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Essiac - Cancer Formula

By: GayLynn Belliston

In 1922, a dedicated nurse named Rene Caisse had an experience that would forever change her life, and saved the lives of thousands in the United States and in Canada. She met an elderly woman patient who had come to Canada from England thirty years ago. Shortly after this woman's arrival, she noticed that her right breast was becoming increasingly hard, swollen and painful. Consulting an old Indian medicine man at the prospector's camp, she was informed she had cancer. The Indian medicine man said that he would cure it with an old Indian remedy. Her husband didn't approve of this course of action and insisted she see doctors in Toronto.

The doctors confirmed that she had advanced breast cancer and urged her to have surgery immediately. Instead, she chose to go against the odds and went back to the Indian medicine man. He taught her how to brew the herbal tea, and gave her instructions on how often to consume it. She drank the tea faithfully every day, and gradually, the cancer diminished until it was completely gone. The only evidence that she had had cancer were some scars that were created where the cancer had destroyed the skin. She hadn't experienced any recurrence in 30 years.

Rene was very impressed with this woman's story and asked if she would consent to give her the ingredients and proper preparation instructions. Upon agreement, Rene then began a life of service and dedication to helping those considered beyond help by orthodox practitioners.

Rene began to do her own research on this Indian remedy when her mother's sister was diagnosed with cancer of the liver and stomach. She was given six months to live by her physician R.O. Fisher. Since Rene knew the doctor well, she approached him with the idea of treating her aunt with the Essiac formula. There was nothing more the medical profession could do, so he consented to her request on the spot. The treatments were completely successful, and her aunt lived another 21 years with no recurrence of cancer. So, Dr. Fisher began referring all of his hopeless cases to Miss Caisse. The word soon spread of her success, and by 1926, Rene was able to work with a team of eight doctors on one special cancer case.

The doctors asked her to treat a man whose whole face had been eaten away with cancer. He was bleeding so badly that the doctors saw no hope of him living even ten days. The physicians agreed that if this remedy would help this man, then she had found something that the whole world needed desperately, a successful remedy to cancer. In her own words, "My treatment stopped the bleeding in less than 24 hours! The man's face healed. He lived for six months with little or no discomfort."

On October 27, 1926, all eight of these doctors signed a petition to the Department of National Health and Welfare in Ottawa, Canada, asking authorities to give funds and facilities for Rene Caisse to do her own independent research. The medical establishment wanted total control to the recipe and what research would be allowed. Rene refused to give the recipe unless she was guaranteed that the tea would be openly used for the benefit of all mankind, that it would not be priced out of reach by the common man or restrictions placed upon the formula as to who would be allowed to use it. These assurances were not given, so she turned them down.

Still, Dr. W.C. Arnold, arranged for her to work on mice at the Christie Street Hospital Laboratories with Dr. Norich and Dr. Lockhead. From 1928 to 1930, these three inoculated mice with Rous Sarcoma, and then treated them with the Essiac formula. The mice lived longer than 72 days, which was longer than anyone else had been able to do and document. When the mice were inoculated with human carcinoma, total regression of the cancer to living tissues was accomplished in just nine days of treatment.

Rene started treating as many as 30 "hopeless" cancer patients a day with outstanding results. Rene never treated anyone who was not first properly diagnosed with cancer by a qualified physician, and where possible, she worked under the supervision of the patient's doctor. These people agreed to sign a petition and give a testimonial of their experience with the Essiac formula.

With these controlled experiments to present to the medical profession, Rene thought that Essiac would finally be accepted into the official channels. Instead, she was deeply disappointed when two police officers came to her door with a warrant for her arrest. She was not arrested, however, because she had not taken any fees for her treatment, and the treatments were supervised by a physician. The medical establishment tested the formula and did declare there were no toxic substances or toxic side-effects in the remedy, but it was not to be used further until she consented to give the complete recipe and brewing instructions over to authorities where continued research of efficiency and safety would take place.

This was very distasteful to Miss Caisse. She asked the question, "Why resort to the full force of the law to halt non-toxic alternative approaches to medicine?" The medical establishment responded by saying that they worry that the general population of patients would abandon orthodox medicine for "quack" remedies, and this would lessen the chances of getting immediate orthodox therapy because they were seduced by promises of less costly, less painful, more natural, and less toxic treatments. This statement is supported by the slogan, "early treatment-early cure." If the patient were to try an unorthodox method and it didn't work, it would lessen their chances of survival using orthodox approaches to control and treat disease because they would have come in too late.

