The world of pseudoscience is full of erroneous messages that indicate that our sufferings can be found in previous traumatic experiences.
They adorn it with a series of strange and esoteric words that seem to contain something important such as “bioneuroemotion”, “biodecoding”, “family constellations”, “New Germanic Medicine”… The biggest problem with all these pseudoscientific currents is that they deny the biological nature of our illnesses. And, among them, that of cancer. Let's take a quick look at this constellation of absurdities.
As with all pseudosciences, there is always a grain of truth that makes these movements seem to rest on some scientific knowledge. The basis that they all share is both psychological and physical stress.
It is true that many studies associate stress with the worsening of multiple diseases, especially chronic ones. And we can affirm that the beginning and development of certain types of cancer are fueled in a certain way by stress, but by a very different one: that which is mediated by cellular imbalances associated with oxidative damage, viral infections, damage from harmful substances or hormonal imbalance, among others.
But they are not what these pseudotherapies are interested in. According to biodecoding, cancer is caused by a very intense biological conflict in which stress management has not given rise to a mild symptom. Does anyone really understand what exactly that means?
We could interpret it as that the stress that caused the cancer could have been more benign and caused less damage. In that case, the transformation that caused a cell to end up becoming cancer would not have been generated. Yes, it is logical, but how do we reverse that once it has occurred? Therein lies the problem: removing stress will not make cancer cells normal again. That is not going to happen.
According to some sources, biodecoding postulates that each type of tumor corresponds to a specific conflict. Therefore, we are not talking about biological stress, but rather about psychological issues that have nothing to do with the cause of the disease.
Thus, lung cancer would have to do with the fear of dying and I suppose not at all with smoking or pollution. Liver cancer occurs with a lack of sustenance and not with alcohol consumption, hepatitis or unbalanced diets. And the kidney with loneliness or abandonment and not with the main function of the kidney, which is to filter all the toxins from the body.
As you will understand, these relationships between cancer and normal life make no head or tail from a scientific point of view. The causes of cancer are found in the damage caused to the DNA of cells by physical, chemical or biological agents, and nothing else.
But there is no shortage of medical trends that claim to have scientific evidence that corroborates the absurdity. The German doctor Ryke Geerd Hamer is considered the father of the so-called Germanic New Medicine. According to this current, Hamer demonstrated in 1981 using a simple brain scan that the alterations in specific areas of the brain caused by the emotional impact can be seen. The curious thing about the case is that the good doctor does not seem to have left published scientific literature for later but rather his own experiences and those of other patients.
From this concept of suffering that causes cancer and other diseases, other levels appear, such as the so-called family constellations. This pseudotherapy is based on the fact that many of our conflicts come from family relationships, so discovering these conflicts would be the key to avoiding, and even curing, cancer.
The question is how and there we find bioneuroemotion, consisting of relaxation and meditation therapies that lead to assuming conflicts. This will make the stress we suffer and those harmful thoughts disappear. And, with them, cancer.
As I have already mentioned, there is a relationship between biological stress and cancer. Originally, physical agents – such as X rays or ultraviolet rays –, chemical agents – such as many substances that interact with DNA – or biological agents – such as viruses – cause damage to DNA and cause mutations that end up producing cellular transformation leads to cancer.
Even later, cancer cells cause stress in their environment in order to grow better. Like the aliens in the movies that invade Earth, modifying the environment at their convenience, cancer cells modify the environment in which they are found by releasing substances such as lactate, which generate metabolic stress. This causes, among other things, that cancer cells can grow better, eliminating normal cells, feed better, generate new blood vessels, and avoid attack by the immune system.
Even different compounds released by cancer cells modify the activity of macrophages in order to improve the conditions for tumor growth. These macrophages have a pro-inflammatory profile that affects the activity of other cells, including lymphocytes that should be able to attack and eliminate tumor cells.
Another component is oxidative stress, well known in antioxidant treatments that work for everything. The problem with oxidative stress is that it is a double-edged sword with respect to cancer. It can be used as a therapy to eliminate cells but it is also an important factor in causing their transformation into tumors.
As you have seen, lifestyle habits and exposure to agents of all kinds that we cannot avoid can seriously affect us. Chronic stress from daily life can aggravate the effect of these agents and could obviously be important in the case of cancer, although it is not at all clear. Obviously, facing the illness in a more positive way can help reduce the harmful effect of chronic stress, but blaming the family or the fact that we are afraid of something is not a solution.
Do not be fooled: pseudotherapies, any of them, even homeopathy, endanger patients who, in their attempt to fight cancer, throw themselves into the arms of anyone who opens a door to hope for them by abandoning medicine. that does work and attacks cancer in the most specific way, the medicine that knows the causes and addresses each type of cancer with the most effective treatment.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
