3/71 The last supplement to the WHOLE EARTH CATALOGUE:
ALMONDS, APRICOTS, CANCER & THE F.D.A.
by George Walker
Attributed to Edgar Cayce is the claim, eat an almond a day
and you won't get cancer. Underlying this is the basic fact
that cancer, like most bodily malfunctions, is the result of
a dietary deficiency in certain natural substances. Supply
these substances, and the adverse condition won't develop.
This is fine (if it works), but what about the millions of
people who already have cancer? My friend Barclay, dying
of cancer 10 years ago, got the flash: The only thing that
will cure an ailing body is that which will keep it healthy
in the first place. This was Hipprocrates' (remember him?
the father of medicine, the Hippocratic oath?) basic theory
a couple of thousand years ago.
The doctors had all come to the same conclusion regarding
Barclay's case: more and stronger pain killers for the
remaining few months of his life. His cancer was not the
kind they could chop out or burn out with radium. For
Barclay, it was more morphine, or the search for "that
which will keep it healthy..." Some choice! But he found
that there are places in the world where NOBODY ever gets
cancer. Convinced that diet is a factor, he looked to see
what they all had in common. He read everything he could
find relating diet to cancer, and found out about a chemical
substance found in almonds, apricot seeds, lima beans, and
many other foods. Isolated by Dr. E. T. Krebs at the same
time Hoffman discovered LSD, the substance was called
amygdalen [amygdalin]. It is now being marketed (but NOT in
the U.S.) under the name Laetrile, and is also known as
vitamin B-17. To prevent cancer, we need only include in our
diet those rich in B-17, PROVIDED our diet is balanced in
other respects. However, once cancer has developed, it takes
more to suppress it, and the use of the concentrated
substance becomes necessary for control.
Cancer cells have the interesting ability to obtain oxygen
directly from sugar; normal cells depend on the oxygen supply
in the blood. It is through this sugar metabolism that
cancer starves the body, ripping off all the available
sugars. The more sugar eaten, the more the cancer feeds,
the more it grows and the more there is of it to rip off
sugar. (Does this tell you anything about eating lots of
sugar?) It is also through this sugar metabolism that B-17
works against cancer. B-17 is a complex sugar-cyanide
molecule. Cancer cells metabolize for oxygen, and free the
bound up cyanide, which kills the cells. The normal cell,
unable to break down the complex molecule, is unaffected.
Further, the normal cells contain a substance, which protects
them against small amounts of cyanide, and which cancer cells
lack.
The Laetrile (B-17) treatment is effective in a high
percentage (90%) of cases, usually in this pattern: almost
immediate reduction of cessation of pain; gradual reduction
and disappearance of growths; regaining of health and
strength, where proper diet is maintained. Even in the
best cases, it does not constitute a cure. A maintenance
dosage of B-17 must be taken or the cancer returns. This,
however, in no problem, as the substance has been shown to
be totally non-toxic in one of the most exhaustive toxicity
studies ever undertaken.
Or rather I should say it SHOULD be no problem. B-17 is not
approved in this country. You can't get any legally unless
you go to Mexico or West Germany - or Russia - or the
Philippines - or any one of perhaps 100 other countries
where they are either using it or testing it; and then you
would have to smuggle it in. In the U.S. the government
won't even allow it to be tested. The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for unknown reasons, takes a
particularly hard line on cancer drugs. The official
policy seems to be to suppress such drugs, label them "quack
cures", and prosecute anybody who tries to provide them to
the hundreds of thousands of dying cancer patients. A
program for testing Laetrile (B-17) was begun last year,
after 25 years of testing and use in other countries, and
then stopped two years of testing and use in other countries,
and then stopped two weeks later when somebody high up in
the government (Surgeon General?) found out the program had
been approved "through clerical error"! Meanwhile, millions
are spent yearly on cancer research, all in attempts to
"prove" that cancer is caused by a virus (it's not!); total
evidence found so far; none. Billions are spent yearly
by the million or so people receiving the same treatments:
surgery, radiotherapy, and a few drugs so toxic they are
only used in "hopeless" cases to keep the patient alive a
little longer, and prolong the expensive treatments. The
number of these people is increasing rapidly - on the order
of 100,000 more every year.
