempted to censor her work. This ultimately became a braking factor in Caisse's treatments. She also had numerous lucrative offers for the formula, but always feared a large company would take it over, and that Essiac would then become less freely available to the people who needed it most. It came freely from the Earth in a healing spirit to a Native American who passed it on in grace. Shouldn't all people have it that way? Caisse asked. In fact, Dr. Frederick Banting, discoverer of insulin, wanted to test the substance in his laboratory, because one person who had been cured of cancer by Essiac was taken off insulin for her diabetes. Under Essiac therapy, though her cancer tumor of the bowel became larger and harder at first, the tumor soon softened, got smaller and disappeared. The woman's diabetes also disappeared. Dr. Banting thought the Essiac healed the pancreas as well, and thus had potential to treat diabetes. He wanted to test the substance in his lab, but he also wanted Caisse to close her clinic while tests were run. She refused. There were too many people waiting for treatment. The tests on diabetes were not run. (See personal stories below.) Essiac, despite the evidence that it seems more effective than chemotherapy, radiation and surgery in treating various cancers, not to mention a lack of the undesireable side effects found in these conventional treatments, is not a cure-all according to Dr. Jim Chan, N.D. Chan obtained Essiac from the Resperin Corp. of Toronto for cancer patients through the emergency drug release program and maintains that Essiac is ``not 100% effective.'' The individual's personal life, the kind of carcinoma and the time at which they start taking Essiac are factors. Still, he has had a high success rate with those who had the least amount of radiation or chemotherapy. Most had begun the Essiac alternative in late stages of their cancer illness. However, Essiac has a far better success rate than chemotherapy. Even though over $100 billion per year is spent on treating cancer with conventional drugs and surgery, and despite the fact that alternatives which have been proven to work are not allowed by current laws to be used in medicine, and cancer rates are higher than ever, ``only 2 to 3% of the nearly 1 million Americans who die of cancer each year are being saved by chemotherapy'' [or is it a placebo effect?], according to Dr. John Cairns of Harvard University School of Public Health. Yet, over 1/2 of all cancer patients routinely receive chemotherapy drugs, which often cripple a person's chances of survival.'' (Townsend Letter for Doctors, May, 1993, No. 119.) In 1978, nurse Caisse signed over the rights to her Essiac formula, before she died at the age of 90, to the Resperin Corp. (now, the original trademarked Essiac is produced and distributed by David Dobbie in Campbellton, New Brunswick, with approval of Canadian authorities), and Dr. Charles Brusch, M.D. of Cambridge, Massachussets who worked with Caisse in treating many patients. He cured himself of cancer of the lower bowel with Essiac treatments (see following article). Brusch turned his formulation over to Elaine Alexander of Vancouver, B.C., and this clinically developed formula is now manufactured by another Canadian company, Flora, Distributors (in the U.S. by Flora, Inc., and known as flor*essence as marketed through health stores), 1-800-446-2110. The early formula consisted of four herbs: Burdock Root , Turkey Rhubarb, Sheep Sorrel, and Slippery Elm. Dr. Brusch and Caisse, after clinical trials, added Red Clover (which is also an herb used as part of the Hoxsey therapy) Kelp and Thistle. According to herbalist Barbara Mowbray, Burdock root has been used for centuries. Eaten as spring greens it stimulates production of bile and helps liver function. As a first year root, dug in autumn, it is used as a blood purifier. It has renown for reducing the pain and swelling of arthritis. An extract of the root contains inulin, which the body converts to insulin, helpful to diabetics. There are many other qualities, but perhaps most germane is its reputation for tumor regression long used in macriobiotic diets. This perhaps points to the remarkable results cancer sufferers find when using Essiac. Turkey Rhubarb, used as stems, now find their way in puddings and pies. The root stock is both laxative and astringent, depending upon the dose. It is effective for diarrhea and known to work in removing debris and cleansing for the bowels. In Chinese medicine, it is used to treat fevers and has been used to treat chronic liver problems. Liver toxicity is often found in cancer patients. Sheep Sorrel has been used to treat scurvy, strengthen the heart and cool the liver. The fresh leaves contain a number of acids, which makes them a delicacy in fresh salads. It is respected as a diuretic and a treatment for blood disorders, including assisting with skin problems. A decoction can be used internally or externally. Also, Rene Caisse, in her fifty years of working with cancer patients, observed it to be effective in breaking down tumors as well as alleviating degenerative diseases Slippery Elm, or the inner bark thereof, is used to heal wounds and is known for its blanketing effect for the mucous membranes of the digestive system. It is soothing for sore throats, and coats the intestinal tract, producing speculation that its role in the Essiac formula is to protect when toxins are released. It is nutritive as well, used by Native Americans for food when none other was available. These four herbs and their parts are very plentiful in vitamins and minerals. For more in-depth information about their uses, chemical breakdown, planting and tending, as well as in their use as Essiac, see Sheila Faser Snow's excellent new book The Essence of Essiac. (See Resources end of chapter for ordering this and other books.) During