Herbal remedy for Cancer - The Essiac Story

So startling was the effectiveness of this simple herbal remedy, it could not be ignored, and the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Parliament became involved. Friends, former patients, and grateful families petitioned Canadian officialdom for Rene Caisse's right to administer the remedy to anyone who asked for it without the threat of interference from authorities. Fifty-five thousand signatures were collected on the petition. In1938, Essiac came within three votes of being legalised by the Ontario government as a remedy for terminal cancer patients.

Elisabeth Robinson: To begin with, Dr. Glum, can you tell us a little about how you became interested in the story you tell in Calling of an Angel, and how you learned about Rene Caisse and her work?

Dr. Gary Glum: A personal friend of mine knew this woman, whose name I have promised not to reveal, who was living in Detroit, Michigan. Twenty years ago she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer in a Detroit hospital where she was eventually given up as incurable and terminal. She was given about ten days to live. She convinced her husband to make a trip to Bracebridge, Canada where she went to see Rene Caisse.
She was treated with the herbal remedy developed by Rene - Essiac - and in a short time she didn't have a cancer cell in her body. So after that time this woman began dedicating her life to disseminating information about Essiac in the United States. When I met her, she was the only person in possession of the original herbal formula who would relinquish it. I got the formula for Essiac from her. That's how it began.

When I started, all I had was a piece of paper. I thought, what am I going to do with this? I decided the best way to go would be to find the information behind Essiac and put it in a book form and bring it to the world. I learned about Rene Caisse from Mary McPherson who was a very close personal friend of Rene's; not only a friend but also a patient. Mary's mother and her husband were also patients, they were all treated for cancer and cured by Rene. Mary worked with Rene beginning in the 1930's and she had in her possession all these documents that had to do with Essiac over the 40 years Rene administered it. All the documents Rene had were destroyed by the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare at the time of her death in 1978. They burned all that information in fifty-five gallon drums behind her home.

Elisabeth Robinson: Why?

Dr. Gary Glum: Because they don't want this information in the hands of the public or the press or anybody else. They indeed found out what Essiac was in 1937. The Royal Cancer Commission hearings had then come to the same conclusion that Rene had - that Essiac was a cure for cancer.

Elisabeth Robinson: What is Essiac exactly?

Dr. Gary Glum: Essiac is a non-toxic herbal cure for cancer that's been with us since 1922. It's a formula made from four very common herbs. I would guess that virtually every person in the US today has been touched by cancer, either personally or through a loved one. If this information is true, and the effectiveness of this remedy is actually medically documented, many lives could be saved.

Elisabeth Robinson: Why do you think the information on Essiac is not more widely known?

Dr. Gary Glum: The information is withheld because cancer is the second largest revenue producing business in the world, next to the petrochemical business. Money and power suppress this truth. No one has ever sought to cure cancer; only control it. I mean, the research institutes, federal governments, pharmaceutical companies, anybody that has a vested interest in the health care of cancer, including the American Cancer Society, the Canadian Cancer Society, any of these so-called benefactors to those who have contracted this disease - all of these institutions are involved in the money and power around cancer.
These institutions have influence over government and regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA recommends only allopathic treatments for cancer and other life threatening diseases. It does not approve nor make legal alternative treatments of any kind.

Elisabeth Robinson: You're saying that Essiac is in a position similar to, for example, Laetrile.

Dr. Gary Glum: Yes, the only reason laetrile was stopped, and it couldn't be stopped any other way, was through the insurance companies. The insurance companies sent down a directive to all allopathic physicians stating that they could not cover them in any malpractice suit in the event they were treating people with any substance not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Elisabeth Robinson: In your book you mention that the Brusch clinic in Massachusetts worked with Rene Caisse and with Essiac during the early 1960's. Is this clinic still doing research with Essiac?

Dr. Gary Glum: Dr. Charles A. Brusch is not practicing at this time. he was a personal physician to the late John F. Kennedy. Dr. Brusch worked with Rene Caisse from 1959 to 1962. He worked with thousands of cancer patients. He also worked with the Presidential Cancer Commission, with others like Dr Armand Hammer, the American Cancer Society, and the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Brusch presented his findings after ten years of research, he had come to the conclusion that, in his own words, Essiac is a cure for cancer, period. All studies done at laboratories in the United States and Canada support this conclusion.
Whereupon the federal government issued a gag order and said - you've got one of two choices, either you keep quiet about this or we'll haul you off to military prison and you'll never be heard of again. So we never heard another word out of him.
Brusch's' Essiac patients included Ted Kennedy's son who had a sarcoma on his leg, and who had his leg amputated. He was being treated at this time by the Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Farber didn't know how to save him, because no one had ever lived with this type of sarcoma. So what he did was go to Dr. Brusch and say, how are we going to save Ted Kennedy's son and Dr. Brusch made the suggestion to put him on Essiac whereafter he didn't have a cancer cell in his body. But all this time information has been hidden from the general public.

