Connect
MJA
MJA

Healed, or hungry? A personal perspective on the Gawler program

Tanya L Hall
Med J Aust 2012; 196 (9): . || doi: 10.5694/mja12.10064
Published online: 21 May 2012

In the Gawler program, the positive aspects are paid for with considerable sacrifice

In the state of turmoil following a cancer diagnosis, many patients are drawn to complementary treatments, which may provide an explanation, hope, and a sense of autonomy not provided by conventional medicine. In Australia, one figure who has attained a great following is Ian Gawler, a cancer survivor, whose incredible story of recovery has inspired many through his books and courses run by the Gawler Foundation, which he established in 1983.


  • Ballarat, VIC.


Correspondence: hallt3350@gmail.com

Acknowledgements: 

I acknowledge the assistance of Marina Vamos and Brendan Flynn in reviewing this article.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Ledesma D, Kumano H. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and cancer: a meta-analysis. Psychooncology 2009; 18: 571-579.
  • 2. Lengacher CA, Johnson-Mallard V, Post-White J, et al. Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for survivors of breast cancer. Psychooncology 2009; 18: 1261-1272.
  • 3. Gawler I. The causes of cancer. In: You can conquer cancer. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Michelle Anderson Publishing, 2001: 154-160.
  • 4. Nakaya N, Bidstrup PE, Saito-Nakaya K, et al. Personality traits and cancer risk and survival based on Finnish and Swedish registry data. Am J Epidemiol 2010; 172: 377-385.
  • 5. Ranchor AV, Sanderman R, Coyne JC. Invited commentary: personality as a causal factor in cancer risk and mortality — time to retire a hypothesis? Am J Epidemiol 2010; 172: 386-388.
  • 6. Ligibel JA. Role of adjuvant and posttreatment exercise programs in breast health. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2011; 9: 251-256.
  • 7. Kwan ML, Kushi LH, Weltzien E, et al. Alcohol consumption and breast cancer recurrence and survival among women with early-stage breast cancer: the life after cancer epidemiology study. J Clin Oncol 2010; 28: 4410-4416.
  • 8. Gawler I. The first step. In: You can conquer cancer. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Michelle Anderson Publishing, 2001: 12.
  • 9. Gawler I. Chemotherapy. Opinion piece. The Gawler Foundation [internet] 2006. http://www.gawler.org/assets/Uploads/Articles/Chemotherapy-Ian-Gawler.pdf (accessed Jan 2012).

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.