The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis

This courageous and altogether horrible book is about as unsettling as it can get. So let me warn comfortable readers here and now. In the process, industry and its propaganda hit men have used every opportunity to discredit, dismiss or disparage information on cancer hazards in the workplace or at home. What began as sincere investigation into the economic root causes of a complex set of 200 different diseases quickly degenerated into a single-minded focus on treatments after the Second World War, argues Devra Davis, one of North America’s sharpest epidemiologists (her previous book, When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution, was a finalist for the National Book Award).

Since then, the cancer establishment has retreated from the truth faster than Canada’s commitment to a greener country. Everyone agreed that arsenic and benzene were workplace killers, too. Others explained how regular exposure to the hormone estrogen prompted male rodents to grow unseemly breasts. A meticulous Argentine showed how sunlight combined with hydrocarbons could sprout tumours on rats. A British scientist, who had studied identical twins, argued that cancer wasn’t inherited, but mostly the product of early chemical exposures in life.

The gathering heard a lot about workshop hazards and environmental toxins. In 1936, the world’s cancer experts assembled in Brussels to talk shop. Davis’ book.Īndrew Nikiforuk’s Review of The Secret History of the War on Cancer, written by Devra Davis, PhD, MPH. I am grateful to have the permission of Andrew Nikiforuk, a well known Canadian journalist, to share his helpful review of Dr. It’s called The Secret History of the War on Cancer, written by Devra Davis, PhD, MPH. My wariness of the mainstream cancer-fighting industry pertains to what I believe is excessive and often times inappropriate use of chemotherapy and radiation, as well as the lack of attention that is given to relevant environmental and personal lifestyle factors.Īt long last, a devastating and truly noteworthy book on this topic has been published. For example, for a good number of people that I have worked with over the past several years, I have fully supported and encouraged surgical excision of malignant tumours. I am not completely against conventional medical treatment options for different types of cancer. For many years, I have explained to questioning family members and friends why I cannot support conventional cancer-fighting fundraising campaigns.

The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis