Suzanne Somers strikes again

LibraryLady

Emeritus
LibraryLady
Joined
Sep 4, 2004
Messages
14,331
Location
Maryland
Well, Suzanne Somers strikes again. The bouncy blonde from Three's Company, back in the 70s, has now become a cancer expert.

I caught her last night on TV for a few minutes, where she complained that when she was diagnosed with cancer, all they offered her was surgery, chemo, and radiation. No alternatives! So she wrote a book Knockout to give her solution to the problem of cancer. I couldn't bear to keep watching.

However, when I went online to see if any reviews were out there, I found this fairly reasonable article from CNN. While Dr. Otis Brawley kind of skirts the idea of alternative medicine, he does emphasize the scientific method and urges all to consult with conventional doctors.
 
I can never understand the logic behind buying these sort of books. Ok, I understand that if you've got cancer, you're going to want to cure it. But why on Earth would you think "Clearly, my best chance of survival lies with the uninformed witterings of a faded minor celebrity rather than countless cumulative years of research done by trained medical professionals"? Is it a belief that there's a massive conspiracy to... what? Kill people with cancer?
 
celebrities with no medical training whatsoever should refrain from writing books on how to cure diseases.

They should do so because quite frankly there's enough ******** out there to read, and the drooling, halfwitted frantics with which these celebrities froth on about their new discoveries does nothing more than to display how ignorant and superstitious they are, all while steering less informed people away from proper medicine.
 
When Peggy's mother contracted breast cancer, she not only went through surgery, chemo, radiation, etc., but she also worked with a dietician regarding what she ought to eat. The point being, however, that she was working with trained experts.

This crap with Suzanne Somers and others offering a cheap and easy out is a fraud, and it's wrong. If broadcasters had any sense of responsibility, they wouldn't accept money for this kind of garbage, (trash is too elevated a description.)
 
Ducky said:
celebrities with no medical training whatsoever should refrain from writing books on how to cure diseases.

They should do so because quite frankly there's enough ******** out there to read, and the drooling, halfwitted frantics with which these celebrities froth on about their new discoveries does nothing more than to display how ignorant and superstitious they are, all while steering less informed people away from proper medicine.
Click to expand...

And just as I post my response, the REAL expert on this speaks.

Glad to see you around, Amigo!
 
I managed to watch a bit more than LL because my wife changed to CNN in the bedroom when she came upstairs to go to bed. I had just finished watching the last ten minutes of the two part Niteline on Scientology. (That was the only ten minutes I saw as I did not know such a show was on. It deserves a thread of its own. :D)

As she then disappeared into the bathroom, I was then able to cuss and swear to my content.

Why? Oh why? Cannot the mainstream MDs do a better job of refuting this crap? I did not even hear the words "double blind testing" mentioned even once. The concept is not difficult to understand. The Quack was not even asked if he kept records and followed up with his patients. I could do better if I could keep my temper. :o
 
Sledge said:
I can never understand the logic behind buying these sort of books. Ok, I understand that if you've got cancer, you're going to want to cure it. But why on Earth would you think "Clearly, my best chance of survival lies with the uninformed witterings of a faded minor celebrity rather than countless cumulative years of research done by trained medical professionals"? Is it a belief that there's a massive conspiracy to... what? Kill people with cancer?
Click to expand...

No, it's a conspiracy to kill people with chemotherapy, which is poison, don't you know. Well, that's what the ditz says anyway. I'm pretty sure she blamed Patrick Swayze's death on chemo.
 
Lucian said:
No, it's a conspiracy to kill people with chemotherapy, which is poison, don't you know. Well, that's what the ditz says anyway. I'm pretty sure she blamed Patrick Swayze's death on chemo.
Click to expand...

Oh, was that her? I'm not really up to date on the ramblings of people from old TV shows I've never watched. This sceptisicm business requires a pretty broad knowledge base, doesn't it?
 
She should be sued out of existence. :mgbanghead

Ignorant ditz.

Chemo IS poison....targetted poison.

I'm still suffering the side effects of that poison but I have no cancer.

I'll get over the side effects.....I wouldn't have lived 2 years without the "poison".

I have an 80% chance of an outright cure....and the radiation was a just in case.
 
Otis Brawly is medical director for the American Cancer Society and, I believe, a professor of Oncology at Emery Univeristy...
 
macdoc said:
She should be sued out of existence. :mgbanghead

Ignorant ditz.

Chemo IS poison....targetted poison.

I'm still suffering the side effects of that poison but I have no cancer.

I'll get over the side effects.....I wouldn't have lived 2 years without the "poison".

I have an 80% chance of an outright cure....and the radiation was a just in case.
Click to expand...

Here's to your continued winning that battle. :bigclap

All the best.

-D
 
The mealy-mouthing of MD's like Brawley is the result of a rather disturbing trend in the medical profession. MD's are concerned that if they don't talk with their patients about "alternative" treatments/medicine the patients will simply go off and find someone who WILL.

So the doctors are in an ethical bind. Is their Hippocratic Oath better served by humoring the patient and insure they'll allow you to give them the REAL medicine, too, OR risk having the patient leave your care altogether because you told them that "alternative" medicines are a waste of time and was "pushing" chemo or surgery or whatever else the patient is desperate to avoid.

The flip side of the ethical question is, of course, by showing any kind of respect for "alternative" medicine (and tossing around words like "integrative" which implies there's some actual value to the thing being added) aren't MDs just legitimizing and encouraging more and more harmful pseudoscience?
 
Does the ditz deny that she got real medicine? If she claims she got alt med only to "cure" her, then I must point out that she denied getting liposuction and then got caught red handed getting liposuction.
 
Perhaps this is natural selection in action:

If one is too stupid to take the advice of medical science, and then dies, their "ignoramus" gene is not passed on to the next generation.

-PbFoot
 
Thanks for the good wishes.

Cheers should go to the fast response of the Ontario Health system - where my biggest worry aside from the damn side effects were the parking fees.

Sommers should be ashamed. There is a place for alternative treatment, especially in chronic conditions...hell my ex is an ND and not a single one of those licenced alternative medicine professionals that I know would consider diverting a cancer patient from proven successful mainstream treatments.
Would I consult her about getting my immune system back up....for sure.

THEY are ethical......Sommers is a criminal in my view if she delays or diverts ONE person from getting the treatment for cancer they need.

••

To those that automatically reject alternative treatments wholesale...a word of caution...mainstream medicine is a leading "cause of death", alternatives are not.
Poor judgement and errors abound and in the case of mainstream they kill, far too often.

In chronic conditions like type two diabetes an "alternative" approach with diet and exercise over drug may well serve the patient far better.
Recommending such an approach to a type one diabetic should go with a jail sentence...
 
Last edited:
Sledge said:
I can never understand the logic behind buying these sort of books. Ok, I understand that if you've got cancer, you're going to want to cure it. But why on Earth would you think "Clearly, my best chance of survival lies with the uninformed witterings of a faded minor celebrity rather than countless cumulative years of research done by trained medical professionals"? Is it a belief that there's a massive conspiracy to... what? Kill people with cancer?
Click to expand...

The logic: many people don't trust "Western medicine;" trained physicians, drug companies, hospitals, etc. They have more trust in folksy every day people, and "Eastern medicine," new age stuff, "natural" stuff. It's the same reason Airborne is/was so popular--"invented by a second grade teacher!" which actually gave it more credibility than if it was endorsed by medical experts.
 
She's written 18 books ? Wow, am I ever behind the times. the last time I heard from her she was flogging thigh masters.

Cheers macdoc, best wishes on a full recovery
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom