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While this is an interesting subject, the article is very ambiguous abous the causality relationship: > Soon after Sean found out his cancer had returned, when

While this is an interesting subject, the article is very ambiguous abous the causality relationship: > Soon after Sean found out his cancer had returned, when he had decided he was rejecting chemotherapy, the pair found themselves watching countless YouTube videos It seems to me that he had already decided not to undergo chemiotherapy, and clinged on whatever it was available, or at least, more subtly, he deeply wanted to find any other cure that was was not chemotherapy. While cancer conspiracy theories are certainly damaging, if the reading above is correct, such theories correlated to his death, didn't cause it - he may as well have turned to religion, drugs or anything else.

nazgulsenpai 6y ago
This was my takeaway as well.
angry_octet 6y ago
It is clear from the article that he was told thermoscans of whatever would track the progress of the cancer, and showed that is was being defeated. There is a huge placebo effect on mental outlook of a sciencey test like that. It seems clear that if he had had regular medical scans that showed a growing tumor he might have changed course. The alternative medicine community it complicit in many avoidable deaths. It's a testament to the power of self delusion that they can sleep at night.
Nursie 6y ago
He turned to alt-med because it promised a cure without chemo - "At the time, Sean’s doctors told him he had at least a 50% chance of long-term survival if he underwent chemotherapy. But after reading a lot online, Sean believed he could cure his cancer by detoxing and completely changing his lifestyle, avoiding the gruelling side effects he remembered from chemotherapy." Though I agree the phrasing is inconsistent with what you found later on in the article there, this suggests that the alt-med community sold him on a 100% chance of survival without needing chemo, so he rejected chemo. I guess we don't know without them saying explicitly, if he would have had the chemo if he hadn't found alt-med, but that's certainly what the girlfriend feels - "My thoughts on alternative cancer treatments have changed, I believe it cost Sean his life."

nazgulsenpai 6y ago

This was my takeaway as well.

angry_octet 6y ago

It is clear from the article that he was told thermoscans of whatever would track the progress of the cancer, and showed that is was being defeated. There is a huge placebo effect on mental outlook of a sciencey test like that. It seems clear that if he had had regular medical scans that showed a growing tumor he might have changed course. The alternative medicine community it complicit in many avoidable deaths. It's a testament to the power of self delusion that they can sleep at night.

Nursie 6y ago

He turned to alt-med because it promised a cure without chemo - "At the time, Sean’s doctors told him he had at least a 50% chance of long-term survival if he underwent chemotherapy. But after reading a lot online, Sean believed he could cure his cancer by detoxing and completely changing his lifestyle, avoiding the gruelling side effects he remembered from chemotherapy." Though I agree the phrasing is inconsistent with what you found later on in the article there, this suggests that the alt-med community sold him on a 100% chance of survival without needing chemo, so he rejected chemo. I guess we don't know without them saying explicitly, if he would have had the chemo if he hadn't found alt-med, but that's certainly what the girlfriend feels - "My thoughts on alternative cancer treatments have changed, I believe it cost Sean his life."