Bob Marley's Cause of Death: Idiopathic (of unknown underlying cause) Acral Lentiginous Melanoma
This topic was raised in Lex's journal. It happens to be one I've investigated, being a fan of Bob Marley's music since the mid '70s, but I'm creating a separate thread on it as I don't want to put nonrelevant stuff in Lex's journal. There are some interesting dietary aspects of Bob's story. I don't know how much if at all they relate to his cancer, but in my research I have found that many "idiopathic" diseases are eventually found to have a dietary connection. Instead of proposing any connections, though, I'll let people decide for themselves. Besides, I'm sure Tyler will take me to task if I propose that Bob's diet was directly related to his cancer.
Bob's wife Rita said Bob became a Rastafari in early 1966 at the age of 21 and "altered his diet" (One Faith: Rita on Rastafari,
http://web.bobmarley.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080221&contentid=93844). The Rastafari diet is often based on the diet of Genesis, Leviticus and Deuteronomy (excluding shellfish and pork and other foods, with most reportedly also excluding red meat despite no Biblical prohibition). Some Rastafari take the diet further, however, excluding all meats. At some point Bob appears to have been one of these, for he allegedly said "I-man say don't make Jah body a graveyard for de dead animals!" ("Bob Marley," International Vegetarian Union,
http://www.ivu.org/people/music/marley.html).
After Bob injured his toe playing football in 1977 and ignored a doctor's advice to stay off it, the toe didn't heal properly, so he had it checked out a second time. This time it was found that Bob had idiopathic acral lentiginous melanoma, a form not found to be related to sunshine or cigarettes that is the most common form of melanoma in black people, and the physician recommended that Bob have the toe amputated. Instead, Bob opted to have a portion of the toe removed by Dr. William Bacon at Cedars--a riskier option. Dr. Bacon recommended that Bob start eating meat again, and Bob's health recovered. So Bob may have gone as much as 11 years eating little or no meats and plentiful plant foods.
Later on, Bob collapsed while jogging. Bob's personal physician, Dr. Frazier, at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, said he had suffered a stroke and found a malignant brain tumor--the cancer had spread. The doctors at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami referred him to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering in Mahatten. When it appeared that chemotherapy was killing Bob, Bob's main physician at Sloan-Kettering, Dr. Frazier, referred him to the quack German doctor, Josef Issels. Frazier had heard that Issels cured some cancer patients and figured that since Bob was going to die anyway, it was worth a shot.
Bob got somewhat better once chemotherapy treatment was stopped, but then he worsened again while on Issels' quack lacto-vegetarian diet and treatments. Bob eventually refused to eat or drink and his weight dropped to 70 pounds. Dr. Issels operated on his stomach tumor, but it didn't help and Issels gave up hope that his controversial treatments would help Bob and told Bob that he would die within a couple weeks. Bob was returned to Cedars of Lebanon, where he soon died.
Main sources:
Bob Marley: a biography, by David Vlado Moskowitz
Ital,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ItalAcral Lentiginous Melanoma,
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/a/acral_lentiginous_melanoma/causes.htm
