My Malignant Melanoma

I received the following message from someone whose website describes her as a home-schooling mother:

"I was reading on the American Cancer Society about alkalizing and cancer. They stated that it was found to be of benefit to alkalize your body to inhibit cancer. My father in law started doing it 10 years ago and is 8 years past his death diagnoses for Multiple Myleloma. Why do you say it does not work? on Tullio Simoncini"

I get lots of these. I never publish them as comments because they have links in them to quack sites. This one is however extra-stupid. None of those vague and hard to disprove claims for this home-educator. I am not in a position to verify their anecdote, but I can fact-check the rest of it.

So does the American cancer society recommend alkalising your body? Here are their diet and exercise guidelines. No mention of alkaline diet there, or anywhere on their website. The internet is however full of quacks and their dupes claiming the ACS as the primary source for this nonsense - but it just isn't true.

In fact I didn't really need to check, as it can't be true, because the ACS employs scientists and doctors who know that there is no diet which can alkalise the body. Alkaline Diet is nonsense, and Tullio Simoncini is a convicted fraudster, barred from practising medicine after his conviction for the manslaughter of a patient in his "care".

There is no mention anywhere in the publications of the ACS or any other reputable body of a diet which can reverse cancer, these are the usual "healthy eating" guidelines intended to reduce the risk of cancer. There is in fact no diet known or even suspected of being able to reverse cancer of any kind, though the web is full of such nonsensical claims.

Alkaline, Budwig, Gerson, and the rest of the quack diets are promoted by scum who prey on cancer patients, and supported by muddle-headed fools who think we should treat all opinions as equal, whatever the supporting evidence.

Even after bottom-feeding vermin like Simoncini have been struck off, convicted as killers and fraudsters, morons stick up for them.

Why do I say it does not work? Leaving aside for a moment the fact that I am not obliged to disprove  false medical claims, but their proponents to prove them - try this list of a few of Simoncini's victims. It includes details of how much this killer charges the victims of his fraud.

Labels: alkaline, Alternative, quack, Tullio Simoncini

I've had the following attempted comment over on my Tullio Simoncini post:

"Someone obviously needs to do more research and perhaps brush up on their high school chemistry and biology. The human body will only remain healthy if it has the proper PH balance, and that is all Sodium Bicarbonate does is raise the level of the PH, which does not allow for any bacteria, virus or fungi to thrive. "

Fantastic! The commentator is under the impression that they understand basic biology and chemistry better than I do. He is also under the impression that a bit of bicarb raises the pH of the human body so radically that it kills all bacteria, fungi and viruses without harming the person involved, and clearly implies that killing these organisms kills cancer.  On his planet, Rennies kill cancer, because cancer is a fungus, and fungi are killed by alkali.  

So let's have a look at this idea. The highest pH at which I can see a report of fungi growing, is 11.2. Now that's a bit of a problem there, straight away. If bicarb really could get your body's pH to 11.3 you'd be dead. Having blood pH over 7.45 is a medical condition called alkalosis, get much above that and you're toast. So if bicarb really could increase pH to the range which kills fungi, the patient would be long dead by the time you got there.

But can adding bicarbonate of soda really get you to that pH? Nope. It is only a weak alkali, solutions have a maximum pH only around 8. So bicarb will only elevate pH to around 1 unit from neutral, whereas some fungi can survive at pH 11+ (It is perhaps worth mentioning that pH is not a straight line scale, such that pH 11 is 1000 times as big as pH 8)

So, even if the human body's highly effective system for preventing alkalosis of the blood didn't exist, it simply is not chemically possible for bicarb to kill all fungi. And if it were? Cancer is not a fungus. Duh.

He's right about one thing though "Someone obviously needs to do more research and perhaps brush up on their high school chemistry and biology" I'm however not that someone, hope this helped anyone who did need a brush-up.

