Eddie Van Halen ‘Is Not Doing Well’ — David Lee Roth Drops a Cryptic Health Update
About the Legendary Guitarist’s Throat Cancer

The iconic rocker was in the hospital this past November, reportedly to deal
with side effects of his treatment.

Published Jan 10, 2020





“Ed’s not doing well, and singing and dancing is a perishable skill,
” Roth told the Las Vegas-Review Journal when a discussion of Van Halen
performing together again came up. “If you have the capacity,
it’s something that has to be used routinely, if not for the thrill of it
and the magic of creating with other incandescent spirits.”



Eddie Van Halen (Image source: Twitter)


Eddie Van Halen’s Cancer Journey
After a previous tongue cancer diagnosis in 2000, Van Halen
— who turns 65 on Jan. 27 —
underwent surgery to remove the cancer along with roughly a third of his tongue.
Though he was declared cancer-free in 2002, tabloid website TMZ reported
this year that Van Halen has for years been going quietly to Germany for
throat cancer treatment.

If true, it’s unclear why he’s being treated in Germany as opposed to somewhere
closer to Los Angeles, where he lives. It’s worth noting that the star was born
in the Netherlands (which borders Germany) and lived there until age 7, when
his family moved to California. German cancer clinics have been known to draw
patients from many countries in Europe and beyond.

Van Halen seemed to be doing great, however, including through most of 2019.

But this past November, the iconic ’80s musician, according to TMZ, had spent
several days in the hospital as a result of “intestinal issues and abdominal pain.”
Sources told TMZ they were a side effect of the drugs that Van Halen had been
taking as part of his treatment.

Van Halen’s Guitar Pick Theory

Van Halen has theorized that years of putting copper and brass guitar picks in
his mouth caused his throat cancer. But SurvivorNet has found no sufficient
evidence that copper and brass cause cancer.

“I used metal picks—they’re brass and copper—which I always held in my mouth,
in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer,” he previously told Billboard.
“This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it’s possible.”

However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) do not classify copper or the metals
in brass (an alloy comprised of copper and zinc) as carcinogenic to humans.
This means that there isn’t known evidence that the metals cause cancer.
Plus, Van Halen has been a lifelong smoker; as he told Billboard during the
same interview, he began smoking cigarettes when he was only 12 years old.

“I was an alcoholic, and I needed alcohol to function… I started drinking
and smoking when I was 12. I got drunk before I’d show up to high school,”
Van Halen said, adding that the reason he doesn’t credit his cancer to smoking
is that, despite his throat cancer, his “lungs are totally clear.”

Smoking is a major risk factor for oral cancer and throat cancer, just as it is
for lung cancer, and so is alcohol.

According to the American Cancer Society, “Tobacco and alcohol use
are 2 of the strongest risk factors for oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers.”
(Oropharyngeal cancers meaning cancers of the mouth, tongue, or throat).


I'll say a prayer you Eddie...