To badly paraphrase former US President Bill Clinton, 'It's the Evidence, Stupid!' Or, should I say, all the massive evidence regarding nutrition and cancer, which is in the public domain, freely available to anyone with access either to the internet or to library journals.

In fact, beyond nutrition and cancer, I include all the massive published research evidence regarding the many disciplines of alternative and complementary medicine – herbal medicine, aromatherapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, massage, relaxation, stress reduction, etc. etc. etc.

Several decades ago, the assertion by the conventional medical establishment was that there was no evidence about complementary medicine. These assertions sent many diligent scientists and clinicians around the world scurrying to gather the evidence, perform research, write and publish about the findings in the many hundreds of learned journals.

And what is the result, even after these many years, when books have been published such as John Boik's Natural Compounds in Cancer Therapy (4000 references) (reviewed this issue page 5), Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective (>3000 references), and The Politics of Cancer Revisited (>1000 references) (see cover feature, page 34)? The result is a big, fat ZERO!

Or, to paraphrase Dr Walter Barker (see letter, page 46 ..." Most of those who advocate the narrowly medical view of health seem to lack any awareness of the vast world of natural health care and alternative therapies that have existed since the beginning of time. Anything outside of their narrow understanding of health is simply ignored..."

My own understanding of the big, black hole into which any evidence about complementary medicine appears to fall has certainly progressed since my days as a naïve research scientist, when I believed that if a health problem existed, scientific/medical research would find a solution, which would then lead to a cure or amelioration of people's suffering.

Even a cursory look at the media – quality and tabloid press, television, internet – reveals the deep malaise, suspicion, cynicism and desperation felt by a growing horde of people suffering the ravages of major serious as well as minor chronic ailments. At the outset, they accept the standard treatment, which, if it succeeds, well and good. However, if, as is often the case, the treatment causes even worse side effects, they learn the very hard lesson that modern medicine doesn't always have a cure and that certain drugs may, in fact, make certain conditions worse.

Readers, please read the patient case studyr of David Galsworthy, a man with terminal prostate cancer, who given up for dead, used radical nutritional approaches and is alive and kicking today (see page 47).

Read also about the case of the man who lived with sneezing 700 times daily for 35 years until he was finally diagnosed with an allergy to oats and egg yolks (see review, page 6)!! This poor man had made the rounds of 60 NHS doctors and ended up in hospital 3 times, but to no avail.

Another horrific case in point concerns the recent finding that treating children with eczema with creams containing peanut oils, may be causally related to the development of a potentially lethal peanut allergy. If one presents to the doctor with a complaint such as an allergy or eczema or psoriasis, there are few standard medical treatments, apart from emollient and/or steroid creams. If doctors are only taught drug treatments during their medical training, and are not instructed about nutrition, herbal medicine, or other approaches, then they cannot be counted upon to come up with such alternative or complementary treatments.

It may be true that there are no absolute alternative or complementary cures for eczema, hay fever, arthritis or cancer, but there is a wealth of clinical practice and a fairly large body of published research evidence which point to other approaches than merely using drugs.

If the doctor is only taught ABC, he or she doesn't know XYZ.

However, the research evidence is not hidden or suppressed. There are many thousands of research scientists, many of whom work for the pharmaceutical companies, who are performing the research about the potent anti-cancer action of many herbs and nutrients. Many of them read magazines such as Positive Health. But, incredibly, I have never once heard an oncologist, politician or broadcaster mention steps to apply nutritional approaches to cancer treatment and prevention. How many more decades or centuries will it take?