Dr. McDougall on Steve Jobs Cancer and Vegan Diet
Dr. John McDougall has written an article to set the record straight about Steve Job’s pancreatic cancer in relation to his long time vegan diet.
In this long and informative article, Dr. McDougall uses cancer statistics and research to show that Steve Jobs most likely would have had pancreatic cancer since he was in his twenties, and that it was almost certainly caused by his exposure to toxic chemicals used in his early hands-on days of building computers.
Dr. McDougall pointed out:
“His diet was in sharp contrast to that of his Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, who ate at Denny’s and whose favorite foods were typical American pizzas and burgers.(189) Wozniak, who is overweight, was four years older than Jobs and is still alive. Because of this apparent paradox many people discount the importance of a healthy vegan diet.”
“Steve Jobs getting cancer was an unfortunate accident—like being struck by lightning or hit by a car. The carcinogen(s) entered his body and due to genetics, “bad luck,” or other unknown and uncontrollable factors his body was susceptible. The cause of his cancer was not due to his vegan diet. In fact, his healthy diet likely slowed the growth of his tumor, delayed the time of diagnosis, and prolonged his useful life.”
The article clears up a lot of confusion and mis-information about Steve Jobs death from pancreatic cancer, in particular the idea that he behaved irresponsibly, stupidly and selfishly in sticking to his vegan diet and refusing surgery in 2003. According to Dr. McDougall’s analysis of the probable cause and course of the disease in Steve Jobs, surgery in 2003 would have had no effect on the course of the disease, as it didn’t in 2004, and again in 2009 when he had a liver transplant.
I was struck by what Dr. McDougall said about Jobs unnecessary guilt and regret, stemming from what his doctors told him: “Jobs lived the final 8 years of his life with regret, guilt, and remorse over delaying his surgery for 9 months after the initial diagnosis of cancer. With one honest sentence his doctors could have relieved him of this heavy burden. This simple fact could have been told: “Mr. Jobs, you had a body full of cancer long before October of 2003, when you were diagnosed by a needle biopsy.” Apparently, not one of his doctors—not Jeffrey Norton, who had operated on his pancreas in 2004, nor James Eason, who had performed his liver transplant in 2009—told Jobs this indisputable truth.”
Dr. McDougall’s article confirms my suspicions that cancer often begins early in life and takes a long time to manifest symptoms, so the idea that doctors can “catch it early” and successfully treat cancer is misleading. After seeing many friends go through horrendous months and years of cancer treatment, I feel that chemo, radiation or other cancer treatments often cause terrible suffering, while survival and recovery statistics aren’t encouraging.
Alternative medicine and special diets likewise seem to have limited usefulness considering the typical cancer time line. By the time you notice symptoms and start doing something different, it’s often too late. However, from what I’ve seen, alternative medicine and diet can as Dr. McDougall said, delay the growth of cancer, improve quality of life and give you more time.
Cancer is an epidemic. There are so many ways that you can get cancer - just breathing the air can do it. It amazing that we all don’t have cancer. But people who get cancer often feel that there must have been something they did to get cancer, there must have been something they could have done to prevent it, and there must be things they can do to stop it. Sometimes that’s true, and sometimes cancer just seems arbitrary, capricious and cruel.
I’m sure Steve Jobs would agree that it’s better to be alive than dead, and it’s good to do whatever we can to be healthy. He did what he felt was right for him and his body, and I’m sad that he regretted anything about his remarkable life.
I feel, after reading Dr. McDougall’s analysis of Steve Job’s pancreatic cancer, that who gets cancer or other catastrophic illnesses, and who survives, is a mystery known only (perhaps) to the higher powers. And that maybe disease is a hint that we should contact our favorite higher power and ask for guidance.
Read Dr. McDougall’s illuminating article on Steve Jobs, cancer and vegan diet
Tags: dr mcdougall, steve jobs, steve jobs cancer, steve jobs death, steve jobs pancreatic cancer, vegan diet
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Steve Jobs ate sushi, he was not a true vegan.
What chemicals exactly was he exposed too?