Labels: alkaline, quack, Tullio Simoncini

Another illiterate quacktard has written in, to plug his overpriced fruit drink as a cure for cancer, and complain semi-incoherently about my treatment of killer quack Tullio Simoncini as follows:

"Now that's typical of you to discharge accomplishments. It is common knowledge about the pH balance in the body promotes an acidic or alkaline environment. Cancer CANNOT exist in a alkaline rich and oxygen rich environment. Legally we as practitioners cannot claim a cure, but the evidence is overwhelming. You on the other hand, leave no name nor any of your credentials. "The comment's author links to his quack products site, hoping that I'm going to send cancer patients there to be fleeced.

I'm not sure what "discharge accomplishments" means. Any suggestion that Simoncini has achieved anything other being struck off as a doctor, and killing desperately ill people is news to me. Can anyone offer objective evidence to suggest that Simoncini has achieved anything other than enriching himself at the expense of the desperate?

Neither am I aware of evidence that it is common knowledge that the pH balance in the body promotes an acidic or alkaline environment. Whatever common opinion might be, expert opinion is that the commenter's statement is confused nonsense.

"Legally we as practitioners cannot claim a cure, but the evidence is overwhelming." That sounds like you are in fact claiming a cure. If you were in the UK, that would be a criminal offence.

Someone who is attempting to sell overpriced fruit-juice to cancer patients with a promise it will cure them describing themselves as a "practitioner" also seems a new low to me, in a field already lower than snake-shit. Congratulations!

The evidence is in fact underwhelming in the extreme to scientists and qualified medical practitioners. Unless someone would like to offer scientific evidence in support of the acid/alkaline theory of disease?

As far as withholding my name is concerned, I have no wish to be subject to further legal harassment by libel tourists acting on behalf of quacks. I am a cancer patient, and harassing me just shows how callous quacks are.

I make no claims to personal medical expertise, but merely link to the opinion of those who are qualified.

Look, stupids-either show me the evidence which backs your outlandish claims in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, or expect your ill-informed comments to be either simply rejected or held up to public ridicule.

Labels: alkaline, Alternative, Diet, nonsense, quack, Tullio Simoncini

I see someone has posted more ill-informed hogwash about the alkaline theory of cancer on the Macmillan What Now board.

This article, written by a Professor of Medicine entitled "Acid/Alkaline Theory of Disease Is Nonsense" covers the area in simple terms. The clue's in the title.

The poster also dips more than a toe into the supposed FDA suppression of simple cancer cures paranoid conspiracy theory.

Ah, it's good to be able to call a spade a spade! If I'd posted this on WN, the admins would have allowed people with no rational arguments to call me names at will, or deleted it, as it contains what they term "emotive language". But this IS hogwash, and indeed nonsense, as Professor Mirkin points out.

Tullio Simoncini didn't have his license to practice medicine withdrawn, and get convicted by an Italian judge for wrongful death and swindling at the request of the FDA. It happened because he killed someone with this quackery.

Why are posters on WN expected to allow people to promote such theories to vulnerable cancer patients with lies? Why do they have to be respectful, polite and scrupulously fair at all times with people who are promoting what amounts to an expensive suicide with misinformation?

Labels: alkaline, Cancer, theory, Tullio Simoncini

Cancer Quack "Dr."Tullio Simoncini claims that all cancers are fungal colonies. It might be worth mentioning upfront that his license to practice medicine has been withdrawn, and in 2006 he was convicted by an Italian judge for wrongful death and swindling.

Since it is simple to demonstrate that cancers are in fact human cells gone wrong, he is a quack of the first magnitude. A detailed explanation of why this is is here. His "treatment" is dangerous

Yeast and other fungi are nothing to do with cancer, other than that certain fungi (not Candida) produce a carcinogenic toxin called aflatoxin, and some yeasts (not Candida) produce alcohol under certain circumstances, which is associated with a number of cancers.

The Candida hypersensitivity claim is well-known as a false claim of alternative practitioners. The alkaline theory of cancer is also classic quackery

This also mentions Tullio Simoncini, as well as giving more general rules for evaluating testimonials.

Labels: alkaline, bicarbonate of soda, Cancer, candida, quack, Tullio Simoncini