All of these regulations are supposed to be for our safety. However, if this is the case, why was the medical profession only concerned that Rene Caisse not be allowed to charge a fee for her services? This was the backbone of her defense and what kept her out of jail.

Dr. Frederick Banting of the Banting Institute, Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto (famous for his discovery of insulin) agreed to meet with and discuss the herbal formula based on her documented case notes of the past 10 years. Upon conclusion of this discussion and his reviewing her case notes, he said, "Miss Caisse, I will not say you have a cure for cancer, but you have more evidence of a beneficial treatment for cancer than anyone in the world." He then suggested that she make application to continue her research at Toronto University, and that he would share his laboratory facilities with her.

This was a very important turning point for her. In order to make application, she would have to turn over the formula, which could then be "shelved", or it could be used solely by the University staff and her independent research application could be refused. Based on the risk involved and her past experience, she politely turned down the invitation to apply for continued independent research facilities and support.

Never claiming that Essiac cured cancer, Rene continued to treat thousands of patients under care of their doctors, who all claimed that the Essiac did cure their cancer. She often stressed the herbal tea could curb the growth of a tumor (known as metastasis).

Finally, word passed on to the United States where Dr. John Woofer of Northwestern University (who knew of many patients traveling to Canada to receive the precious life-saving Essiac formula) presented an opportunity for Rene to treat some of his "hopeless and terminal" cases. Under the observation of five doctors, Rene came down from Canada every week to give them the tea, and progress was seen. The doctors tried to persuade her to stay in the United States by giving her a clinic in the Passevant Hospital in Chicago.

This success started another movement of support to get the Canadian authorities to recognize and legalize her treatments. In 1938, a petition and a bill were brought by patients and doctors to the Parliament in Ontario.

This is what was presented in the 2nd Session of the 20th Legislature of Ontario: "An act to authorize Rene Caisse to practice medicine in the Providence of Ontario in the treatment of cancer and conditions resulting therefrom."' Over 55,000 people submitted their names in favor of this bill's passage. Basically, it would allow her to treat cancer as a specialist without a medical rating.

Later, it was discovered that the medical profession debated the issue before the hearing and assured them that if they would not pass the bill, that they would establish a "Cancer Commission" to hear and give fair judgment to the case. This was a false promise that was never kept. The legislature did not pass in favor of Rene's bill by 3 votes.

There are many more documented cases with the Essiac formula, but I think that you get the idea that Rene Caisse did her homework and all in her power to help those who would accept an alternative treatment for cancer. She herself, took Essiac as a preventative and died some years ago at the age of 90.

The above article is reprinted from Nature's Field, November/December 1992 issue.

Enjoy Nutritional Harmony with NSP's "E-Tea Gourmet"
How about a cup of tea made from the bark of roots of various plants - sound wonderful?

Most people use powdered cinnamon bark as a spice, and they've heard about licorice root, but how many know the advantages of preparing a tea made of slippery elm bark or burdock root? Here's a chance to learn.

If you're ambitious, you can make a wonderfully nutritious tea by adding sheep sorrel herb to slippery elm bark, Turkey rhubarb root and burdock root. Presto, you have Essiac Tea! Or do you?

If you want to do it right, you've barely begun. First you need the exact amounts of each ingredient. Then the tea must be made to exacting specifications. Before you're through, you'll realize making Essiac Tea is a time-consuming and tiring project. It includes using only stainless steel containers, boiling the tea for a half hour, cooling it for another six hours, stirring and leaving it for another six hours, boiling it once more, straining it into dark glass bottles, and then refrigerating it. After all that, the tea will last only a few days.

Would you go to that much trouble for this cup of tea? Hardly. That's why Nature's Sunshine does it for you with its E-Tea. NSP's precise preparation gives you a finished product that has been carefully dried, powdered and encapsulated for maximum customer convenience with no need for refrigeration. That means you get the same healthful results without the chance of having nutrients depleted during processing. It means that all you have to do is either take the capsules with a glass of water, or pour the capsule contents into hot water, stir and drink when it's just the right temperature.

Essiac Tea has been a popular herbal concoction for more than half a century. Originating from a Native American living in Canada, it has gradually become famous throughout North America ever since Rene Caisse (Essiac backward) decided to share the recipe with the world.

Competitive products are now on the market, but they are either more expensive, in a less convenient form, or sold as a do-it-yourself packet that still costs you more than Nature's Sunshine's convenient capsules.
-Georgiana Duncan