Max Gerson (October 18, 1881 – March 8, 1959) was a German-born American physician who developed the Gerson therapy, a pseudoscientific dietary-based
alternative cancer treatment that he falsely claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases. Gerson therapy involves a plant-based diet with
coffee enemas,
ozone enemas, dietary supplements, and raw calf liver extract; the latter was discontinued in the 1980s after patients were hospitalized for bacterial infections.
Gerson described his approach in the book ''A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases'' (1958). The
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...
evaluated Gerson's claims and concluded that his data showed no benefit from his treatment.
The therapy is both ineffective and dangerous.
Serious illness and deaths have resulted from Gerson therapy.
Early life and career
Gerson was born to a Jewish family in
Wongrowitz,
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
(Wągrowiec, now in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
), on October 18, 1881.
Gerson was the third of nine children born to Bernhard Gerson and Ulricke Gerson, nee Abraham.
Education
Gerson attended the local Jewish school in Wongrowitz, and later studied medicine in Breslau
,Wurzburg
and Berlin
before graduating from the
Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg in 1909.
Medical career
He began practicing medicine at age 28 in Breslau
(
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
, now in Poland), later specializing in
internal medicine
Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...
and nerve diseases in
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
.
By 1927, he was specializing in the treatment of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, developing the Gerson-Sauerbruch-Hermannsdorfer diet, claiming it was a major advance in the treatment of tuberculosis.
Initially, he used his therapy as a supposed treatment for
migraine headaches and tuberculosis. In 1928, he began to use it as a claimed treatment for
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
.
[ American Cancer Society.]
Metabolic Therapy
". Accessed March 22, 2011. When the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
came to power in 1933 Gerson left Germany, emigrating to
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, where he worked in the West End Sanatorium. Gerson spent two years in Vienna, before moving to France in 1935, associating with a clinic near Paris before moving to London in 1936. Shortly thereafter, he moved to the United States, settling in New York City.
In the United States
Gerson emigrated to the United States in 1936, passed his medical board examination, and became a U.S. citizen in 1942.
[ 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 Gerson therapy believe a ]conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
headed by the medical establishment prevented Gerson from publishing proof that his therapy worked. In 1958, Gerson published a book in which he claimed to have cured 50 terminal cancer patients: ''A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases''. In 1953, Gerson's malpractice insurance was discontinued and, in 1958, his medical license in New York was suspended for two years.[
]
Personal life
Gerson married Margarete Rose Hope on 20 November 1916, in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia. With issue;
Johanna b. 1917-?)
Jenny
Gertrude (b. 1918-d. 1964)
Charlotte (b. 1922-d. 2021)
Death
Gerson died on March 8, 1959, of pneumonia. A conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
* ...
has subsequently spread that Gerson was murdered following a lifetime of supposed persecution.
Gerson therapy
Initially, Gerson used his therapy as a treatment for migraine headaches and tuberculosis. In 1928, he began to use it as a supposed treatment for cancer.[
Gerson therapy is based on the belief that cancer is the result of a deteriorating metabolism from an impaired liver function.] Gerson therapy aims to restore the body to health by repairing the liver and return metabolism to its normal state. The therapy promotes the idea that cancer is caused by alteration of cell metabolism by processed food and toxic environmental substances which alter its sodium and potassium content. It also emphasizes limiting sodium and increasing potassium intake to detoxify the liver. Coffee enemas are said to cause excretion of toxic breakdown products by the liver and through the colon wall. None of these ideas are supported by scientific research. Gerson commented that his therapy aimed to create a "near normal condition of the oxidizing system in the body, to which malignant cells with the fermentation system cannot adapt".
Gerson therapy claims to treat the disease by having patients consume a plant-based diet including hourly glasses of vegetable juice, raw calf's liver extracts and various dietary supplement
A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...
s. Meals are restricted to baked potatoes, oatmeal, salad, cooked and raw vegetables and fruits. Meat and dairy is excluded and only introduced in small amounts back into the diet after 4 or 6 weeks. Berries, nuts, salt, vegetable oils and drinking water are forbidden indefinitely. All canned, frozen and refined foods are excluded and a special grinder and press is required for juicing.
