Articles

Meares Ainslie, Med. J. Aust., 1979. 2: 539-540.

Elsewhere I have reported the regression of breast cancer with multiple metastases and ascites after intensive meditation 1,and in another case, the regression of bony metastases of osteogenic sarcome 2. I have also reported unexpected prolongation of active life in a woman with widespread abdominal metastases, and the remission of Hodgkin's disease in two patients. each of whom had failed to respond to four years of conventional treatment.3 I now report a case of regression of carcinoma of the rectum after intensive meditation in the abscence of any medical treatment whatso-ever.

In the reporting of these successful cases. there is no suggestion that all cancer patients, or even a majority of cancer patients, who practise intensive meditation will achieve some kind of miraculous cure. The purpose is to suggest to colleagues the possibility of an effective alternative treatment of cancer, either as an adjunct to orthodox treatment or as a form of treatment in its own right.

To date, some 70 cancer patients have consulted me for 20 or more sessions of intensive meditation. The group includes people with various forms of cancer. In most cases the disease has been advanced, and in some truly terminal. At present it is not possible to give any effective statistical analysis of results, but certain clinical trends are clearly emerging. Those patients who have progressed to death have, with hardly an exception, gained from the meditative experience in the way of peace of mind, less discomfort and pain, and a philosophical understanding and acceptance of the significance of life and death. High intelligence does not seem to be necessary.

This is probably so because meditation involves some function.of our mind distinct from our intellect. In general, introvert patients do better than extraverts. People who have had some experience of personal prayer very easily capture the type of meditation which I teach. Present indications are that patients who are not having chemotherapy or irradiation do better than those who are. The reason for this may be depression of the immune system by such treatment, or it may be that these patients are more completely committed to treatment by meditation. Patients who continue to attend general practitioners or oncologists who give them, either directly or indirectly, negative suggestions as to possible help through meditation, do not do so well as others. These negative suggestions undermine the patient's self-discipline to continue the meditation when he may already be faltering through discomfort and pain.

This situation at present is easily the most difficult problem in this work. Patients with cerebral arteriosclerosis or cerebral metastases may be unable to concentrate sufficiently to meditate effectively. Persons who are hedonistically inclined frequently find it hard to maintain the necessary self-discipline over an extended period of time. In general, patients whose cancer produces pain do better than patients whose condition is painless. Pain provides much more effective motivation than any logical assessment of the situation, and then, in paradoxical fashion, the motivation comes to be main tamed through thi reduction of pain by meditation.

Some patients have come with their own fixed ideas about meditation, and they have found it hard to adjust to the extreme simplicity of the meditation used in this approach. Some few results have been disappointing. A young woman had had her inguinal glands dissected for a secondary deposit from transplant of the nipple during reconstruction of her breast after mastectomy. In spite of what seemed very effective meditation, she developed metastases and died. Ascites from abdominal metastases has cleared in two patients; but one of these patients later died, and the other has now developed further metastases.

Several other patients have achieved an initial remission both of symptoms and of clinical findings, only to relapse subsequently. In some of these cases, in spite of all advice to the contrary, the patient had reduced the intensity of the meditation when he was feeling so much better. Strangely enough, at present there is no clear indication that one type of neoplasm is more susceptible to this approach than another. This probably means that host resistance and the effect of a profound and sustained reduction of anxiety on the immune system are more important in this work than is the nature of the tumour itself.

It may well be that the extreme reduction of anxiety in these patients triggers off the same mechanism as that which becomes active in the rare spontaneous remissions. This would be consistent with the observation that spontaneous remissions are often associated with some kind of religious experience or profound psychological reaction. Before the commencement of treatment, it is explained to all cancer patients, and if possible to a relative, that this approach is at present purely experimental. If the patient says that he has been advised to have chemotherapy, and asks for my opinion, he is always told that this is the orthodox treatment. My data have not yet reached a stage at which they can be effectively subjected to statistical analysis, and my own advancing years make any prolonged trial impracticable. In these circumstances, the publication of case reports may bring others to consider this approach as a possible alternative treatment of cancer.

 

REPORT OF A CASE

The patient is a 64-year-old man, himself a professional in psychological healing. At the time when he first consulted me, over 12 months ago, he was scarcely able to use his bowels at all and was having an enema each day. He had to get up six or eight times each night to pass urine. His general health and strength were deteriorating. A surgeon had diagnosed carcinoma of the rectum, and this had been proved by biopsy taken per anum.

The photomicrograph shows an adenocarcinoma infiltrating tissues beneath the muscularis mucosae. Immediate operation was advised; he was adamant that he would not submit to it. He had heard of the regression of cancer of the breast in one of my patients and sought my help. He was led into intensive meditation, which he captured quite readily through the help of his own professional experience. In addition to seeing me daily, he was required to meditate by himself for one to two hours each day. In two weeks he reported the first signs of improvement.

In six weeks he was able to discontinue the use of the enema, and had regained the use of his bowels to the extent of passing stools which he described as like a pencil. In two months he was sleeping the night through without getting up. At this stage he was extremely confident that he had beaten the growth, and he went for a month's holiday to another State. While he was away, a friend persuaded him to consult an iridologist. one who claims to diagnose bodily ailments by examining the iris. The iridologist spoke vaguely of both prostate trouble and cancer. This upset the patient, and he lost his ability to meditate. He consulted a leading surgeon, who told him the cancer was still there and advised immediate operation. He returned to me looking ill and shaken. I was able to restore his ability for intensive meditation. In two weeks much of his former strength had returned. In six months he had reasonably easy use of his bowels, passing stools of near-normal diameter.

Now, over 12 months after first consulting me, he looks well and feels well. He is working at his profession as formerly, except that he allows himself three hours a day for meditation, an hour when he just gets up, ten minutes between patients, and an hour in the afternoon. He enjoys the meditation, and says that it adds to the quality of his life far beyond the relief of his cancer.

The patient is a sensitive man of thoughtful disposition, and quite venturesome by nature. He ponders the problems of his professional work, he writes poetry, and he is an expert hang-glider. This is a sport demanding the utmost courage, in which the glider jumps off a cliff edge into a strong wind while suspended from a kite-like contraption, and is carried upward by air currents. His sensitivity and professional background have made the meditation easier for him, and his courage has helped in yet another skirmish with death.

 

REFERENCES

1- Meares, A.. Regression of cancer after intensive meditation. Med. ,J. Aust., 1976, 2: 184.

2- Meares, A., Regression of osteogenic sarcoma metastases associated with intensive meditation, Med. J. Aust.. 1978, 2: 433.

3- Meares, A., Meditation: A psychological approach to cancer treatment, Practitioner. 1979, 222: 119.