Max Gerson (October 18, 1881 – March 8, 1959) was a German physician who developed the Gerson Therapy, an alternative dietary therapy, which he claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases. Gerson described his approach in the book A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. However, when Gerson's claims were examined by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), they found that his records lacked the basic information necessary to systematically evaluate his claims. The NCI concluded that his data showed no benefit from his treatment.[1] The therapy is scientifically unsupported and potentially hazardous.[2][3]
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Gerson was born in Wongrowitz (Wągrowiec, now in Poland) on October 18, 1881. In 1909, he graduated from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. He began practicing medicine at age 28 in Breslau, later specializing in internal medicine and nerve diseases in Bielefeld.[4] By 1927, he was specializing in the treatment of tuberculosis, developing the Gerson-Sauerbrach-Hermannsdorfer diet, claiming it was a major advance in the treatment of tuberculosis.[4] Initially, he used his therapy as a treatment for migraine headaches and tuberculosis. In 1928, he began to use it as a treatment for cancer.[5] He left Germany in 1933 and emigrated first to Vienna, where he worked in the West End Sanatorium. Gerson spent two years in Vienna, then in 1935 he went to France, associating with a clinic near Paris before moving to London in 1936. Shortly after that, he moved to the United States where he settled in New York City.[4]
Gerson emigrated to the United States in 1936, passed his medical board examination and became a U.S. citizen in 1942.[4]
In 1946, Senator Claude Pepper (D–FL) summoned Gerson to testify about his cancer therapy before a Congressional Subcommittee hearing to appropriate $100 million for a cancer research center in which Gerson was expected to play a major part. Gerson presented to the U.S. Congress what he claimed were five healed terminal cancer patients who testified to recovering from incurable disease, but he got little media attention and the appropriations bill (SB 8947) died in the Senate.
In the U.S., Gerson applied his dietary therapy to several cancer patients, claiming good results, but other workers found his methodology and claims unconvincing. Proponents of the Gerson Therapy assert that a far-ranging conspiracy headed by the medical establishment prevented Gerson from publishing proof that his therapy worked.[6] In 1958, Gerson published a book in which he claimed to have cured 50 terminal cancer patients: A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. Gerson's medical license in New York was suspended in 1958.[7] Gerson died March 8, 1959 of pneumonia.[4][8]
Initially, Gerson used his therapy as a treatment for migraine headaches and tuberculosis. In 1928, he began to use it as a treatment for cancer, its best known application.[5]
Gerson Therapy is based on the belief that disease is caused by the accumulation of unspecified toxins, and attempts to treat the disease by having patients consume a vegetarian diet including hourly glasses of organic juice and various dietary supplements. In addition, patients receive enemas of coffee, castor oil and sometimes hydrogen peroxide or ozone.[9] The original protocol also included raw calf liver extract daily but this practice was discontinued after several patients died following an outbreak of Campylobacter infection.[10] Gerson's daughter, Charlotte Gerson, continued to promote the therapy, founding the "Gerson Institute" in 1977.
Gerson's therapy has not been independently tested or subjected to randomized controlled trials, and thus is illegal to market in the United States.[1] The Gerson Institute promotes the therapy by citing patient testimonials and other anecdotal evidence.[11] Gerson published a book discussing the alleged success of the therapy in 50 patients, but a review by the U.S. National Cancer Institute was unable to find any evidence that Gerson's claims were accurate.[3] Similarly, several case series by Gerson Institute staff published in the alternative medical literature suffered from significant methodological flaws, and no independent entity has been able to reproduce the claims.[3]
Attempts to independently check the results of the therapy have been negative. A group of 13 patients sickened by elements of the Gerson Therapy were evaluated in hospitals in San Diego in the early 1980s; all 13 were found to still have active cancer.[10] An investigation by Quackwatch found that the Institute's claims of cure were based not on actual documentation of survival, but on "a combination of the doctor's estimate that the departing patient has a 'reasonable chance of surviving', plus feelings that the Institute staff have about the status of people who call in."[12] In 1994, a study published in the alternative medical literature described 18 patients treated for cancer with the Gerson Therapy. Their median survival from treatment was 9 months. Five years after receiving the Gerson treatment, 17 of the 18 patients had died of their cancer, while the one surviving patient had active non-Hodgkin lymphoma.[13]
The American Cancer Society reported that "[t]here is no reliable scientific evidence that Gerson therapy is effective in treating cancer, and the principles behind it are not widely accepted by the medical community. It is not approved for use in the United States."[2] In 1947, the National Cancer Institute reviewed 10 claimed cures submitted by Gerson; however, all of the patients were receiving standard anticancer treatment simultaneously, making it impossible to determine what effect, if any, was due to Gerson's therapy.[14] A review of the Gerson Therapy by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center concluded: "If proponents of such therapies wish them to be evaluated scientifically and considered valid adjuvant treatments, they must provide extensive records (more than simple survival rates) and conduct controlled, prospective studies as evidence."[3] In 1947 and 1959, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) reviewed the cases of a total of 60 patients treated by Dr. Gerson. The NCI found that the available information did not prove the regimen had benefit.
Gerson therapy can lead to several significant health problems. Serious illness and death have occurred as a direct result of some portions of the treatment, including severe electrolyte imbalances. Continued use of enemas may weaken the colon's normal function, causing or worsening constipation and colitis. Other complications have included dehydration, serious infections and severe bleeding.[2]
The therapy may be especially hazardous to pregnant or breast-feeding women.[2]
Coffee enemas have contributed to the deaths of at least three people in the United States. Coffee enemas "can cause colitis (inflammation of the bowel), fluid and electrolyte imbalances, and in some cases septicaemia."[15] The recommended diet may not be nutritionally adequate.[16] The diet has been blamed for the deaths of patients who substituted it for standard medical care.[17]
Relying on the therapy alone while avoiding or delaying conventional medical care for cancer has serious health consequences.[2]