Johns Hopkins Cancer Email Hoax

Here is something that has probably passed through your email box in the last few years. It’s called the “Johns Hopkins Update”. Here’s how they start the email:

“AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (‘TRY’, BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.”

So you’re hooked, right? It sounds great and apparently came from Johns Hopkins University, a reliable source for information. WRONG! It might surprise you to know that not everything that comes through your email is true!

Just like you have to do at the grocery store, don’t believe the packaging! This email has been circulating for years and has gone around so much that Johns Hopkins University actually debunks all the points in the email one by one. It’s great!

Here’s what I suggest that you do when you get an email, or even word-of-mouth story on the most “recent” or “hidden” cancer cures. If it’s an email, always check out Snopes to see if they have it listed. They are a great place to find out if the email is a known urban legend.

For cancer specific information, you can check out Quackwatch or Cancer Treatment Watch. They are a good place to find evidence based information regarding alternative cancer or health related treatments and “cures”. They give you the facts and leave it up to you to make a decision.

The Johns Hopkins Cancer Update Hoax:

For information on the origin of the email, check out this article from snopes.com: Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins.

And for the full article from Johns Hopkins regarding this email, check out their response here: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/news_events/featured/cancer_update_email_it_is_a_hoax.html.

Here are what I found to be the highlight:

Cancers Feed on Certain Foods

The
premise is that cancer cells feed on certain foods, and if a person
refrains from eating these foods, the cancer will die. According to our
experts, a poor diet and obesity associated with a poor diet is a risk
factor for the development of cancer.  However, there is no evidence
that certain foods alter the environment of an existing cancer, at the
cellular level, and cause it to either die or grow.

Eating less meat, while a good
choice for cancer prevention, does not free up enzymes to attack cancer
cells.

Moderation
is key, says Platz. As part of a balanced diet, sugar, salt, milk,
coffee, tea, meat, and chocolate–the foods the “Update” calls into
question–are all safe choices, she says. A
balanced nutritious diet, healthy weight, physical activity, and
avoiding alcoholic drinks may prevent as many as 1/3 of all cancers.
Platz recommends eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables
per day and limiting red and processed meats, like hot dogs.

Several Johns Hopkins experts participated in the World Cancer Research Fund – American Institute for Cancer Research report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective,
published in November 2007, which is considered by cancer prevention
experts to be an authoritative source of information on diet, physical
activity and cancer. Their recommendations for cancer prevention and for
good health in general are:

1. Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.
2. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day.
3. Avoid
   sugary drinks. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods (particularly
   processed foods high in added sugar, or low in fiber, or high in fat).
4. Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans.
5. Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork and lamb) and avoid processed meats.
6. If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women a day.
7. Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with salt (sodium).
8. Don’t use supplements to protect against cancer.

Our
experts recommend that people meet their nutritional needs through
their food choices. While vitamin supplements can be helpful in people
with nutritional deficiencies, evidence suggests that supplementation
above what the body can use provides no added health benefit.

Conclusion

Although well intentioned, many people forward emails that they do not know are accurate. Before you hit the FORWARD button for any email, check your facts! And when you find out that something isn’t true, reply all to whomever sent it to you and try to set the record straight.

Another strategy is to hit forward to anyone you would’ve forwarded it to and give them a heads up that an email hoax is going around, so that if they get it, they can stop the spread of misinformation. I think we could all benefit from a little less of that!

– Julie