the clinical trials of Essiac conducted by Resperin in 1978, Ed Zalesky, who was 63, had been diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine. Four feet of ``gut'' had been taken out but cancer was still left. ``They said I had six months without radiation and two years with radiation.'' He is now (1993) running the Canadian Museum of Flight seven days a week. He is critical of Essiac's detractors: ``Why can't the people who administer cancer funds give it a fair trial? It isn't going to hurt anyone, and the medical profession should stop playing God and allow us cancer patients to use the treatment of our choice.'' In his article ``Essiac: A Remarkable Canadian Indian Remedy for Cancer'' author Richard Walters writes ``One wonders where are the controlled clinical trials of Essiac today for desperate patients who might benefit from it?'' He goes on to note that Dr. E Bruce Hendrick, M.D., chief of neurosurgery at the University of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children urges ``a scientific clinical trial'' of Essiac. He cites recent evidence that patients with ``surgically treated tumors of the central nervous system, after taking an Essiac regimen, had `escaped from the conventional methods of therapy, including both radiation and chemotherapy.'''(For the People, People's Network, Inc., Telford Hotel, 3 River St. White Springs, FL 32096.) Walters goes on to note that Dr. Emma Carson, a Los Angeles physician who spent 24 days inspecting nurse Caisse's Bracebridge clinic in its heyday in 1937 agreed. Originally skeptical and planning to stay only a couple of days, after scrutiny of clinical records and examination of over 400 patients she wrote, ``The vast majority of Miss Caisse's patients are brought to her for treatment after surgery, radium, X-rays, emplastrums, etc., has failed to be helpful, and the patients are pronounced incurable. Really the progress obtainable and the actual results from `Essiac' treatments and the rapidity of repair was absolutely marvelous and must be seen to convincingly confirm belief.'' She went on to say, ``Several prominent physicians and surgeons who are quite familiar with the indisputable results obtained in response to `Essiac' treatments...conceded to me that the Rene M. Caisse `Essiac Treatment' for cancer is the most humane, satisfactory and frequently successful remedy for the annihilation of cancer `that they had found at that time....''' Questions remain about the efficacy of any cancer treatment. Certainly chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are suspect, their rates of success in curing cancer almost nil, and the amounts of money spent funding the research and perpetuation of the industry incredibly high in relation to the success. M.D.s criticize one another and assert that those who work with these conventional treatments know 95% of the drugs in chemotherapy do not work. Yet the funding continues while clinical studies show failures. Indeed, Barry Lynes, author of The Healing of Cancer, cites evidence that the FDA itself has a history of ignoring dangerous drugs and chemical additives marketed by drug companies while using bureaucratic delays, legal harassment, unconstitutional procedures, and falsified evidence to stop alternative cures. THE SIMPLICITY OF ESSIAC The Essiac formula (see next page), at least the one given by Rene Caisse to the Resperin corporation, is so simple and natural that it deserves the grace of these magical lines of Edna St. Vincent Millay: ``And all the loveliest things there be / Come simply, so, it seems to me.'' (``The Goose Girl,''The Harp Weaver, 1923) Nurse Rene Caisse drank the tea every day, to the day she died at age 90. She felt it was nourishing and prevented disease. With the abundance of evidence available, why is Essiac not given more study? Is it because the herbs used are so readily available, the formula so simple that no one would make any money curing cancer anymore? Or, is Essiac efficiency argued away using the logic of the placebo effect? The argument goes that a terminal cancer patient is so desperate they are ready to believe anything, and their belief actually cures rather than any herb or drug. If so, the same argument can be made about chemotherapy or radiation. Patients who live do so despite the destruction of their immune systems by these treatments. If this is the case, then wouldn't a patient rather spend $50 to $500 on herbs and maintain their immune systems than spend a life savings on drugs that actually wreak havoc on the whole body and have an extremely low success rate? In a recent interview Oscar Janiger, M.D., arguing for the use and more research of alternative methods of healing, including the so-called spiritual, noted that the ``use of placebos raises again the issue of whether people get better because of the powerful belief systems or suggestions that are made.... [Placebos] are what make people well as much as the chemotherapy does.''If thoughts and attitudes create a disease, then they can cure it. However, the earth also provides abundant resources for aiding the body in healing processes, and people are awakening to the natural resources, such as the herbs in Essiac, that supplement our efforts to prevent illness or cure disease. Supporters of Rene Caisse and Essiac gathered 55,000 signatures for a petition supporting a bill to allow her to continue to treat cancer patients with Essiac free from the constant threats of arrest. The signatories included many doctors, Caisse's patients and their families. The bill to legalize Essiac as a remedy for terminal cancer patients failed by three votes to pass in the Ontario Parliament. Rene Caisse found years later that the College of Physicians and Surgeons met and told members ofParliament ``If you don't respond to the political pressure and legalize Essiac, we'll take a