Cancer is a Preventable Disease of our Western Life-style
Cancer rates have been rising steadily since the 1940s. But this is mostly true in Western life-style societies. By understanding how this happened, we can all learn to protect ourselves better. A Cancer Epidemic Started in 1940 Cancer rates have been climbing steadily since 1940. This is not due simply to the increase use of screening tests or the aging of our population: cancer has been rising in children and adolescents at a rate of 1% per year in the past 25 years. And cancers that have no screening test (lymphomas, pancreatic and testicular cancers for example) have been increasing as fast or faster than those that do (breast, colon, prostate). The most common cancers in the west are rare in some other countries. In certain regions of rural China in the 1980s, for example, WHO researchers using the same screening tests we use in the west were not able to find any cases of breast cancers. They were told by local physicians “it’s a disease of rich women! You?ll find it in Hong Kong, but not here. ” When Chinese women immigrate to the US, their risk of breast cancer becomes that of American women within one or two generations. The same is true for Japanese men and prostate cancer. Asians are not protected by their genes, but by their life-style. A Watershed in 1940: Five causes of a cancer epidemic Five major aspects of our life-style have changed since 1940 and contribute to the progression of cancer: 1. The massive increase of sugar consumption We went from 12 lbs of refined sugar per person per year in the 1800s to 154 lbs per person per year in 2000. Cancer cells feed primarily on sugar. To detect where a tumor may be present in the body, we use PET scans that simply measure where radioactive sugar accumulates. 2. The change in the way we feed animals that feed us Animals used to feed on grass and seeds rich in omega-3 fatty acids that slow the growth of cancer. Hence, meat, milk, cheese, butter, and eggs were all rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Now that animals are fed in feed-lots with corn and soy, omega-3s have practically disappeared from our common foods. Eggs my grandmother used to feed me on the farm I was raised on were a genuine “health food”, filled with the omega-3 DHA necessary for the growth of a child’s brain. Today?s supermarket eggs have practically no DHA and it has been replaced with the pro-inflammatory omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA). A diet rich in omega-6 fatty acids is associated with a markedly increased risk of breast cancer. As omega-6s stimulate inflammation in the body, they are likely to feed the growth of many other types of cancer too. Trans-fats, introduced widely in the 1960?s, are now present in almost all industrial foods (pizza, cookies, French fries etc. ). They
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