Snake Oil

Ok...so I was looking for the photo I have of a snake that Lemmie caught and brought to me...so instead of a snake in the grass, we'll have to do with a Lemmie in a tree.

I am often annoyed by various posts and information I find on the web claiming that this or that is a cure for cancer....as a person who has stage IV cancer, I find it cruel that many people out there are snake oil salesmen, making unfounded promises and taking money from people who are willing to do anything to try to stay alive.

Perhaps some of these things which are suggested do have benefit.  However, I find that on some of the web sites I belong to which have posts by people...well....I am suspect.  For instance on the Inspire website the other day, someone posted about a miracle juice....which was curing her of breast cancer.....although when you go to her profile page....she is interested in people who have a gamut of illnesses, from Psoriasis, to various forms of cancers and other unrelated things.....but in the area where she is supposed to tell about herself and her treatments....it is empty.  Somehow I think that this person is not legitimate, but is trying to encourage sales of a particular material.

I encourage people to do further research...and look for information which has been vetted....and checked out.  Sometimes you see the same information posted over and over again, all from the same source.

Sometimes the anecdotal information is re-posted from poor research, unscientific research which has been pretty much dismantled by the medical field.  and some of it flies in the face of biology.  My favorite is that using deodorant causes breast cancer....well, the person who did the original "study" asked a group of people in the U.S.  who had breast cancer if they used deodorant.  Guess what....almost all of them did..ergo, reasoned the researcher, deodorant caused breast cancer.  But just thing...using deodorant is almost universal in the U.S.  So it goes to figure that people who had breast cancer also used deodorant.

One thing I see over and over now is "changing your body's pH by eating an alkaline diet.  Your body is an amazing machine.  Your stomach digests things using....acids and other things.  It is counter productive to try to change your body's pH....it just isn't going to happen.....and neutralizing your stomach acids isn't such a hot idea either.

I could go on and on.  Be aware.  Look into things more deeply.  Ask questions.  Look to see who is writing and WHY they are writing.  If you see holes....run.