In 1971, then President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act to make the “conquest of cancer a national crusade.” Now, nearly 40 years later, cancer is soon expected to surpass cardiovascular disease as the number one killer in people, and it has been the number one killer in adult dogs for many years.

Since then more than $200 billion has been spent trying to find a cure. Oncologist Anthony Back states, “The funding people are interested in is the magic-bullet research because that’s what brings the dollars in.” Very little funding goes towards researching natural substances because they can’t be patented and sold for a profit. For example, if broccoli sprouts could stop or reverse a specific type of cancer, the millions of dollars required to prove this would never be spent. It wouldn’t be possible to recoup the investment for such research, because natural foods and supplements can’t be patented.

This is why when a doctor claims they only use treatments that have been scientifically proven, they are excluding most natural substances. Unfortunately, in our modern profit-driven society, scientific research has proven itself not to be the gold standard when it comes to finding effective remedies for treating human or canine cancer. With hundreds of billions of dollars and counting spent over the past 39 years, there are still no adequately effective drugs for most types of cancer.

At one time, a disease called scurvy, which we now know is caused by a deficiency of vitamin C, was common among sailors and others who spent long times on ships at sea. The fruits which could prevent this disease were perishable, and thus not provided in sailors’ diets on long voyages. James Lind, a Scottish surgeon in the British Royal Navy, first proved it could be treated with citrus fruit in 1753. He published his findings in his book, Treatise of the Scurvy.

Treatise of the Scurvy

Dr. Lind found that every sailor who consumed juice containing vitamin C, either from fruits or other natural sources, were cured of their scurvy. And it prevented scurvy in sailors who drank these juices every day. However, the cure for scurvy was not discovered by a scientific study that would be accepted in any modern day medical or veterinary journal. The standards for acceptable scientific research today must include a group who gets the treatment and one who does not, also known as a double blind study. The method Dr. Lind used for his findings was not a double blind study, but another method of proof called “clinical observation.” And it provided clinical proof that drinking fruit juices cures scurvy.

It’s sad to think that in today’s profit-driven scientific community, a cure for scurvy might never have been found. Fruits, fruit juices and vitamin C are natural foods and supplements which can’t be patented.  Many have been shown to be effective in treating diseases through clinical observation, the same way that Dr. Lind found the cure for scurvy. However, in today’s world, this type of proof is almost universally rejected by conventional medical doctors and veterinarians as they don’t consider it acceptable “scientific proof.”

Let’s say you were to walk into a conventional doctor’s office wearing a backpack with a parachute in it. The doctor says, “What’s that thing on your back?” You respond, “It’s called a parachute. I am planning on jumping out of an airplane tomorrow and I heard about this parachute. I was told that if I pull this ripcord before I reach the ground it will save my life.”  The doctor then says, “Well I’ve never heard of that, and there is no scientific research or evidence proving it works. I only recommend things that have been scientifically proven to my patients. Don’t jump out of the airplane or you’ll die.”

So you go home and tell your family that you are not going to jump out of the airplane tomorrow because the doctor told you you’ll die even if you do use the parachute.

You see, there is no scientific study proving that parachutes save people’s lives. We only know this by observing that people who  jump out of planes don’t die when they open their parachutes before reaching the ground.

This example may at first seem somewhat silly to you, yet millions of similar conversations happen in doctors’ offices everyday. And millions of people are scared away from using natural substances that could potentially save their lives everyday because their doctor has never heard of them or hasn’t seen enough proof (which doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist). And it happens every day with people who bring their dogs with cancer to veterinarians and dog cancer specialists. They simply don’t learn about parachutes in veterinary school, so when you mention it, they seem bothered and tell you to reject the idea.

I hope this helps you understand that limiting your treatment options for dog cancer only to those proven by scientific research could be harmful to your dog’s health.

In Dog Cancer: The Holistic Answer, I discuss and document many natural remedies which actually have been proven by scientific research, yet most vets have never heard of them. Equally, most vets have not heard of the natural treatments proven through clinical observation. Please don’t let this scare you away from giving your dog vitamin c for scurvy, or in this case, a natural supplement for dog cancer. The fact is that thousands of dogs die every day from prescribed drugs. On the other hand, there is not one documented case of a natural supplement killing a dog when administered properly.

About The Author

Dr. Steven Eisen

Dr. Steven Eisen has studied holistic medicine for more than thirty years. He is the author of the ground-breaking book for dog cancer, Dog Cancer: The Holistic Answer.