ABRAM HOFFER, M.D, ON THE GERSON CANCER THERAPY "Max Gerson, M.D., treated a series of cancer patients with special (mostly vegetable juice) diets and with some nutrients including niacin 50 mg 8 to 10 times per day, dicalcium phosphate with vitamin D, vitamins A and D, and liver injections. He found that all the cancer cases were benefited in that they became healthier and in many cases the tumors regressed. In a subsequent report, Gerson elaborated on his diet. He now emphasized a high potassium over sodium diet, vitamin C, niacin, brewers yeast and lugols iodine. Right after the (second world) war there was no ready supply of vitamins as there is today. I would consider the use of these nutrients in combination very original and enterprising. Dr. Gerson was the first physician to so emphasize such use. "I am familiar with the Gerson method and believe that it has a lot of merit. I have always been frustrated that it was not taken seriously and studied intensively as it should be. It does take a lot of dedication and time, and patients do need a lot of help in preparing their food and juicing and the coffee enemas. Of course, as with any treatment, not everyone recovers. But I think it has a very good track record. I know Charlotte personally and have been corresponding with her son, Howard Straus, who wrote a very good book about his grandfather. (http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersonbio.htm) I think it is a shame the National Cancer Institute refused to conduct adequate clinical studies, as the methods are not that difficult if carried on in a properly designed clinical unit." Gerson M: Dietary considerations in malignant neoplastic disease. A prelimary report. The Review of Gastroenterology 12:419-425, 1945. Gerson M: Effects of a combined dietary regime on patients with malignant tumors. Experimental Medicine and Surgery 7:299-317, 1949. Hoffer A: Orthomolecular Oncology. In, Adjuvant Nutrition in Cancer Treatment, Ed. P. Quillin & R. M. Williams. 1992 Symposium Proceedings, Sponsored by Cancer Treatment Research Foundation and American College of Nutrition. Cancer Treatment Research Foundation, 3455 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 200, Arlington Heights, IL 60005-1090, 331-362, 1994. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.