Holistic Options

Although only a film about the cure for cancer, ‘The Medicine Man’ did bring home the need for more research into cancer; cancer has killed untold millions, but each year the cure for this disease gets another step closer. This disease causes suffering everywhere it is found; it has caused untold deaths throughout history and when the cure is finally discovered it will have a huge impact around the world. The causes for cancer seem to be many but despite all the knowledge we gain, it is still almost impossible to know if or when a person will contract it.

First off it is a good idea to understand exactly what cancer is and try to ascertain whether it is hereditary or something you can acquire. The word cancer is often used by some to explain something that spreads out of control; this is what happens with a population of cells that increase in size by replication, similar to the amoeba; although cancer is able to spread to neighboring cells and other parts of the body.

The malignant property of cancer differentiates it from benign tumors which limit their growth and do not invade or metastasize; some benign tumors, however, are capable of becoming malignant. The disease may affect people of all ages and there is an increased risk of suffering from the more common cancers as you get older; thirteen percent of people die from one of it’s many strains every year around the world. Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells; these abnormalities may be caused by other poisons within the body from smoking, radiation, chemicals or other infectious agents.

To further complicate matters, it can also be the result of problems with faulty genetic codes passed down by parents which means that a person can be born with pre-cancerous cells although faults can also occur with the body’s DNA replication ability. Complex relationships between carcinogens and a person’s genetic makeup may explain why only some develop it after exposure to a known carcinogen.

Research into the cause of cancer continues around the globe and is the disease most frequently studied on a regular basis. More knowledge is being acquired about cancer each year. We are always learning more about diseases and how they affect our bodies and minds; we are continually trying to find out why this disease attacks some and not others. After all we all want to know more about why we contract cancer and how to avoid it.

The food you eat on a regular basis will have an effect on your health, especially in the future. Some believe it may even be causing a large number of cases in certain groups of people. Dairy foods are also considered to be a cause; calcium from dairy products is thought to be possible cause of prostrate cancer in males although other foodstuffs that could create problems are, too much salt and saturated fat.

Cancer can strike anywhere in the body and each is a specialist type to the organ or part of the body it has infected. This is an insidious disease that can take a long time to surface but fortunately the number of forms that can be treated is increasing all the time. For those people diagnosed with cancer, my heart goes out to them and their families; however, the constant research is paying off and the life expectancy of cancer victims is increasing all the time.