Could the coronavirus shutdown cause cancer death rates to rise?

Two months ago, I predicted that the U.S. government’s draconian measures to control the coronavirus pandemic (or the panic about it) would lead to far-reaching, unplanned effects on virtually all other aspects of our health and well-being.

For example, doctors have stopped performing elective surgeries and other procedures across the country. In addition, endoscopy and colonoscopy clinics have gone dark. Even routine cancer screenings—such as mammograms—have ceased.

As a result, most pathology work has also come to a complete halt. And that’s a real concern…

Pathologists do the real diagnosing of cancer

Pathologists are in the business of spotting and diagnosing real cancer. They examine biopsied cells under the microscope and determine whether individual cells look like cancer. If the cells do look malignant, they assign them a “grade.”

I worked as a hospital pathologist during my residency from 1980 to 1983, before going into forensic pathology investigation, as a Medical Examiner, and then research investigation. In my experience, the routine pathology workload was always heavy, even back then, before the country’s over-zealous cancer screening programs had really kicked into high gear.

But now, according to Yale pathologist Benjamin Mazer, M.D., the daily deluge of colon polyps, cervical samples, and prostate biopsies that he usually examines for cancer at his pathology lab has suddenly dried up.

Of course, patients who were already diagnosed with advanced cancer before the pandemic are still getting urgent care. (But here again, other reports I see say they are not always getting what they need.)

But Dr. Mazer worries about the patients with real cancers that weren’t biopsied and identified by his lab before the pandemic. Because those people are out there…and those with truly malignant and metastatic cancers are still growing and spreading while regular medical care is on hold. What will happen to them, since they won’t get diagnosed—and as a result, won’t get any treatment—during the outbreak?

Of course, this situation also presents a classic “Catch-22”…because while patients with undiagnosed aggressive cancers will likely suffer as a result of the shutdown, it may actually save many others. Here’s what I mean…

One potential silver lining to this whole mess

Temporarily halting routine cancer screenings during the pandemic should curtail the problem of finding “fake cancers”…even if for just a short time. And that’s a good thing!

All too often, the mainstream aggressively treats these “fake” cancers, leading to all kinds of unnecessary harms, costs, and worries. Including toxic, medieval treatments that cause secondary, often untreatable cancers. When the sad truth is, those “fake” cancers would not have harmed the patients or shortened their lives in the first place!

The American Cancer Society even came out and stated that, “nobody should go to a healthcare facility for routine cancer screening at this time.” But it makes you wonder, if these routine screenings are so critical—how can we all afford to skip them now?

Well, as Dr. Mazer pointed out, suspending routine screenings during the coronavirus pandemic panic will certainly serve as a “natural experiment.” Does “catching it early” really make a difference, as we’re so often told? Will we see more advanced cancers (rather than early cancers) once regular screenings resume? Or—will we have the same number of cancer deaths in 2020 as we did in previous years before the coronavirus shutdown?

In the end, the real victims are still the patients with real cancers. And sadly, during the coronavirus shutdown, they may not get diagnosed and treated in a timely manner.

Which brings me to another philosophical question…

Why has the concern about the coronavirus pandemic so completely silenced the real epidemics of cancer—as well as Alzheimer’s dementia, heart disease, and Type II diabetes—not to mention caring for tens of millions of people dealing with chronic pain each and every day—in our society?

In my view, the answer ties into something I recently discussed in another Dispatch

Mainstream medicine prefers to focus on “outside invaders.” Focusing on these outside threats and risks is easier than turning the focus inward on factors we can control—such as our diet and lifestyle. It also explains why mainstream medicine seems to return again and again to using metaphors of war.

 But our battle against coronavirus really serves to put the endless war on cancer in perspective…

Real cancer is far more deadly than coronavirus

COVID-19 appears to show a real fatality rate of 1 percent (or less, as we begin to get real numbers). But a real cancer, especially when left undetected and untreated as is happening now, has a far greater fatality rate.

So, when this current battle ends, how many innocent people will have lost their lives to real cancers and other chronic diseases because the politicians and public health experts decided we could not fight a medical war on two fronts?

Fortunately, you don’t have to be a passive bystander as the politicians and health “experts” proclaim. And there are places to turn for the answers you need RIGHT NOW.

In fact, as I’ve reported before, there are dozens of safe, natural alternatives for preventing, detecting, AND treating cancer. And I’ve outlined them all in my groundbreaking online learning tool, my Authentic Anti-Cancer Protocol. To learn more about this innovative protocol, or to enroll today, click here now!

In addition, I suggest you take some practical steps to support your overall immunity, including supplementing daily with 10,000 IU of vitamin D. (You can learn more about my top immune health recommendations in my Pandemic Protection Playbook: How to become “immune ready” in every season. To gain access this essential guide, click here now!)

Source:

“Will Coronavirus Restrictions Lead to More Advanced Cancers?” Medscape, 4/22/20. (medscape.com/viewarticle/929089)