As a cancer survivor, watching the new Netflix show Apple cider vinegar I felt like a gut pot. The show catches the exhaustion and despair that many cancer patients feel, and the seductive allure of throwing away traditional medicine for the promise of a “natural” remedy. It also exposes the dark lower abdomen of the alternative health industry – a world where quacks and influencers hunt for the vulnerable. They speak with unwavering trust, but their claims are supported by zero peer-reviewed evidence.
I know this all too well … because I almost fell for it myself.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2022 at an early stage. I immediately started planning consultations with surgeons, but most appointments were pushed until middle or at the end of January due to the holidays. With weeks to wait, I decided to use time proactively – or so I thought – and met Dr. T, an integrative doctor, to investigate whether supplements could support my health while I was waiting for treatment.
While Dr. T my decision to follow an operation fully supported, she called another holistic practitioner, Dr. D, who specialized in thermography. She explained that thermography – a thermal imaging technique that maps blood flow to the surface of the breast – may possibly identify areas of abnormal heat that are linked to inflammation or tumors.
What attracted my attention, however, was her from the hand that Dr. D reportedly a breast cancer patient had “healed” without surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. As a science writer was curious about holistic medicine, I was intrigued. Can thermography detect my cancer? I decided to find out.
Courtesy Jennie Durant
The author shortly before the breast-in-law operation in Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC
When I arrived at the office of Dr. D, I noticed that it felt more like a spa than like a medical clinic – a welcome change in the rooms without windows with fluorescent lighting where I had received my breast screens.
The thermogram process included nine thermal images taken with a special camera, followed by a “cold challenge” where I immersed my hands in icy water to test how my body reacted. I was told that healthy tissue cools in synchronization with the signals from the brain, while cancer -like or inflamed areas resist the change and appear on the thermogram as hotspots.
I was fascinated, but I could not ignore the red flags: thermograms were not approved by the FDA as in itself standing tests for detecting breast cancer, and the technician who operated the machine turned out to be the doctor's wife.
After waiting for 30 minutes for my results – an eternity that made me uncomfortable – called Dr. D finally me in his office. And then things took a bizarre turn.
First he showed me the rainbow-colored thermogram report and acknowledged that it had not detected my cancer-he seemed to be visibly confused by the image. Instead, it had only unveiled “extra heat” in the area, so that I was placed in the “high risk” category.
Then he revealed his theory: my cancer was caused by “too many Covid -vaccines” and I should not get another. I was too stunned to respond. There is not only zero evidence that Covid -vaccines links to breast cancer or other 'turbo cancer', the claim flew in the light of my personal history.
“What about the fact that my mother had the same type of cancer, in the same chest, at the same age?” I asked.
He rejected this downright. “No, they are definitely the vaccines,” he kept full, before he turned to his next pitch: Super Mineral Water, a product that he sold in his clinic, which he claimed to “detox” and possibly heal me.
By that time I was shocked and embarrassed – not only because of his quack, but because of my naivety for walking in this mess. I grabbed my things and left as fast as I could.
Courtesy Jennie Durant
The author rings a bell after completing a month of radiation treatment in Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC
After my experience I turned on the internet and I came across a few comment boards about thermograms. One message led me to the story of Morgannne Delian, a believer in homeopathic medicine who opted for a thermogram instead of a mammogram to detect cancer when she felt a lump in her chest. The thermogram practitioner reportedly told Delian that he could not see a lump, but warned that “mild to moderate risk of developing aggressive breast tissue.” Months later, after finally having undergone a mammogram and a biopsy, she was diagnosed with 3 breast cancer.
Stories such as Delian's are hair -raising memories of the potential dangers of unproven screening tools and alternative therapies. From coffee-klymas and gerson therapy (a real version of the Hirsch method in “Apple cider vinegar”) to black ointment, intravenous vitamin C, alkaline diets, homeopathy and energy enforcement, these practices are brought to the market by doctors, chiropractors and clinici.
So why are so many people still attracted to these alternatives? Part of it, I think, is the allure of control at a time when you feel paralyzed with fear. A diagnosis of cancer is stripping from your desk – your body feels like a traitor and your treatment plan is determined by a team of experts that you have just met. Alternative medicine offers the illusion of empowerment and personalized care. Kwarts do not resist you with statistics, side effects or limitations – they offer hope and simplicity. In a world where cancer treatments are scary or difficult to understand, simplicity and hope can become irresistible.
After my diagnosis, one of the best things I did was to trust my cancer team and the science that led them. I left my Wishful Thinking – the fantasy of the 'beautiful healing experience', such as Milla's tropical Hirsch -Retraite in 'Apple Cider vinegar'. Instead, I embraced the grim reality of white hospital walls and an operating room without windows, where my surgeon professionally removed my tumor and left me cancer -free.
Courtesy Jennie Durant
The author and her husband at the DC Cherry Blossom Festival, a few weeks after she found out she was cancer -free.
Now I get an annual mammogram and chest -MRI, the recommended screening protocol for women like me who run a high risk and have closed breasts. I also take tamoxifen daily, a preventive medicine that I will take for at least five years, or as long as my oncologist advises. Why? Because she is the expert – not me.
Science has saved my life. It saves lives every day. Yet we are at a dangerous moment when people distrust the regulators and science communities to protect them, while blindly trusting politicians and influencers who benefit from our vulnerability. Apple cider vinegar Expand the dark side of these charismatic characters – people who lie just as easily as they breathe. It is a grim memory why we now have to trust science more than ever.
The question is: shall we listen?
Note: Some names and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals in this essay.
Jennie Durant is a science writer, researcher and survivor of breast cancer with a book about to be released with Island Press in 2026. Her work appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Kist, the conversation, the Salon and other points of sale. Make contact with her on Liinks, Jenniedurant.com or view her research on Google Scholar.
This article originally appeared at Huffpost in February 2025.
