Written by Helen Cooke, Helen Seers and the CAM-Cancer Consortium.
Updated August 4, 2011

Gerson therapy

Is it safe ?

There is concern that people may choose to use this regime as an alternative to chemotherapy, thereby avoiding mainstream treatment. The Gerson Institute does not recommend the use of chemotherapy with the diet since the chemotherapy is seen as a poison in the body, and during detoxification the body would find difficulty in dealing with the level of toxins 1. Several aspects of the Gerson therapy itself have been seen as possible causes of adverse effects. These include: coffee enemas, the restrictive nature of the diet, thyroid supplements and also the now disused practice of drinking liver juice. The American Cancer Society and the US National Cancer Institute, do not recommend the use of the Gerson therapy, warning that patients should not turn away from mainstream therapy to rely only on this alternative approach.

Adverse effects

Coffee enemas
Serious illnesses, colitis, electrolyte imbalance and even death have been associated with the use of coffee enemas 25. However, these incidences have not been reported in patients undergoing the Gerson treatment at the clinic. In two isolated cases reported two women in Seattle (one with cancer) died due to the enemas removing potassium from the body leading to serious electrolyte imbalance. In either case enemas were used more frequently than is recommended by the Gerson therapy guidelines. It is thought that continued home use of enemas may weaken the colon’s natural function leading to problems such as constipation and colitis 25.

Restricted diet
The use of a restricted detoxifying metabolic diet alongside enemas may cause an “inflammatory reaction” which is believed to be part of the healing process 12. Negative symptoms of this inflammatory reaction include dehydration, nausea, diarrhoea, flu-like symptoms and death 24.

Potassium
There are safety concerns over the excessive ingestion of potassium. Those with too much potassium in their blood may suffer from hyperkalemia; symptoms include muscle numbness, tingling, abnormal heart rhythm, paralysis and possible heart failure 26.

Calves liver juice
The drinking of calves’ liver juice was removed from the Gerson therapy guidelines in 1989 after a history of it being associated with infection with Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus 27. An outbreak of this bacterial infection was seen in 1981 28 which killed nine cancer patients who were thought to be using the Gerson treatment. After learning of this outbreak staff at the Gerson Institute worked with those at the clinic in Mexico to ensure patient safety and by 1989 the policy of drinking liver juice was altered to receiving crude liver extract injections..

Interactions

Due to the complex nature of the therapy many interactions with other drugs may occur.

Citation Helen Cooke, Helen Seers, CAM-Cancer Consortium. Gerson therapy [online document]. http://www.cam-cancer.org/CAM-Summaries/Dietary-approaches/Gerson-therapy. August 4, 2011.

References

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  3. Personal communication with H. Strauss, representative of the Gerson Institute, 16th August 2004.
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  11. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Cancer Institute Statement, "Unproven Methods: The Gerson Therapy," February 5, 1987.
  12. Gerson, M. A Cancer Therapy. Results of Fifty Cases, 6th Ed. Bonita, CA: Gerson Institute, 1999.
  13. Avery, RJ, Office of Cancer Communications, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, letter to G. Dego, University of London, August 24, 1982.
  14. Reed A, James, N, & Sikora, K. Mexico: juices, coffee enemas, and cancer. Lancet, 1990; 336 (8716):677-678.
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  22. Ernst, E & Cassileth, BR. The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine in cancer: a systematic review. Cancer 1998; 83(4): 777-82.
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  25. Eisele, JW, & Reay, DT. Deaths related to coffee enemas, JAMA. 1980; 244: 1608-9.
  26. Tobian, L. Dietary sodium chloride and potassium have effects on the pathophysiology of hypertension in humans and animals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1997; 65: S606- S611.
  27. Gerson Institute, "Raw Liver Juice Has Been Discontinued," Memo, October 3 1989.
  28. Ginsberg, MM, Thompson, MA, Peter CR, et al., "Campylobacter Sepsis Associated With 'Nutritional Therapy'--California," M.M.W.R. 1981; 30(24): 294-295.
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