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distant history - overview

“The history of amygdalin therapy in the treatment of cancer, in whatever form, can be traced back to the earliest written records of human history.” (Halstead p12)

 “It was of interest to the writer to note how completely the history of the herbal treatment of cancer has been identified with the history of medicine, indeed of civilization.” (Hartwell p2)

 “To cite the best documented instance, this treatment has been the concern of medical writers beginning with one of the two origins of Western medicine – Egypt – and continuing through ancient Greece and Rome and on to the Arabians, the School of Salerno, medieval and modern Europe and finally the Americas.”  (Hartwell p2)

 Dr Hartwell worked at the National Cancer Institute in the US from 1938 until his retirement from the NCI’s Natural Products Section in 1975. Born in 1906 and educated at Harvard, he earnt a bachelor’s degree in 1927, a masters in 1929 and a doctorate in 1935.

 While researching chemical agents responsible for anticancer activity in mice he increasingly became aware of the extensive use of plants throughout history in the treatment of cancer. What began as a survey eventually resulted in a compendium of over 3,000 plant species.

 He initially published his finding in a series of magazine articles in a scientific magazine. These were later gathered together into a book entitled “Plants Used Against Cancer: A survey”, published in 1982 in Massachusetts.

 As has been stated elsewhere, amygdalin exists in a greater or lesser concentration in some 1,200 foodstuffs.

 However it is striking to note the correlation between foods that are rich in amygdalin and those that have been use as treatment for cancer over the past 2,500 years as set out in Dr Hartwell’s book.

 This in itself does not of course provide conclusive proof of its efficacy in the way that perhaps a double blind study would but it does remove it from the realm of quackery and shows amygdalin to be worthy of serious study.

 On the left of the screen you will see a list of foods. When you click on a selection the references to treatment for cancer are taken from Dr Hartwell’s book, unless otherwise stated.

 The list by no means includes all of the plants containing amygdalin which are mentioned in Dr Hartwell’s book but is presented as a reasonable cross section.