In addition, patients receive enemas of coffee, castor oil and hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...
or ozone
Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...
. Since 1983, Gerson therapy has involved the use of ozone enemas, where up to 150mg of ozone is administered rectally.
After Gerson's death, his daughter Charlotte Gerson (March 25, 1922 - February 10, 2019) continued to promote the therapy, founding the "Gerson Institute" in 1977. The original protocol also included raw calf's liver
The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...
taken orally, but this practice was discontinued in the 1980s after ten patients were hospitalized (five of them coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
tose) from January 1979 to March 1981 in San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, area hospitals due to infection with the rare bacterium '' Campylobacter fetus.'' This infection was seen only in those following Gerson-type therapy with raw liver (no other cases of patients having sepsis with this microbe, a pathogen in cattle, had been reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...
in the previous two years). Nine of ten hospitalized patients had been treated in Tijuana
Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
, Mexico; the tenth followed Gerson therapy at home. One of these patients who had metastatic melanoma died within a week of his septic episode. Many of the patients had low sodium levels, thought to be associated with the very low sodium Gerson diet.[ On-line link to this report a]
CDC Stacks
Accessed 17 October 2012. The photographer Garry Winogrand died of gallbladder cancer in a Gerson Clinic in Tijuana.
Evidence
Gerson's therapy has not been independently tested or subjected to randomized controlled trial
A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical ...
s, and thus is illegal to market in the United States. The Gerson Institute promotes the therapy by citing patient testimonials and other anecdotal evidence. Gerson published a book discussing the alleged success of the therapy in 50 patients, but a review by the U.S. National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...
was unable to find any evidence that Gerson's claims were accurate. The NCI found that no ''in vivo
Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, an ...
'' animal studies had been conducted. Similarly, case series by Gerson Institute staff published in the alternative medical literature suffered from methodological flaws, and no independent entity has been able to reproduce the claims.
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
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
in the early 1980s; all 13 were found to still have active cancer. 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".
The American Cancer Society reported that " ere 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." In 1947, the National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...
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. A review of the Gerson therapy by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...
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". In 1959, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) again reviewed cases of patients treated by Gerson. The NCI found that the available information did not prove the regimen had benefit. Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...
states that "Available scientific evidence does not support any claims that Gerson therapy can treat cancer ..Gerson therapy can be very harmful to your health."
Safety concerns
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.[ Proponents of the therapy advise ceasing conventional cancer treatment, and this further risks causing harm.
Continued use of ]enema
An enema, also known as a clyster, is the rectal administration of a fluid by injection into the Large intestine, lower bowel via the anus.Cullingworth, ''A Manual of Nursing, Medical and Surgical'':155 The word ''enema'' can also refer to the ...
s may weaken the colon's normal function, causing or worsening constipation
Constipation is a bowel dysfunction that makes bowel movements infrequent or hard to pass. The Human feces, stool is often hard and dry. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling as if one has not completely passed the ...
and colitis. Other complications have included dehydration, serious infections and severe bleeding.
The therapy is not recommended for pregnant or breast-feeding women and certain cancers and illnesses.
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 septicemia". The recommended diet may not be nutritionally adequate. The diet has been blamed for the deaths of patients who substituted it for standard medical care.
Jessica Ainscough, better known as "The Wellness Warrior", was a major proponent of the Gerson diet after her diagnosis with cancer. She rejected medical treatment and followed the diet strictly, documenting her progress in a popular blog. She died from her untreated cancer in February 2015, aged 29.
See also
* Chelation therapy
* List of diets
* List of unproven and disproven cancer treatments
* Belle Gibson
References
External links
*
Questionable Cancer Therapies
from Quackwatch (includes section on Gerson therapy with references)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerson, Max
1881 births
1959 deaths
Alternative cancer treatment advocates
Alternative detoxification promoters
Deaths from pneumonia in New York City
People from Wągrowiec
People from the Province of Posen
University of Breslau alumni
University of Würzburg alumni
University of Freiburg alumni
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
Physicians from New York (state)
Plant-based diet advocates
Pseudoscientific diet advocates