The C word Cancer

Did you know?

In the USA the probability that an individual will develop or die from cancer over the course of a lifetime is one in two for men and one in three for women.
Most cancers are not the result of inherited genes but from damage ( mutation) to genes that take place during an individual's lifetime.

Between 1973 and 1998 in the USA, breast cancer incidences rose by more than 40 per cent, and today a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer is one in 8.2
Cancer is the word that everyone fears. It is the second leading cause of death in the USA after heart disease, and around one in four deaths, in Europe are as a result of cancer.

But what causes cance and is there any evidence that over-use of certain personal care products might increase the risk of cancer developing? This chaper explores the latest research and examines the evidence.

The term 'cancer' refers to a cluster of diseases i which normal cells multiply beyond normal growth mechanisms, generating millions os similar self-multiplying cells that spread beyond their usual area (metastatis). There are over 100 types of cancer.

It is thought that every cancer develops from a single cell inheriting or acquiring DNA damage and failing to respond to normal processes that control growth. In the abscence of control its offspring develop and multiply to create tumor. In normal cells any damage acquired is repaired and the cells return to normal; If the damage cannot be repaired the cells do not divide. But in cancer cells there are cell cycle errors that are allowed to replicate.

Research has revealed that two steps are needed for cancer to develop initiation and promotion. In the initation step a genetic change aoccurs in a cell. These may be something that you are born withor may be created by initators such as viruses, hormones, chronic inflammation within the body, or exogenous (external) agents such as radation, carcinogens(cancer-causing chemicals, biological or physical agents).

In the second step promoters bring about rapid cell growth before the cell has had the chance to repair the DNA damage. Cancer promoters include chronic inflammation, radation, hormones, and environmental chemicals.It has also been suggested that extremely-low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF_EMFs) may play a part in cancer promotion, as does a high-fat diet and excess calorie intake.

It can take up to 20 years for cancer to appear after exposure to an initiator. If an individual is not exposed to many promoters, it may never materialize. Once the cancerous growth no longer requires exposure to a promoter, it grows independently (the progression phase).

Sometimes two or more substances interact, heightening each other's effects and leading to more cancers than would be produced by the sum of two substances.

This process is known as synergism. Exposure to certain occupational chemicals and smoking, or alcohol consumption and smoking would be an example of this.

Reference: Toxic Beauty: Dawn Mellows