Medical, Drugs, Pharmaceuticals And Diseases Information

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Radiation is a risk factor for cancer and we have to take steps against ultra violet (UV) radiation from sun. This is of serious concern because we are now exposed to more of this radiation due to the depletion of the ozone layer by the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—substances. CFC substances are present in aerosol sprays, air conditioners, and most refrigerant systems.

 Avoid getting sunburn as even one major sunburn increases your risk of devel¬oping skin cancer. UV rays are present even when there is no direct sun exposure. Even in cloudy days inside your home you will be exposed to UV rays so please protect yourself even on cloudy days. Even during winter please wear sunscreen and appropriate skin cover¬ings. Snow can reflect UV rays. Sunscreens play an important role in protecting you against UV rays. You need to use Sun screens with SPF rating of above 15. Change your sunscreen periodically of exposed to direct sunlight. Even if you take adequate sunscreens protection avoid continued exposure to UV rays as no sunscreen can protect you beyond a limit.

Many types of infections can trigger cancer. Hepatitis B virus is known to cause liver cancer. Please ensure that you are protected against Hepatitis B by proper vaccination. A bacterial infection known as Helicobacter pylori is known to cause stomach cancer. However a normal antibiotic treatment can treat this type of cancer. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation will not be required.

If you consume high fat diet you could be putting yourself at a risk of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer. If you are taking fast food you are putting yourself at a huge risk of cancer. Stay away from Burger, Pizza and fries joints. Processed foods, dairy foods and meat are also high in fat. These foods cause excess fat in the body. In women the female hormone estrogen is stored in these fat tissues. Excess estrogen is known to cause breast cancer. Children in America and west eat too much fatty food. This is a perfect recipe for cancer. Currently as much as 40% of calories consumed by Americans are from fat. Limit this to not more than 10%. Let us not dig our grave with our teeth.

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Certain type of chemicals found in the environment are the potent cancer triggers. In the last century it was observed that miners who had prolonged contact with coal and tar had a high incidence of lung cancer. Now it is identified that benzoprene is a major carcinogen and it is found in coal and tar. It is also found in cigarette smoke.

Chemical carcinogens are exceedingly prevalent in our environ¬ment, even if you are not exposed to secondary or primary tobacco smoke you will be exposed to these carcinogens. The food additive nitrites become carcinogenic nitrosamines in our body. Many petroleum products and emissions are highly carcinogenic so are many pesticides.

Even some prominent food items have cancer causing substances naturally present (not through pesticides). The substance aflatoxin is found in corn and peanuts (as well as peanut butter) are carcinogenic. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer caused by expsore to asbestos. Most people who contracted mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways. For example they may have washed clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos. However it is found that cigarette smoking and high fat diet is the major cause for 70% of all cancer cases.
 
Another major non chemical cancer triggering factor is radiation. It is well known that UV radiation from the sun is one of the major contributing risk factors of skin cancer. It is also well known that exposure to X-rays and gamma rays contribute to leukemia (blood cancer). People who work around medical facilities using X Ray machines and nuclear plants are exposed to high level of radiation and are more susceptible to cancer. 

Recently, it has been found that the gas radon causes cancer threat to home own¬ers. This gas, produced by the natural breakdown of radium or ura¬nium, is a fairly serious radiation risk factor for the development of lung cancer. Radon may be present in rocks and soil beneath a house. Released as a vapor, it seeps through cracks in basement floors or travels up pipes that come up from deep wells. The unsuspecting home occupant has little idea that he or she is being steadily irradiated.The highest levels of radon are found in New Jersey, Pennsylva¬nia, Colorado, Florida, and New Hampshire. Overall it is found that approximately 12 percent of American homes contained elevated levels of radon.

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Cancer is such a damaging process that parts of our own body grows uncontrollably and harms us severely. We have to understand how and why cancer starts and progresses. Even if we are in best of physical conditions and environment free of any carcinogens and stresses, we will still be susceptible to cancer. The very process of staying alive, the metabolism process that goes in our body cells, the process of digestion, growth etc. alone is sufficient to make us susceptible to this deadly disae4se.

To understand these basic dangers, we have to understand the process of oxidation. The oxygen molecule is the very basis of life without which life cannot last even for few minutes can also. The same oxygen can also harm the body. In the normal metabolic process in our body oxygen oxidizes the food we eat to produce energy. This process not only produces energy but also highly reactive forms of oxygen called free radicals as a by product. These free radicals are unstable ions which can instantly attach to a healthy molecule. When molecules in our cells encounter these free radicals, they suffer serious damage. This process can be self perpetuating as the damaged molecule become free radicals themselves causing series of continuous damage to healthy molecules. When the free radicals damage the molecules in the cells they actually damage the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is the material in the protoplasm of every cell that con¬tains the genetic program and information of life. The DNA is unique for every living organism.

No two humans will have similar DNA, It has been estimated that every cell in our body is subjected to thousands of damaging oxidative attacks to its DNA daily. We could succumb to this damage within few months of life but for the defense mechanism that is there in us in the form of antioxidants. These anti oxidants scavenge these free radicals and prevent them from damaging cellular DNA.  Some of these antioxidants are produced in our body and most of them are present in the food we intake. The plant based foods are riches source of anti oxidants called phyto nutrients. Phyto nutrients are present in all plant based edible foods that undergo the photo synthesis process. 

Antioxidant metabolism explains the process of cancer. Most of the risk factors for cancer are in one way or another related to an increased rate of free-radical attack on the cells of the body. Apart from internally produced free radicals there are external source of free radicals. These are smoking, excessive unprotected exposure to sunlight, exposure to poisonous chemicals in our food and envi¬ronment. Many forms of infection and inflammation also promote cancer.

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