Elisabeth Robinson: Why?

Dr. Gary Glum: As I said, money and power.

Elisabeth Robinson: Do yon know whether the remedy is being used or tested anywhere today in the US or Canada?

Dr. Gary Glum: Right now, Essiac is being used in every state in the United States, it's throughout Canada, into Mexico, it's in Australia, Europe, Asia and recently also in Africa.

Elisabeth Robinson: So the message of Essiac is beginning to make its way worldwide, but it's still known only on a very limited basis.

Dr. Gary Glum: Of course now you also have the problem of herbal distributing companies throughout the world that are substituting yellow dock and curly dock for sheep sorrel, which is the critical ingredient in Essiac. The sheep sorrel is the herbal ingredient in Essiac that was found to be responsible for the destruction of cancer cells in the body or their amalgamation where metastasised cancer cells actually return to the original tumour site. That research was done by Dr. Chester Stock at Sloan-Kettering in New York for over a three-year period. But when they gathered that information, they withheld it from the general public - yet they gave it to the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Canadian government then immediately banned that herb for sale and distribution.
Elisabeth Robinson: Banned a common weed like sheep's sorrel?

Dr. Gary Glum: Yes, sheep's sorrel is just a common weed that grows in abundance throughout North America and into Canada.

Elisabeth Robinson: Just a common weed. Well, it seems that banning sheep sorrel would not be very effective if you could identify it for yourself.

Dr. Gary Glum: Yes, its just a question of identifying the plant and then harvesting it correctly and drying it properly and then putting it together with the other herbs. Rene would harvest the Sheep sorrel - Rumex acetosella -when it was four to six inches high. She cut it back and it would grow up again, and she'd cut it back again. She would do that about three times and then she would let it go to seed. It will grow to 14 or 18 inches. She would take the herb cutting home and lay them out at room temperature to dry them. She'd let the cutting sit there for three or four days before she'd begin luring the herbs. Then she'd turn them every two days until they were properly dry, which took about ten days to two weeks. It takes about a bushel of harvested sheep sorrel to produce one pound of the dried powdered herb which is used in the formula.

Elisabeth Robinson: Do you have the formula? It's not in your book. You do mention a video in the book.

Dr. Gary Glum: Yes, I have it. Anyone can get it from me, free of charge. We don't sell the video anymore. We simply mail the formula to anyone who asks for it.

Elisabeth Robinson: Sun Bear told me you had problems getting the book published and distributed. What kind of problems?

Dr. Gary Glum: There wasn't a publishing company that would publish it. No one wanted to run the risk of a wrongful death suit. So I published the book myself. And as soon as I did, the IRS came in and slapped about a half million dollars in tax against me and said, You know this has got nothing to do with taxes. It's all about cancer. They actually started hauling the pallets of books out of my medical practice offices and confiscating them. I also had thousands of books that were confiscated by the Canadian government at customs. I have never received any of those books back. The only ones I have now are hidden in storage facilities.
Elisabeth Robinson: That's incredible - why do you think they are so interested in keeping this book out of circulation?

Dr. Gary Glum: Money and power, as I've said. Cancer is the largest revenue producing business in the world, next to the petrochemical business. In Canada the book is being held up by the Ministry of Health & Welfare because they say it is advertising.

Elisabeth Robinson: Advertising what, the video you don't sell anymore?

Dr. Gary Glum: No, a cure for cancer.

Elisabeth Robinson: Can you explain what you mean by the publishers fearing a wrongful death suit?