So keep eating those almonds. When you eat fruit, eat the
seeds (that's where the B-17 and it's needed to balance the
fruit sugar) - apples, pears, etc. In apricots, peaches,
plums, cherries, etc., break open the pit and eat the seed
inside. Smuggle B-17 from Germany if your friends get
cancer. If you want to know more about the technical aspect,
what cancer is and how it develops, how Laetrile is effective
against it, read LAETRILE: CONTROL FOR CANCER, Kittler,
G.D., Astor-Honor, Inc., 205 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y.
10017. This book is excellent on the technical-cellular-
chemical-biological aspects of cancer generally, and of the
Laetrile treatment. I'm not sure the history is accurate.
Lots of big words like glucosidases and glucuronidases,
trophoblasts and metasases - but clear enough if read
carefully. If you ask your doctor, don't be surprised if
he gives you the straight official line: Laetrile, like a
lot of other substances (remember Krebiozen?), is a
worthless quack drug, part of a fraudulent conspiracy (some
drugs are just that frauds), and that ONLY the Doctor Trip
is effective against cancer. This is an out and out lie.
All attempts to test in the U.S. have been suppressed. I
leave it to you to decide where the conspiracy lies.
Barclay, meanwhile, is strong and healthy, in his 50's.
He has found that he has no cancer symptoms as long as he
takes his B-17 and eats well. He has tried stopping it,
and immediately grew new cancers - which went away when he
resumed his dosage. He further found it much more effective
(up to 10 times) if chewed and swallowed than injected,
as it is usually administered. His only fear is that the
government's attempts to totally suppress the substance will
be successful - for without it he will die quickly.
8/22/75 (Friday) Article by James Kilpatrick appearing in
the San Francisco Chronicle:
FDA: RETREAT OR RESTRICT
A FEDERAL JUDGE in Oklahoma City handed down a ruling the
other day that may restore a degree of sanity, temporarily
at least, to the lunatic business of banning Laetrile.
The controversy over Laetril has been raging for years.
Derived chiefly from apricot pits (though it occurs widely
in other fruits and berries), the substance is known
chemically as amygdalin. Isolated in 1830, the compound
was developed in this century by Dr. E. T. Krebs and his
son, biochemist E. T. Krebs, Jr. Out of their researches
came the hypothesis that in some patients, Laetrile may tend
to be effective in treating some forms of cancer.
Under the law, the FDA can forbid the use of any
disease-treating agent unless the FDA is satisfied that the
agent is both safe and effective. The FDA does not insist
that Laetrile is unsafe, though the FDA insists emphatically
that as a cancer-treating substance, Laetrile is worthless.
Very well. The record is replete with thousands of
testimonials from cancer patients who disagree with the
FDA. By hook or by crook, they have obtained Laetrile,
usually from Mexico where its use is not prohibited, and
they insist that for them it does work.
ONE SUCH PATIENT, 58-year-old Glen L. Rutherford of Wichita,
Kans., came down in 1971 with what was diagnosed as cancer
of the rectum. When standard treatments proved ineffective
he went to Mexico for Laetrile, he thinks it cured the
condition. On his return to Kansas, he continued to
get Laetrile from an illegal source who subsequently was
arrested. Rutherford then went into Federal court and
sued for an order prohibiting the government from
interfering with his right to treat his own body in his own
way.
Last week Federal Judge Luther Bohannon agreed with
Rutherford. He authorized a six-month supply of the
substance for Rutherford's personal use, and criticized the
FDA for "abdicating its duty" to the "common man." The
government is expected to appeal.
The point worth pondering in all this is the breathtaking
arrogance of the government's position. The possibility
ought always to be held open that somewhere on this vast
globe, even though the possibility cannot be demonstrated
on laboratory mice, somewhere there is a guy named Rutherford
whose cancer responds to an extract of apricot pits.
THE GOVERNMENT'S DUTY, it seems to me, is to give fair and
abundant warning in cases such as these. Look it could say
to the guy named Rutherford, we have searched for
scientically acceptable proof that Laetrile works. We find
none. We think the promoters of Laetrile are quacks engaged
in a cruel hoax. We advise you to reply on surgery, X-ray,
or chemo-therapy, or just die quickly.
Once such warnings are given, and knowledgeably understood,
the government ought to retreat. This is the thrust of Judge
Bohannon's ruling, and the judge is absolutely right.
