Prolegomenon to unified theories of cancer and other diseases

May 18, 2009

There seems to be no end to the simple minded understandings of

complex phenonmena. Scientifically naive clinicians, theorists,

marketers, and their followers love the use of the language of

science to sell products or enhance reputations. The theories

usually come in tandem with products for sale. This is naturally

promulgated by the unearned respect we foolishly accord those who

prance around with titles awarded by turf-protecting

institutions. We then throw away our money for their nostrums and

" services. " Not all of these marketeers are knaves; all too many of

them believe their own spiels.

Half the people on this list are smart enough to come up with a new

theory of cancer every ten minutes for the rest of their lives. It

is as easy as dreaming up a new religion. If the theories are

presented using the language of science and a little haughtiness,

then wealth and a parochial fame will soon follow.

It is easy enough to amuse yourself by developing your own

theories. The easiest way is to pick any common biological

phenomenon that seems to be involved in most biochemical pathways and

make a big to-do of it. Examples include the transfer of electrons

and redox reactions, methylation reactions, histone deacetylase

reactions, cellular membrane potentials, pH within any number of

anatomical/cellular compartments, pKa of all purified foods and

medicines and ion trapping, handedness/chirality of candidate

supplements, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibition, protein

storage, salvage pathways, secondary messenger systems and cell

signalling, chemotaxis, electron spin, purinergic signaling,

etc. Then there are the flakier theories you can pattern after liver

flukes, polonium, candida, any number of taxonomy-defying life forms,

of plasma, electomagnetic, and magnetic devices.

It is incredibly easy for practitioners to cash in on this. Their

" client's " money is always harvested as quickly as possible and then

the victim is blamed for his/her own demise. Not every root canal

was extracted. A freon-containing refrigerator remained inside the

house. Food was nuked in a microwave. They didn't use the extra

pure supplements sold by the practitioner. Their bed was parked over

a ley line and faced the wrong direction.

Each simplistic theory of disease claims to explain virtually

everything. How does that differ from any religion?

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