sincere look and give [Caisse] a fair hearing.'' (Gary Glum, ``Another Suppressed Cure,'' Unusual Alternatives for Health, Aug/Sep, 1992.) So Parliament didn't legalize Essiac, and people wonder what ever happened to the ``sincere look.'' Where is the fair hearing that was promised? Recently Dr. Gary Glum, a Los Angeles chiropractor, completed several years research of nurse Caisse's experiences with Essiac. He wrote a biography of Caisse titled Calling of An Angel (1988). He was given a formula for Essiac by Mary Macpherson, a close friend of nurse Caisse, and he published the formula in his book. Many people have used this formula and been healed of cancers, including luekemia (see page 12). Research and statistics remain to be activated, but anecdotal evidence indicates people have used the brew for treating many immune deficiencies, and others drink it daily as a preventive, testifying they feel better overall, indeed with more energy and verve for life. Despite the lack of interest from the medical profession and clinical proof, Essiac is growing in popularity. If it didn't have any merit, it would have killed itself by now. Aside from its use in treating various cancers, Essiac seems also to be a strong preventive and relieves pain in cancer patients. Gary Glum's wife found that Essiac normalized her thyroid gland, and she was able to stop taking her two grains of thyroid, which she had been on since sixth grade. Rene Caisse also found that Essiac would heal stomach ulcers within three to four weeks, and, best of all, all evidence so far shows it to be non-toxic when taken in no more than three 2 ounce doses during a 24 hour period. Rene Caisse sometimes added cress to the formula when she ran out of sheep's sorrel, and more recent formulas also contains Red Clover and Thistle as part of the development with Dr. Brusch. CONCLUDING NOTE I spoke with a Seattle man recently who had yet another story to tell about Essiac. He was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue in 1990. It had spread to the lymph nodes of his neck. He was set up for treatments with radiation and chemotherapy. His wife wanted him to try alternatives. Finally he did, but his doctors did not want to listen to him when he told them about the other vitamin and food supplements he was taking, nor the Essiac. After about 2 1/2 weeks of radiation he said his entire tongue was burned like a canker sore. He lost 65 pounds. It took from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. to drink his juices and vitamins. The tumor was shrinking. The doctors attributed it to radiation, not the food, herb and vitamin supplements. By the 7th week the radiation had burned the neck so that it looked like raw meat. He stopped the radiation treatments in May, 1992. One month later doctors removed 39 lymph nodes in the neck, and there was no cancer in one of them. They attributed it to radiation. He still has no cancer today. He takes his supplements daily. The Drs. want to know how he's doing, and he tells them he's still doing the things they don't want to hear about, so he doesn't tell them about them. He takes Essiac daily. He says he tries to tell the doctors about it, but they don't want to listen. He buys the prescription drugs they've given him, but he must have over a gallon sized pail of the pills at home that he has never taken. I asked him how he had changed during his ordeal, because he had mentioned how important his attitude was in his healing. He said he woke up a lot., looked at his life, listened more. His life had changed. His faith was stronger. He saw beauty and caring in people. His wife, friends, strangers were wonderful in helping him. The doctors and nurses were marvelous. The only thing that bothered him, he said, was that there was no interest on the part of the doctors in what he was doing. ``The doctors were so busy they didn't want to listen, or didn't have the time to listen. Why aren't they listening to people who have been cured and using the things they use to cure themselves?''Æ Scott E. Miners is a freelance writer in the field of health who focuses on the blending of science and the arts of medicine, philosophy, and natural healthcare. References * Janiger, Oscar, M.D. A Different Kind of Healing (J.P.Tarcher, Inc., 1993). * Cairns, John, M.D., Townsend Letter for Doctors, May, 1993, #119, 911 Tyler St. Pt Townsend, WA 98368.) * Walters, Richard, ``Essiac: A Remarkable Canadian Indian Remedy for Cancer.'' For the People, a publication of Peoples Network, Inc., Telford Hotel, 3 River St., White springs, FL 32096. * Lynes, Barry, The Healing of Cancer: The Cures, the Cover-ups, the Solutions, Marcus Books, P.O. Box 327, Queensville, Ontario, Canada LOG 1RO. * Janiger, Oscar, M.D. ``What's Up Doc?'' interview with Krysta Gibson; New Times, V.9,1; P.O. Box 51186, Seattle, WA 98115-1186. * Glum, Gary, D.C. ``Another Suppressed Cure,'' Unusual Alternatives for Health, Aug/Sep, 1992. * Other sources used in compiling this article: * Fraser and Allen, Homemakers Magazine, June/July/Aug. 1977. * ``Cancer Hope Reborn,'' Mia Stainsby, The Vancouver Sun ``Saturday Review'', May 16, 1992. * ``Rene Caisse: Essiac,'' Sheila Fraser Snow, Canadian Journal of Herbalism, summer, 1991. * ``Essiac,'' Body, Mind & Spirit, Jan/Feb 1991. * ``Essiac: Nature's Cure for Cancer,'' an interview with Dr. Gary L. Glum, Elisabeth Robinson, Wildfire, V.6,1. * Rene Caisse Story, Ted Britton * ``Could Essiac Halt Cancer?'' Sheila Fraser and Carroll Allen, Homemakers Magazine, June/July/August, 1977. * Creating Herbal Remedies, by Barb Mowbray, Box 962, Redmond, WA 98073 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [The Essential Garden] [Marketplace] [Table of Contents] [Prev ] [Prev ] [About WBJ] Tell us what you think Copyright (C) 1995 by Well Being Journal and The Essential Garden. All rights reserved.