Just bad luck or is it the chemicals we breathe, eat and drink?
The Telegraph
By Judith Potts
Last updated: January 23rd, 2015
The current Cancer Research UK television commercial tells us
that "As many people now survive cancer as die from it." Jeremy Hunt
(Secretary of State for Health) says that "More people are surviving
cancer than ever before". Yet Juliet Bouverie (director of services and
influencing at Macmillan Cancer Support) warns that "Our cancer survival
rates continue to lag behind other European countries and we face
falling further behind". The postcode lottery of cancer care shows that
four in ten cancer patients die within 12 months in the worst-performing
English regions.
Researchers from the National Center for Biotechnology Information in the USA will tell you that "If a human could live long enough, it is inevitable that at least one of his or her cells would eventually accumulate a set of mutations sufficient for cancer to develop." Of course, one of the reasons given for the overwhelming problems facing the NHS is exactly that – we are living longer and cancer is joining heart disease and stroke as an end-of-life illness.
That is all very well but what about the fact that so many young people are developing cancer? Last Friday I was invited to take part in a photo-shoot with other women – all cancer "survivors" – to illustrate a forthcoming book about living beyond cancer. As the afternoon progressed, I realised that I was by far the oldest woman there. The majority of the others were all in their twenties and thirties. Indeed, one girl was a mere 21 and had come through five months of chemotherapy followed a diagnosis of lymphoma. Talking to some of them, I heard the far too common refrain that it took repeated appointments with the GP before the presenting symptoms were taken seriously – "you are far too young for cancer".
Is it just bad luck (as the study from Johns Hopkins University in the USA reported), old age or self-inflicted? Well – the first of the three could apply to the young but not the others. Has a 20 year old really had time to choose a lifestyle which would increase the chances of cancer developing?
Dementia too, is being diagnosed in younger people.
Could it be that doctors and researchers are looking away from what is around us – the air we breathe, the food we eat or the water we drink from the moment we are born?
Those who advocate a healthy diet – particularly after cancer – advise against eating processed ready-made food or fast food. This would seem to be perfectly illustrated by The Elite Daily, who tweeted a picture of a fast food hamburger and chicken taco which had been sitting open on a desk for two years and looked exactly as it did on day one. Concerned about the prevalence of non-perishable food, Dr. Jacqueline Vaughan – a chiropractor in Michigan USA – decided to show her patients "exactly how far fast food is from the real ingredients in nourishing food".
Even "real" ingredients can be suspect. Meat that comes from animals full of antibiotics and growth hormones; cereal crops, vegetables and fruits grown in chemicals which fertilise, control the pests and kill the weeds. Many people are concerned that wheat may be the culprit in various forms of allergies – but is it actually the wheat itself? Is it not more likely to be the fertiliser, pesticide or weedkiller that it has imbibed as it grows? Then added to all that is the preservative, so that a shop-bought loaf of bread will last for weeks.
The mega dairies of the USA are beginning to be mirrored here. Cows that never see grass but are kept in sand-lined stalls with roaming only allowed within the barn; chickens and pigs who never see daylight; fish farmed in questionable conditions. Apart from the obvious cruelty, do we really believe this is the way forward for our health?
The charity Breast Cancer UK would add other potentially carcinogenic chemicals to the list – those found in food wrapping and plastics used for children's lunch boxes, drinks bottles or pencil cases – particularly Bisphenol A. Originally used to enhance the growth of cattle and poultry, BPA was briefly used as an oestrogen replacement for women but now is used by the chemical industry to harden plastics. Breast Cancer UK is campaigning for it to be removed from all food and drink packaging and replaced by safer alternatives. It is suspected of disrupting the hormone system, affecting the development of the mammary glands and has been linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, endometriosis, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. It is also thought to affect brain development and behaviour.
If you are lucky enough to live to a ripe old age, perhaps you would expect the onset of cancer – but surely we need to pay attention to what may be propagating cancer in our young people?
Tags: BPA, Breast Cancer UK, Cancer in Young PeopleResearchers from the National Center for Biotechnology Information in the USA will tell you that "If a human could live long enough, it is inevitable that at least one of his or her cells would eventually accumulate a set of mutations sufficient for cancer to develop." Of course, one of the reasons given for the overwhelming problems facing the NHS is exactly that – we are living longer and cancer is joining heart disease and stroke as an end-of-life illness.
That is all very well but what about the fact that so many young people are developing cancer? Last Friday I was invited to take part in a photo-shoot with other women – all cancer "survivors" – to illustrate a forthcoming book about living beyond cancer. As the afternoon progressed, I realised that I was by far the oldest woman there. The majority of the others were all in their twenties and thirties. Indeed, one girl was a mere 21 and had come through five months of chemotherapy followed a diagnosis of lymphoma. Talking to some of them, I heard the far too common refrain that it took repeated appointments with the GP before the presenting symptoms were taken seriously – "you are far too young for cancer".
Is it just bad luck (as the study from Johns Hopkins University in the USA reported), old age or self-inflicted? Well – the first of the three could apply to the young but not the others. Has a 20 year old really had time to choose a lifestyle which would increase the chances of cancer developing?
Dementia too, is being diagnosed in younger people.
Could it be that doctors and researchers are looking away from what is around us – the air we breathe, the food we eat or the water we drink from the moment we are born?
Those who advocate a healthy diet – particularly after cancer – advise against eating processed ready-made food or fast food. This would seem to be perfectly illustrated by The Elite Daily, who tweeted a picture of a fast food hamburger and chicken taco which had been sitting open on a desk for two years and looked exactly as it did on day one. Concerned about the prevalence of non-perishable food, Dr. Jacqueline Vaughan – a chiropractor in Michigan USA – decided to show her patients "exactly how far fast food is from the real ingredients in nourishing food".
Even "real" ingredients can be suspect. Meat that comes from animals full of antibiotics and growth hormones; cereal crops, vegetables and fruits grown in chemicals which fertilise, control the pests and kill the weeds. Many people are concerned that wheat may be the culprit in various forms of allergies – but is it actually the wheat itself? Is it not more likely to be the fertiliser, pesticide or weedkiller that it has imbibed as it grows? Then added to all that is the preservative, so that a shop-bought loaf of bread will last for weeks.
The mega dairies of the USA are beginning to be mirrored here. Cows that never see grass but are kept in sand-lined stalls with roaming only allowed within the barn; chickens and pigs who never see daylight; fish farmed in questionable conditions. Apart from the obvious cruelty, do we really believe this is the way forward for our health?
The charity Breast Cancer UK would add other potentially carcinogenic chemicals to the list – those found in food wrapping and plastics used for children's lunch boxes, drinks bottles or pencil cases – particularly Bisphenol A. Originally used to enhance the growth of cattle and poultry, BPA was briefly used as an oestrogen replacement for women but now is used by the chemical industry to harden plastics. Breast Cancer UK is campaigning for it to be removed from all food and drink packaging and replaced by safer alternatives. It is suspected of disrupting the hormone system, affecting the development of the mammary glands and has been linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, endometriosis, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. It is also thought to affect brain development and behaviour.
If you are lucky enough to live to a ripe old age, perhaps you would expect the onset of cancer – but surely we need to pay attention to what may be propagating cancer in our young people?
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