11/22/75 (Saturday) Column appearing in the Ledger-Star:
VITAMIN B-17
Q. I would like to get a hold of some vitamin in B-17 but it
seems like the Food and Drug Administration has not allowed
it on the market. - T.L.
A. Vitamin B-17 has been manufactured under the trade name
"Laetrile" and has been advertised as a cure for cancer,
according to our source in the FDA. The FDA has banned
its import or sale in this country but a federal court in
Oklahoma recently overturned the FDA ban, saying that
individuals have the right to treat their own illnesses
if the treatment will do them no harm. The FDA has appealed
the ruling.
4/76 Article from the New Age News:
LAETRILE THERAPY FOR CANCER PATIENTS GAINING SUPPORT IN
AMERICA
By W. Mead Usry
VICTORY IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT
A life versus law decision by Oklahoma U.S. District Judge
Luther Bohanon is being appealed by the FDA. The decision
in favor of Glen Rutherford and all cancer patients in
America came after the carrier of Rutherford's supply of
laetrile (B-17) was jailed and put on $10,000 bond for
transporting the contraband from Mexico. The court found
that the FDA has no constitutional right to keep terminal
cancer patients from their supply of laetrile, a vitamin
synthesized from a common nut.
Rutherford, after being diagnosed in America in 1971, was
treated in Mexico by Dr. Carlos Lopez. His cancer symptoms
disappeared.
The court also found "From the record, testimony and exhibits
that laetrile is not laetrile in any sense of the word. It
is not harmful to the human body and when used in proper
amounts under proper control and supervision can effect
relief from cancer disease to the satisfaction of many who
are privileged to use the same.
"The Court further finds from the record that the plaintiff
Rutherford herein and those similarly situated have been
denied this right of choice in using B-17 or laetrile
without just cause on the part of the Secretary of HEW and
its agency, the FDA."
CANCER NOT A VIRUS
The idea of cancer as a vitamin deficiency began in 1902 when
a Scottish physician named John Beard developed the unitary
or trophoblastic theory of cancer. The trophobast cell is
essential to pregnancy. It cuts through the uterine wall
allowing the embryo to take nourishment from the mothers'
bloodstream. Cancer ensues when the trophoblast unnaturally
goes out of control from a lack of pancreatic enzymes.
Today, Dr. Ernst T. Krebs, Jr., a biochemist, is continuing
his father's work and that of Dr. Beard by advocating the
use of laetrile in the treatment of cancer. He has
confronted medical societies, cancer research institutes
and associations in the U.S. and Canada. Krebs is
co-developer of Vitamin B-15 and B-17.
AMERICA RALLIES
Numerous other individuals and groups have come foward to
defend the right of freedom of choice by cancer patients.
The Committee for Freedom of Choice in Cancer Therapy is
composed of laymen and doctors who believe the relationship
between doctor and patient is sacred and should not be
subject to political interference. In their official
publication, THE CHOICE, are numerous references to laetrile
and other alternative therapies.
Dr. Hardin B. Jones, a physiologist with the University of
California, Department of Medical Physics, has been studying
cancer for more than 23 years. He says, "My studies have
proved conclusively that untreated cancer victims live up
to four times longer than treated individuals. Beyond a
shadow of a doubt, radical surgury on cancer patients does
more harm than good."
DOCTORS NOT TO BLAME
In the heat of controversy over laetrile and other
alternative therapies, many curious doctors are being
discouraged from seeking to learn more by the leaders
of their own societies and associations. The American
Cancer Society owns fifty per cent of 5-FU, a highly
successful anti-cancer compound. The ACS as a business
fights competition like laetril.
In 1963, the Cancer advisory Council of the California
Department of Health published a report in CALIFORNIA
MEDICINE. All of the physicians whose patients were
tested with laetrile. Yet, the report is represented
to prove that laetrile produces no objective benefit.
The price for the report is seventeen dollars for an
an unnumbered mimeographed paper. Read by any thoughtful
physician, the report contains evidence that laetrile
works. But why would a doctor pay for an expensive report
to supposedly discover that an illegal Vitamin doesn't work?
The battle is between the experts. The doctors are not to
blame. Laetrile is not even the issue. Freedom of choice
is.
...A PERSON WHO EATS TWO OR THREE ALMONDS EACH DAY NEED
NEVER FEAR CANCER..." EDGAR CAYCE
1158-30
6/21/76 Article from U.S. News & World Reports [Page 46]:
HEATING UP: LATEST BATTLE OVER A CANCER "CURE"
The Federal Government has begun a major crackdown on the
purveyors of laetrile, a cancer "cure" made from the pits
of apricots.
