cancer

Doctor Jesus The Franchise - the Diagnosis

Tue, 12/01/2009 - 15:44

Following the post I wrote in November about the Healing Rooms, I have now heard back from both Halifax and East Renfrewshire Trading Standards. The Advertising Standards Authority were not interested in this one and passed me on to TS.

The results are not exactly pleasing.

Halifax TS (where the Healing Rooms English HQ is) said: ‘Having examined these websites I do not consider that they contravene the provisions of the Cancer Act 1939 nor the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.’

East Renfrewshire TS said: 'In response to your complaint I can confirm the following.

East Renfrewshire Council Trading Standards do not enforce the Cancer Act 1937.
Healing Rooms have indicated that they will make amendments to the website as follows:

Doctor Jesus - The Franchise

Wed, 11/18/2009 - 18:35

Coming soon to a town near you – healing through the power of prayer.

A group called The Healing Rooms is spreading its tentacles across the UK. The Starbucks of faith healing, their mission statement is:

Understanding Cancer Part 2 – Telomerase, the Road to Immortality, and the Nobel Prize

Wed, 10/07/2009 - 23:20

Most denizens of the interwebs (at least of this corner of the interwebs) will have heard the announcement that the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will be given to Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for their work on telomeres - the structures found at the ends of human chromosomes. You may already have read a little about the research behind it (if not, the NobelPrize.org press release is a very good place to start) so I’ll try to keep the background as short as possible. What I would like to do here is to explain the assertions that “cancer research has also benefited from the Nobel-winning trio's work”.

The Patrick Swayze Tabloid Death Prediction Game

Tue, 09/15/2009 - 12:45

There are lies and damned lies, and then there are stories produced by tabloid health editors. Yesterday one of their favourite topics, Patrick Swayze, star of Ghost, Dirty Dancing and various other films I've been forced to watch by girlfriends, tragically died of pancreatic cancer at just 57 years old. His death followed a two-year battle with the disease, and two years in which his every appearance fuelled a sort of sick and morbid game among tabloid hacks to predict his demise. Here's a little run through of the Daily Mail's various predictions over the last 18 months.

The story broke in the first week of March 2008, and the papers gave less chance of seeing the summer than Frosty the Snowman.

Cow Urine Therapy vs. Cancer. Oh dear.

Mon, 03/17/2008 - 03:01

"All the experiments have been performed on native Indian cow, which has hump on her back, and long fan shaped skin flap below neck. This is the identification of native Indian cow. We believe that hump serves as a pyramid and absorbs cosmic rays from the universe." Welcome to the, er, science of Cow Urine Therapy.