Dr. Gary Glum: What you're dealing with is giving people a formula that they can make and use in the privacy of their own homes without the approval of the AMA or the FDA or anybody else. If any attorney or any family member should decide, for whatever reason, the reason someone expired was from the use of Essiac, then you are putting yourself up for a wrongful death suit. The contention is that if it isn't approved by the FDA, there's no legality in using it when you're dealing with a life threatening disease.
When Rene Caisse set-up her clinical trials in Canada to test Essiac, she was given government permission to treat terminally ill cancer patients who had been given up for hopeless by the medical profession. That was one criteria. Secondly, this was all to be certified by a pathology report. And third, she could not charge anything for her services. She agreed to all these criteria and proceeded to treat people with Essiac. Many she treated were still there 35 years later to bury her when she died at age 90.
The best that anyone can do is just try to disseminate this information to the public and let people make their own choices. That's all you can do. And just say, look, if you feel Essiac has value in your life and the lives of your loved ones, you have the right to make this remedy and use it in the privacy of your own home and without anyone's approval.
You know, in 1937 Essiac came within three votes of being legalised as a treatment for cancer. People had gathered over 55,000 signatures on a petition to allow Rene to continue to use Essiac. The only reason the vote fell short, she found out later, was that the College of Physicians and Surgeons met and said to Parliament, if you don't respond to the political pressure and legalise Essiac, then we'll take a sincere look and give this woman a fair hearing. So Parliament didn't legalise Essiac. So following the Royal Cancer Commission hearings, Rene was allowed to continue her practice but only within the criteria I mentioned before, which allowed the Ministry of Health & Welfare to restrict people's access to Essiac treatments. I know this because I have a copy of the hearing transcripts which I got from Mary McPherson, which is some of the information that did not get burned when Rene died.

Elisabeth Robinson: You mentioned that earlier. What exactly was burned?

Dr. Gary Glum: All her research for that 40 year period of time. All the names, all her clinical data that she had collected. Her files and records.

Elisabeth Robinson: What about the records of the Brusch Clinic?

Dr. Gary Glum: It seems these would be convincing evidence. As far as I know all that material has been destroyed also. I knew that Rene had worked with Dr. Brusch from 1959 to 1962, so I went to Dr. Brusch's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts whereupon he delivered to me the only material he had left in his files on Essiac. One of those files was his own personal file where he had treated and cured his own cancer with Essiac. I have his personal records. All the information in my book is verified by a sheet of paper with a signature and a date on it, and those sheets and signatures are all originals. They are not copies.

Elisabeth Robinson: Have you had any personal experiences with Essiac?

Dr. Gary Glum: Yes, I can give you an example. He was a twelve year old boy named Toby Wood. He had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which is one of the most virulent of all leukaemias. He had been on chemotherapy for four years and radiation for three. His mother's only hope in life was to find a cure for him.
She went everywhere. She tried every alternative treatment. Her last stop was Dr. Alvazados in Athens, Greece where her sons white cell count was 186,000. He had no red blood cells and no platelets. He was haemorrhaging to
death. So they transfused Toby in Greece, and put him on a plane to Alaska where he was given less than five days to live.
I met his mother's sister in Los Angeles while I was putting the book together and she asked if there was any credibility here. We sat down and talked. She then borrowed the money for a flight to Anchorage and delivered a bottle of Essiac. By the time she got there, Toby was given three days to live. He was in a state of complete deterioration. He was given Essiac and all the haemorrhaging stopped within 24 hours. Within three months all his blood tests were normal.
I arrived in Alaska later that year and met him. Toby Wood did die, and we finally found a pathologist who would do an extensive autopsy. We knew hat he didn't have leukaemia anymore. We wanted to find out what was the cause of death. It took four months to get the report back. The pathologist autopsied the brain, testicles, and all life support organs, including the bone marrow. Cause of death was damage to the myocardial sac of the heart, a result of the chemotherapy. This was the first report anywhere in medical history of anyone surviving lymphoblastic leukaemia.
That information was taken to AP and UPI but they said it was not newsworthy. Our information on Essiac has been sent around the world twice through Publisher's Weekly magazine in a huge two-page ad. We received no responses at all from any publishing company world-wide, no producers, directors, throughout the United States, no talk show programs, none of that. We can't access the media. No one wants this information disseminated.
And it's not just the media either. It includes the herbal companies who are now substituting the curly dock for sheep sorrel. So people are getting the wrong ingredients for Essiac, not to mention the five or six other formulas that are circulating which are different from the one I send out. These false formulas are being disseminated. There is a disinformation campaign going on here, somehow.

Elisabeth Robinson: Has this disinformation campaign started just since your book has been out?

Dr. Gary Glum: Previous to my book, none of this information was available to the general public at all. The public had no information outside of a few assorted articles. Certainly the Essiac formula was not available to the general public at all. All that information was held by the Resperin Corporation in Toronto, Canada, which supposedly is a private institution. However, they work hand in glove with the Canadian Ministry of Health & Welfare, who works directly with the American Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. The Essiac formula was never given to anyone by Resperin.

Elisabeth Robinson: Did the Resperin Corporation do any research on Essiac?

Dr. Gary Glum: They've done research since 1978 when the formula was relinquished to them by Rene for the purchase price of one dollar. As soon as they got the formula, they told Rene they had no further use for her. She had been under the distinct impression from the Ministry of Health & Welfare and the Resperin Corporation that she was to lead the research activities that they so desperately wanted to put together.
But Rene had already done clinical trials. She had names and records. She thought the Resperin Corporation was politically powerful and had money enough to get Essiac into the public sector without compromising her values, then she found out the Corporation was working closely with the government and administration. and the Ministry of Health & Welfare. So now people who were terminally ill and given up as hopeless had to go through a federal bureaucratic maze to get the remedy. By then, for most of these people, it was too late.
But even when people were cured, that information was not released to the public. Resperin ran research tests on Essiac. One test was conducted in Northern Canada and the documents were falsified. For example, one man was listed as dead who a few months later knocked on Rene's door and said, you know I want to thank you for the Essiac and being part of this experimental program. Yet he was listed as dead in the research project findings.

Elisabeth Robinson: It's beginning to seem amazing that any information at all about this remedy has survived the conspiracy of silence or outright destruction of records and so on.

Dr. Gary Glum: The only reason Essiac is known today is by word of mouth and because Essiac is what it is. What will keep Essiac known is its effectiveness. Rene said it years ago. She said, look, if Essiac doesn't have any merit let me put it out there. If it doesn't have merit, it will kill itself. Of course she knew full well if people had the correct herbs, the remedy would stand on its own. And that is exactly what Essiac has done over this period of time that we've been disseminating the information.
Rene also found that Essiac was a strong preventative. These findings were substantiated by Dr. Albert Schatz at Temple University who discovered the cure for tuberculosis. Rene also found that Essiac would normalise the thyroid gland. My wife was on two grains of thyroid since the sixth grade. After I met her, she started taking Essiac, and she hasn't taken a grain of thyroid since. Rene also found that Essiac would heal stomach ulcers within three or four weeks. She felt that ulcers were a precursor to cancer.
Sir Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin, wanted to work with Rene. She had clinical cases where a person on insulin discontinued it with the Essiac, since no one knew how Essiac would interact with the insulin. Apparently Essiac regulated the pancreas in cases of diabetes mellitus. So these people then became insulin-free. Another thing I've found with Essiac is that I've experienced almost perfect health. It's amazing. I sleep like a baby, have all kinds of energy, and no sickness, not even a cold or flu. I also worked with the AIDS Project Los Angeles through their Long Beach and San Pedro districts. They had sent 179 patients home to die. They all had pneumocystis carinii and histoplasmosis. Their weight was down to about 100 pounds. Their T-4 cell counts were less than ten. The Project gave me five of these patients. I took them off the AZT and the DDI and put them on Essiac three times a day. Those are the only ones alive today. The other 174 are dead!

Elisabeth Robinson: That is incredible - but what kind of lives are they leading today?

Dr. Gary Glum: They're exercising three times a day, eating three meals a day. Their weight is back to normal. For all intents and purposes you wouldn't know they were sick a day in their lives. But this information is not being disseminated either because AIDS is on the horizon as another big money-maker. The Chairman of the AIDS project in Los Angeles makes over US$ 100,000 a year.

Elisabeth Robinson: So, in your own personal experience, this herbal remedy works to - I'm going to quote you here and saycure - cancer, thyroid conditions, diabetes, AIDS, ulcers...etc..

Dr. Gary Glum: It also cures the common cold. Essiac elevates the immune system. I've been taking one ounce a day for seven years, and in seven years I haven't had a cold, flu or a virus.

Elisabeth Robinson: And all of this from a simple Native herbal remedy?

Dr. Gary Glum: Yes, although Rene did alter it. She altered it with Turkish rhubarb root (Rheum palmatum). Turkish rhubarb has a 5,000 year history. It actually came up from India into China and then was taken by the British. Turkish rhubarb root certainly is not native to this country nor available here.

Elisabeth Robinson: Herbs from foreign countries are fumigated and irradiated, so is it a good idea to use the Turkish rhubarb?

Dr. Gary Glum: You can substitute ordinary rhubarb root. The other two ingredients are burdock root (Arctium lappa) and the inner bark of slippery elm (Ulmus fulva). They are easy to obtain, usually. Sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosella, is what destroys the cancer cells. The other three herbs are blood purifiers. Essiac elevates the enzyme system and gives all cancer patients and all AIDS patients the enzymes that have been destroyed. Essiac elevates the enzymes system; it elevates the hormone system, which elevates the immune system, so the body can cure its own disease.

Elisabeth Robinson: What about quantities?

Dr. Gary Glum: Some herbs are toxic. Even its worst enemy could never lay claim that Essiac had any deleterious side effects whatever. You can take Essiac safely, through all the clinical trials that have been done, up to six ounces a day. That's two ounces in the evening, two in the morning and two around noontime. That's a high dosage. Rene had the correct herbs and she used as little as one ounce a week.

Elisabeth Robinson: Gary, it's been very interesting to speak to yon.

Dr. Gary Glum: It's been a pleasure, you're opening a Pandora's Box, you know, publishing this interview.
Elisabeth Robinson: I think you're the one who's done that.
Would you tell people how to get your book and the information on Essiac?

Dr. Gary Glum: They simply call me in California on (310) 271 9931). The book is US$35.00. The formula is free. In July 1991, the Canadian Journal of Herbalism published an article, "Old Ontario Remedies", about Essiac. The article gives specific information on the ingredients of Essiac and includes descriptions of the herbs.
Sheep sorrel, for example, is a folk remedy for tumours. The article also warns of high oxalic acid content in two of the herbs, making the remedy unsafe for persons with kidney ailments or arthritic conditions (See Cat's Claw .. Ed). The article concludes: Essiac is not a hoax or a fraud, to hear experiences described by the patients themselves cannot help but convince observers that dramatic and beneficial changes definitely took place in many but not all of those who received the remedy. Although the focus on Essiac has been as a cancer treatment, it alleviated and sometimes cured many chronic and degenerative conditions because it cleanses the blood as well as the liver and strengthens the immune system.
Write: Ontario Herbalists Association, M.J. Pimental, 7 Alpine Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6P 3R6 for information on obtaining a copy of the July 1991 issue, Vol xii, no iii of the Canadian Journal of Herbalism.

ESSIAC - PREPARATION
Supplies Needed: 5 gallon stainless steel pot, with lid. 3 gallon stainless steel pot. Stainless steel fine-mesh double strainer. Stainless steel funnel. Stainless steel spatula. 12 or more 16-ounce amber glass bottles with airtight caps (not childproof caps). 2 gallons sodium-free distilled water. Measuring cup. Kitchen scale with ounce measurements.
Essiac Formula: 6.5 cups of burdock root - cut. (Arctium Lappa). 16 oz. Sheep Sorrel Herb - powdered. (Rumex Acetocella). 1 oz. Turkey Rhubarb Root - powdered. (Rheum Palmatum). 4 oz. Slippery Elm Bark - powdered. (Ulmus Fulve)

Preparation:

1. Mix Essiac Formula thoroughly.
2. Bring sodium-free distilled water to a rolling boil in 5-gallon pot with lid on. (Approximately 30 minutes at sea level.)
3. Stir in 1 cup of Essiac Formula. Replace lid and continue boiling for 10 minutes.
4. Turn off stove. Scrape down sides of pot with spatula and stir mixture thoroughly. Replace lid.
5. Allow pot to remain closed for 12 hours; then turn stove to full heat for 20 minutes.
6. Turn off stove. Strain liquid into 3-gallon pot, and clean 5-gallon pot and strainer. Then strain filtered liquid back into 5-gallon pot.
7. Use funnel to pour hot liquid into bottles immediately, taking care to tighten cap

Allow bottles to cool; then tighten caps again. 8.Refrigerate. Essiac contains no preservative agents. If mould should develop in bottle, discard immediately. Caution: All bottles and caps must be sterilised after use if you plan to re-use them for Essiac. Bottle caps must be washed and rinsed thoroughly, and may be cleaned with a 3%solution of food grade hydrogen peroxide in water.
Directions for use: Heat 4 tablespoons (2 oz.) sodium-free distilled water in a stainless steel pot. Add 4 tablespoons of Essiac (shake bottle first). Mix and drink. Take at bedtime on an empty stomach at least 2 hours after eating.
Questions regarding recipe should be directed to the author Dr. Gary Glum. Silent Walker Publishing. PO Box 92856. Los Angeles. CA 90009. U.S.A.
Caution: There is some concern about the high levels of oxalic acid which can be produced by Sheep Sorrel and therefore Essiac should not be used by people with impaired kidney function or arthritis without first seeking the advice of a suitably qualified herbal practitioner.

Essiac can also be given to animals.

Sources for Essiac:

S G Health Ltd
6417 Fraser Street
Vancouver BC V5W 3A6
CANADA
604 324 2121

One Box of Powder 42.5g [sufficient to brew 2 liters of tea.] @ $32.00 CDN

One Bottle of Extract 300 mL [30 servings per bottle] @ $32.00 CDN

Complete with instructions for use - Shipping is extra.

and:

http://www.essiac-resperin.com
http://www.essiac-resperin.com/en/report01.html
genesisherbarium@aol.com