Anthony J. Sattilaro (1931–1989) was an American
physician and
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism may ...
activist best known for promoting
macrobiotics as a cancer cure. His views were criticized by medical experts as
quackery.
Biography
Sattilaro was the chief executive officer of
Methodist Hospital in
South Philadelphia. He was diagnosed at the age 49 with
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...
with multiple
bone metastases.
[Kushi, Lawrence H; Cunningham, Joan E; Hebert, James R; Lerman, Robert H; Bandera, Elisa V; Teas, Jane. (2001). ''The Macrobiotic Diet in Cancer''. '' The Journal of Nutrition'' 131 (11): 3056S–3064S.] In his book ''Recalled from Life'' (1982), he described how macrobiotics had cured his prostate cancer. He stated that a follow-up examination revealed complete resolution of metastatic bone lesions.
Sattilaro went on publicity tours and he appeared in magazines and talk shows. In ''Living Well Naturally'' (1984), he made the claim that a macrobiotic diet had put his prostate cancer into permanent remission.
[Butler, Kurt. (1992). ''A Consumer's Guide to "Alternative Medicine": A Close Look at Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Faith-healing, and Other Unconventional Treatments''. Prometheus Books. p. 23. ]
In 1989, he died from prostate cancer that his books claimed he had been cured of.
[Butler, Kurt. (1999). ''Lying for Fun and Profit: The Truth about the Media: Exposes the Corrupt Symbiosis Between Media Giants and the Health Fraud Industries''. Health Wise Productions. p. 81. ] According to
William T. Jarvis
William Tyler Jarvis (October 19, 1935 – March 1, 2016) was an American health educator and skeptic.
Jarvis graduated from University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Duluth and Kent State University. In 1973, he obtained a Ph.D in health ...
"he eventually died of his disease, but this fact was not mentioned in the macrobiotic press."
[Jarvis, William T. (1997)]
"How Quackery Harms Cancer Patients"
Quackwatch. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
Publications
* ''Recalled by Life'' (
Houghton Mifflin, 1982, 1989)
* ''Living Well Naturally'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1984, 1985)
See also
*
Hugh Faulkner (doctor)
*
List of unproven and disproven cancer treatments
This is a non-exhaustive list of alternative treatments that have been promoted to treat or prevent cancer in humans but which lack scientific and medical evidence of effectiveness. In many cases, there is scientific evidence that the alleged tr ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sattilaro, Anthony
1931 births
1989 deaths
20th-century American physicians
Alternative cancer treatment advocates
American vegetarianism activists
Deaths from prostate cancer
Hospital administrators
Macrobiotic diet advocates
Pseudoscientific diet advocates