Catherine Kousmine
Encyclopedia
Catherine Kousmine was a Russian
scientist who believed in nutritionally based medicine. Kousmine focused her research on the following diseases: Cancer
, Multiple sclerosis
, Rheumatoid arthritis
, and other auto-immune diseases.
's unit, to specialize in pediatrics
, then worked in Vienna, Austria, where she got her degree in pediatrics.
Back in Switzerland, she had to resume her work as a general practitioner
because her degree in pediatrics was not recognized by Swiss authorities. Dr. Catherine Kousmine spent most of her life in Switzerland. She set up a foundation in her name in Lutry
, Switzerland, to promote her methods (Fondation Catherine Kousmine). This foundation has sister foundations in France, Germany and Italy. There is also a Kousmine Medical Center in Vevey
, Switzerland.
and a remission of their cancer and became convinced that the cure for diseases sometimes labeled "incurable" involves the return to a healthy feeding habit - one that provides all the nutrients that the organism needs to function properly. Consequently, she focused her attention on healthy diet. In 1949, she claimed to have treated with success her first of many cancer patients, this one suffering from reticulo-sarcoma, a tumor of the heart, thanks in part to the use of a healthy diet.
. Producers used new methods of oil extraction with heat (320°F - 392°F), the only goal of which was to produce half the quantity of oil again. The extraction with hexane
, a hydrocarbon solvent with carcinogenic properties, allowed the production of almost twice the amount of oil.
The major problem with these methods, compared to the cold pressed method that produces what is commonly called virgin oil, is that the quality is poor: many of the cis
molecules are transformed into the infamous trans molecules.
Dr. Kousmine became a strong opponent of processed food, white sugar, refined flour and refined oil, margarine
and butter, believing each of them being harmful to the body cells and providing only "empty calories", as she called them.
Trans-fatty acid
s have been the object of several studies worldwide. These studies showed that, even at small doses, the trans molecules are a health hazard. These studies lead some countries (Canada, USA, France for example) to make health recommendations. In 2003, Denmark reduced the proportion of trans-fatty acids to 2 grams per 100 grams of cooking oil. Trans-fatty acids were forbidden in New York in 2006. In the Netherlands, following an advertising campaign in the eighties, the amount of trans-fatty acids in margarine went from 50% down to 2% today.
to form and invade healthy cells, but not how to destroy a tumor. After many extensive studies on mice, she came to the conclusion that cancer is a need of the organism to ward off a toxic aggression (1). Briefly put, Kousmine believed a tumor, first benign
, then malignant
, is just a particular form of a defense mechanism of the body. A tumor is not a freak and isolated accident, but a coherent reaction to a state of alarm. Her method focuses on how she believes a cancer can be disengaged from its source and made useless.
Dr. Kousmine believed that by consuming RAW virgin vegetable oil, such as cold pressed flaxseed and sunflower
oil rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and in vitamin E, it is possible to reduce the permeability of the intestinal membrane and to prevent toxins from invading the blood and overloading the kidneys and the liver, thus preventing the formation of a tumor and reducing the severity of any degenerative disease
, like multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.
She proclaimed the importance of organic sunflower oil and of whole grains. Her prescriptions for her patients included: Dr Johanna Budwig
's Budwig Cream, a mixture of freshly ground cereals, flax and sunflower seeds, fruit, cold pressed sunflower or flaxseed oil and cottage cheese) along with essentials vitamins (C, E, F, etc.), alkalizing minerals to restore immunologic balance in ill patients, all of which she believed to be suffering from acidic blood, chamomile enemas for colon cleansing
followed by an instillation of cold pressed sunflower oil, and in some cases vaccines she believed could be effective against rheumatoid arthritis
.
There is no evidence that diet can prevent the development of a cancer which has been already diagnosed, and for the best results orthodox medical treatment needs to occur as quickly as possible.
Dr. Kousmine herself stated many times that eating Budwig Cream and taking vitamin pills weren't the magic bullet
to cure a disease like cancer. Contrary to what some critics have said, she always insisted that her method was a complement
to, and not a substitute for mainstream treatments. Advocates of her method claim that it dramatically improves the results of chemotherapy
and reduces its side-effects
.
Some cancer specialists stated that their critically ill patients who followed her treatment and then went into complete remission, some of them for more than thirty years, had been simply "misdiagnosed". Today, physicians who treat patients with her method are still not well viewed by the orthodox medical community.
Dr. Kousmine repeatedly stated that the dramatic results (long - term remission, dramatic improvement of the quality of life for the most desperate patients) were not miraculous, but instead the result of a holistic approach to the disease, compared to the limited approach in orthodox medicine that focuses on the symptoms of the disease, providing the patients only with palliative treatments.
At the time of her death, criticism included that the benefits of raw, whole foods and cold pressed vegetable oils were not supported by scientific literature at all and that her theory has never been scientifically proven. Other critics say that her monitoring of patients with MS was not scientific. Her study rested on no control group nor did she ever test her diet on healthy people to determine any protective effect.(5)
But her method starts to be well-acknowledged by some mainstream scientists: “I have a lot of respect for what she has done. I know that Kousmine has been an incredible precursor [in cancer treatment research] and that a lot of things she had recommended are found today in scientific literature, things that have been validated ever since…” said David Servan-Schreiber
(7), M.D., Ph.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at Pittsburgh School of Medicine, himself a cancer survivor for 19 years and a New York Times best-seller author with Anticancer, A New Way Of Life.
- whose headquarters are in Paris (France) - gave her the Médaille de Vermeil for her outstanding accomplishment with multiple sclerosis.
In 1989, she was made an honorary citizen of the City of Lutry
, Switzerland
.
and anamnesis
of the patients and their kin, the treatment provided and its results, successes as well as failures. These books also provide explanations about her beliefs about intestinal flora and processed food, with chapters about instinct
and ancestral feeding habits and an hypothesis on the connection between cancer, toxins and stress
.
Critics say that the explanations are too simplistic and complain that some rants against chemical products are caricatural and/or lack any solid data (for example aspartame
and milk). Experts also complain that her books give the feeling that doctors don't understand anything "except me". (6)
Soyez bien dans votre assiette jusqu'à 80 ans et plus (Be well till 80 and beyond), éditions Sand, 1980, ISBN 2-7107-0158-8
La sclérose en plaque est guérissable (Multiple sclerosis is curable), éditions Delachaux et Nestlé 1983, ISBN 2-603-00502-2
Sauvez votre corps (Save your body), éditions Robert Laffont, 1987, ISBN 2-290-33632-7, is a sequel to Soyez bien dans votre..., with more cases and in-depth explanations.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
scientist who believed in nutritionally based medicine. Kousmine focused her research on the following diseases: Cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...
, and other auto-immune diseases.
Life
Born in 1904 into a well-to-do family in Russia, Catherine Kousmine and her parents fled the country in 1918 during the Russian revolution. They settled in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. The young Catherine went to the Ecole Supérieure of Lausanne where she graduated in sciences. She then went on to medical school. Upon graduation in 1928, she moved to Zurich, in professor Guido FanconiGuido Fanconi
Guido Fanconi was a Swiss pediatrician. He was born in Poschiavo, Canton Grisons in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. Fanconi is regarded as one of the founders of modern pediatrics....
's unit, to specialize in pediatrics
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
, then worked in Vienna, Austria, where she got her degree in pediatrics.
Back in Switzerland, she had to resume her work as a general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
because her degree in pediatrics was not recognized by Swiss authorities. Dr. Catherine Kousmine spent most of her life in Switzerland. She set up a foundation in her name in Lutry
Lutry
Lutry is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the Lavaux-Oron.-History:Lutry is first mentioned in 908 as in Lustraco villam. In 1124 it was mentioned as monasterium Sancti Martini cum villa quae dicitur Lustriacus and in 1147 it was Lustriey.-Prehistory:In 1835 and again in...
, Switzerland, to promote her methods (Fondation Catherine Kousmine). This foundation has sister foundations in France, Germany and Italy. There is also a Kousmine Medical Center in Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, Switzerland.
Research
She decided to conduct research in cancer, mostly because of the death from cancer of two children in her care while she was working as a general practitioner. For seventeen years, working in a makeshift laboratory in her kitchen, she studied a special breed of mice that develop mammalian cancer at four months of age. She believed she discovered a correlation between a healthy dietHealthy diet
A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve general health. It is important for lowering many chronic health risks, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer. A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all essential nutrients and an adequate amount of...
and a remission of their cancer and became convinced that the cure for diseases sometimes labeled "incurable" involves the return to a healthy feeding habit - one that provides all the nutrients that the organism needs to function properly. Consequently, she focused her attention on healthy diet. In 1949, she claimed to have treated with success her first of many cancer patients, this one suffering from reticulo-sarcoma, a tumor of the heart, thanks in part to the use of a healthy diet.
Her work on cold pressed (virgin) oils
Catherine Kousmine took a particular interest in vegetable oils because their quality had been greatly altered during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Producers used new methods of oil extraction with heat (320°F - 392°F), the only goal of which was to produce half the quantity of oil again. The extraction with hexane
Hexane
Hexane is a hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C6H14; that is, an alkane with six carbon atoms.The term may refer to any of four other structural isomers with that formula, or to a mixture of them. In the IUPAC nomenclature, however, hexane is the unbranched isomer ; the other four structures...
, a hydrocarbon solvent with carcinogenic properties, allowed the production of almost twice the amount of oil.
The major problem with these methods, compared to the cold pressed method that produces what is commonly called virgin oil, is that the quality is poor: many of the cis
Cis
Cis may have the following meanings:* "Cis-" as a prefix of Latin origin, meaning "on the same side [as]" or "on this side [of]", with several derived usages:** In chemistry, cis- refers to cis-trans isomerism...
molecules are transformed into the infamous trans molecules.
Dr. Kousmine became a strong opponent of processed food, white sugar, refined flour and refined oil, margarine
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...
and butter, believing each of them being harmful to the body cells and providing only "empty calories", as she called them.
Trans-fatty acid
Trans fat
Trans fat is the common name for unsaturated fat with trans-isomer fatty acid. Because the term refers to the configuration of a double carbon-carbon bond, trans fats are sometimes monounsaturated or polyunsaturated, but never saturated....
s have been the object of several studies worldwide. These studies showed that, even at small doses, the trans molecules are a health hazard. These studies lead some countries (Canada, USA, France for example) to make health recommendations. In 2003, Denmark reduced the proportion of trans-fatty acids to 2 grams per 100 grams of cooking oil. Trans-fatty acids were forbidden in New York in 2006. In the Netherlands, following an advertising campaign in the eighties, the amount of trans-fatty acids in margarine went from 50% down to 2% today.
Theory about cancer
She sought to understand what would cause a tumorTumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
to form and invade healthy cells, but not how to destroy a tumor. After many extensive studies on mice, she came to the conclusion that cancer is a need of the organism to ward off a toxic aggression (1). Briefly put, Kousmine believed a tumor, first benign
Benign
A benign tumor is a tumor that lacks the ability to metastasize. Common examples of benign tumors include moles and uterine fibroids.The term "benign" implies a mild and nonprogressive disease. Indeed, many kinds of benign tumors are harmless to human health...
, then malignant
Malignant
Malignancy is the tendency of a medical condition, especially tumors, to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. Malignancy in cancers is characterized by anaplasia, invasiveness, and metastasis...
, is just a particular form of a defense mechanism of the body. A tumor is not a freak and isolated accident, but a coherent reaction to a state of alarm. Her method focuses on how she believes a cancer can be disengaged from its source and made useless.
Basic treatment
"The measures that I recommend start to be effective after about two months, and develop their full benefits only after two years,"² Dr. Kousmine said.
Dr. Kousmine believed that by consuming RAW virgin vegetable oil, such as cold pressed flaxseed and sunflower
Sunflower
Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...
oil rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and in vitamin E, it is possible to reduce the permeability of the intestinal membrane and to prevent toxins from invading the blood and overloading the kidneys and the liver, thus preventing the formation of a tumor and reducing the severity of any degenerative disease
Degenerative disease
A degenerative disease, also called neurodegenerative disease, is a disease in which the function or structure of the affected tissues or organs will progressively deteriorate over time, whether due to normal bodily wear or lifestyle choices such as exercise or eating habits...
, like multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.
She proclaimed the importance of organic sunflower oil and of whole grains. Her prescriptions for her patients included: Dr Johanna Budwig
Johanna Budwig
Johanna Budwig was a German biochemist and author. She developed the Budwig protocol, a supposed anti-cancer diet.- Budwig protocol :...
's Budwig Cream, a mixture of freshly ground cereals, flax and sunflower seeds, fruit, cold pressed sunflower or flaxseed oil and cottage cheese) along with essentials vitamins (C, E, F, etc.), alkalizing minerals to restore immunologic balance in ill patients, all of which she believed to be suffering from acidic blood, chamomile enemas for colon cleansing
Colon cleansing
Colon cleansing encompasses a number of alternative medical therapies intended to remove feces and nonspecific toxins from the colon and intestinal tract. Colon cleansing may take the form of colon hydrotherapy or oral cleansing regimens such as dietary supplements...
followed by an instillation of cold pressed sunflower oil, and in some cases vaccines she believed could be effective against rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...
.
"If the patient is too ill, it is better to prepare him for surgery over a few weeks or months with the described measures. We then observe that the tumor stops growing, that it even shrinks in size, and that the general state of the patient improves, sometimes dramatically. Then, the result of delayed surgery or radiotherapy can be excellent."'³
There is no evidence that diet can prevent the development of a cancer which has been already diagnosed, and for the best results orthodox medical treatment needs to occur as quickly as possible.
Criticism
"It is important that the treatment that I recommend is a beneficial COMPLEMENT to current medical treatments."(4)Dr. Kousmine herself stated many times that eating Budwig Cream and taking vitamin pills weren't the magic bullet
Magic bullet
Magic bullet may refer to:* In the German folk legend Freischütz, an enchanted bullet obtained by a marksman through a contract with the devil....
to cure a disease like cancer. Contrary to what some critics have said, she always insisted that her method was a complement
Complement
In many different fields, the complement of X is something that together with X makes a complete whole—something that supplies what X lacks.Complement may refer to:...
to, and not a substitute for mainstream treatments. Advocates of her method claim that it dramatically improves the results of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
and reduces its side-effects
Adverse effect
In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...
.
Some cancer specialists stated that their critically ill patients who followed her treatment and then went into complete remission, some of them for more than thirty years, had been simply "misdiagnosed". Today, physicians who treat patients with her method are still not well viewed by the orthodox medical community.
Dr. Kousmine repeatedly stated that the dramatic results (long - term remission, dramatic improvement of the quality of life for the most desperate patients) were not miraculous, but instead the result of a holistic approach to the disease, compared to the limited approach in orthodox medicine that focuses on the symptoms of the disease, providing the patients only with palliative treatments.
At the time of her death, criticism included that the benefits of raw, whole foods and cold pressed vegetable oils were not supported by scientific literature at all and that her theory has never been scientifically proven. Other critics say that her monitoring of patients with MS was not scientific. Her study rested on no control group nor did she ever test her diet on healthy people to determine any protective effect.(5)
But her method starts to be well-acknowledged by some mainstream scientists: “I have a lot of respect for what she has done. I know that Kousmine has been an incredible precursor [in cancer treatment research] and that a lot of things she had recommended are found today in scientific literature, things that have been validated ever since…” said David Servan-Schreiber
David Servan-Schreiber
David Servan-Schreiber was a French physician, neuroscientist and author. He was a clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine...
(7), M.D., Ph.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at Pittsburgh School of Medicine, himself a cancer survivor for 19 years and a New York Times best-seller author with Anticancer, A New Way Of Life.
Awards
In 1985, the Société d'Encouragement au ProgrèsSociété d'Encouragement au Progrès
Société d'Encouragement au Progrès is a NGO fighting for initiative, responsibility and progress headquartered in Paris . It publishes a quarterly review called La Tribune du Progrès....
- whose headquarters are in Paris (France) - gave her the Médaille de Vermeil for her outstanding accomplishment with multiple sclerosis.
In 1989, she was made an honorary citizen of the City of Lutry
Lutry
Lutry is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the Lavaux-Oron.-History:Lutry is first mentioned in 908 as in Lustraco villam. In 1124 it was mentioned as monasterium Sancti Martini cum villa quae dicitur Lustriacus and in 1147 it was Lustriey.-Prehistory:In 1835 and again in...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Books
Her books contain anecdotal accounts of patients with severe pathologies, documented with complete clinicalIllness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
and anamnesis
Medical history
The medical history or anamnesis of a patient is information gained by a physician by asking specific questions, either of the patient or of other people who know the person and can give suitable information , with the aim of obtaining information useful in formulating a diagnosis and providing...
of the patients and their kin, the treatment provided and its results, successes as well as failures. These books also provide explanations about her beliefs about intestinal flora and processed food, with chapters about instinct
Instinct
Instinct or innate behavior is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular behavior.The simplest example of an instinctive behavior is a fixed action pattern, in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a...
and ancestral feeding habits and an hypothesis on the connection between cancer, toxins and stress
Stress (physics)
In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the internal forces acting within a deformable body. Quantitatively, it is a measure of the average force per unit area of a surface within the body on which internal forces act. These internal forces are a reaction to external forces applied on the body...
.
Critics say that the explanations are too simplistic and complain that some rants against chemical products are caricatural and/or lack any solid data (for example aspartame
Aspartame
Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it...
and milk). Experts also complain that her books give the feeling that doctors don't understand anything "except me". (6)
Publications
These books, that include a full description of her method, are available in French but have not yet been translated into English.Soyez bien dans votre assiette jusqu'à 80 ans et plus (Be well till 80 and beyond), éditions Sand, 1980, ISBN 2-7107-0158-8
La sclérose en plaque est guérissable (Multiple sclerosis is curable), éditions Delachaux et Nestlé 1983, ISBN 2-603-00502-2
Sauvez votre corps (Save your body), éditions Robert Laffont, 1987, ISBN 2-290-33632-7, is a sequel to Soyez bien dans votre..., with more cases and in-depth explanations.
External links
- Centre médical Kousmine
- Multiple sclerosis international federation
- kousmine.fr
- Johanna BudwigJohanna BudwigJohanna Budwig was a German biochemist and author. She developed the Budwig protocol, a supposed anti-cancer diet.- Budwig protocol :...
Johanna Budwig - Kousmine Diet