On May 26, a grand jury in San Diego, Calif., accused 19
persons of smuggling laetrile into the U.S. from laboratories
that produce it in Tijuana, Mexico.
"In California, laetrile is the No. 1 quackery," says Mike
Bogumill of the food and drug section of the California State
health department. "It's been the big one for the past four
or five years."
Although the drug, also known as amygdalin and vitamin B-17,
has been condemned as useless by the Federal Food and Drug
Administration, the National Cancer Society, it is still in
use by thousands of cancer patients in the country who either
pay large amounts for smuggled laetrile or visit clinics in
Tijuana for shots.
A "SAD" SIGHT. "What is sad to see people wasting their last
nickel or dime in Mexico being hauled over dusty roads to
clinics," says Herbert B. Hoffman, the federal prosecutor
who headed the team whose investigation resulted in the May
26 indictment.
One of the sources of information for those seeking
treatments at the Mexican clinics is the Los Angeles-based
International Association of Cancer Victims and Friends.
In one year, it has grown from 8 small chapters to 46
chapters with 20,000 members.
John Steinbacher, executive director of the organization,
told U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: "Thousands of people are
on laetrile in the United States. At least 200 doctors
are giving it or looking the other way."
Supporters of the use of laetrile say this is the way it
works: The drug, which ordinarily is injected, flows
through the body until it reaches a cancer. Then a substance
contained in cancer cells, but not in normal cells, releases
hydrocyanic acid from the laetrile, destroying the cancer
cell. Even in cases where the cancer is so far advanced
that no cure is possible, the supporters say, laetrile
decreases pain and reduces the need for mind-numbing drugs.
In a tragic number of cases, those who have tried to verify
claims of cures based on laetrile therapy have found the
patients dead or dying of cancer. In 1973, Pennsylvania
authorities confiscated a movie showing patients "cured"
of cancer by laetrile. When an attempt was made to contact
those shown in the film, all were dead of cancer.
A NOTED DANGER. If carefully used, laetrile does not seem
to be harmful, according to medical experts. The greatest
danger, say officials of the American Cancer Society, is
that persons who resort to laetrile and other quack remedies
delay getting treatment that could save their lives.
For those who deal in laetrile, the amounts of money involved
can be very large. Specific counts listed in the San Diego
indictment, for example, included bank deposits by two of
those indicated totaling more than 1.5 million dollars
apiece.
But for others of those involved in the distribution or use
of laetrile, the drug has become the symbol of governmental
oppression. They ask why people should be prevented from
taking a drug they think will help them so long as it is
not dangerous in itself.
Members of the John Birch Society have been among the most
outspoken on this "freedom of choice" issue. But, in the
San Francisco Bay area, members of groups at the opposite
end of the political spectrum have also joined in opposing
controls on the use of laetrile.
7/76 Dr. Wm. A. McGarey in A.R.E. Clinic, Inc., MEDICAL
RESEARCH BULLETIN, VOL. VI, #11:
CANCER THERAPY...using the disputed and oft-maligned
substance amygdalin, commonly called Laetrile, is interesting
to the reader of the Edgar Cayce material primarily because
Cayce suggested many years ago that eating three almonds a
day would have a significant effect on one's resistance to
cancer. Laetrile is in the news again - this time from
Alaska, where treatment with the controversial "drug" was
recently legalized in spite of the FDA ban on the substance.
The Federal Food and Drug Administration maintains that it
is not a proven treatment or cure for cancer, and some
physicians have been actually given prison sentences because
they dared use it for their patients. A judge in Oklahoma
not too long ago overruled the FDA in his state for one
person who was granted the legal right to import the
substance for his own use.
To the unobstructed observer, the situation is probably best
characterized as ridiculous. Physicians trying to do the
best for their patients who end up in the courts, patients
with cancer trying to choose for themselves how they will
be treated being denied that right - all this through a
federal bureau created by tax dollars paid by those same
people. Strange, isn't it? I would suppose, however, if
Cayce's suggestion is correct about reincarnataion, that some
of those who authored these obstructions probably had
previous lifetimes practicing the same kind of thing, for
this has been going on in one form or another ever since man
seriously attempted to do something good and creative.
Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation