The lives of thousands of cancer patients are at risk due to internet websites promoting bogus cures which can cause more harm than good, new research warned.
As a growing number of Britons embrace complementary therapies, it emerged that the internet was replete with incorrect advice that could potentially hasten the de aths of cancer sufferers.
From powdered shark fin to a cyanide compound found in apricot kernels, a flood of “miracle cures” were available on the internet which were not clinically proven. A “significant” number of websites also advocated giving up conventional treatment such as chemotherapy in favour of the alternative.
Professor Edzard Ernst of Exeter University, who co-led the study, urged greater education in highlighting the potentially f atal dangers of bogus internet cures. “This was to us quite an eye-opener and pretty sc ary stuff,” said Professor Ernst, the first and only professor of complementary medicine in the country.
“Our conclusion was that a significant proportion of these websites are actually a risk to cancer patients. Not everything that is natural is risk-free. People should use their common sense and think twice about the motives of these websites.”