Research Into Ways to Prevent Cancer
I’m not sure if it’s the massive amount of new and information that is available now or actual number of occurrences. But, it seems like I am hearing more and more about friends (or friends of friends) that are dealing with cancer one way or another. Having a scientist background, I am very interested in this topic. Cancer is where the cells of your body misfire and keep grow (or replicate) without a stop signal. ** Be advised this is a pretty rudimentary and blanket description
All the technical descriptions behind, it seems to me that the best that a human can hope for (save for adaptive evolution) is to function as designed. Meaning our organs perform at there optimal for their functions. The human body is constantly in a state of flux. Cells die off and are replaced with new ones sometimes on a weekly basis. The blueprint for the rebuilding of these cells is in our DNA.
Why DNA Repair is Important
According to research we have hundreds of incidents to DNA damage an hour. One article I read cites that as many as 800 incidents an hour. So if you estimate this out to a 24 hour day, this means close to 20,000 incidents a day. Yes, 20 thousand. So lets apply to this to our regular bodily functions. This means that at any given hour some of our cells are being damaged and repaired. This could be the any organ. Just pick any major one and you can see the problems that might happen. Now let’s factor in that if our DNA is repaired the wrong way (cancer) we could have major problems. Imagine if you have a house, and any part of your house is damaged 800 times in an hour. How many hands would you need to just keep your house up and running.
Luckily our bodies are adapted to do this repair and successfully do so for most people every day. However, how many of can honestly say we are “nice” to our own bodies? So this is where we develop a problem. What if the repair systems just plain can’t keep up and fall behind, or the number of incident rise to be too much for the repair systems? This is why healthy eating and being aware of carcinogens (cancer causing “things”) are important to know. As you body repairs itself it CAN make mistakes.
Take Care of Yourself
Given that our bodies can make mistakes in repairing itself. It is important to know that what you do in daily life can play a factor in how optimal you body performs. For example, it is well accepted that smoking whether it be cigars or cigarettes can increase the chance for a person to develop cancer. So if we accept that there are hundreds of DNA damage incidents an hour, and that smoking increases the chance for cancer. I would, and do, chose to not smoke. Originally it was not for these reasons, however this does re-enforce my decision. There are also less popular areas to moderate that could effect your chances.
Imagine being on a beach, with your favorite cool beverage in hand, just relaxing and enjoying the scene for hours and hours. It’s one of my favorite images for relaxing and recuperating from stressful work situations for sure. But, as many of us know, the sun itself (UV rays) can cause DNA damage. So apply your new knowledge about DNA damage by the hour. It’s actually more risky than most people suppose. I’m not saying you should never be in the sun. Although I do know people how consciously decide to walk in the shade, I don’t think this is totally necessary. However, if you read most any articles and research on skin cancer, it is recommended to avoid the peak hours of the sun. This means staying out of the sun from 10am – 4pm when the sun is at it’s most powerful.
Sound horrible? It is hour right to choose how you life you life. I just think it’s important to be in-the-know and have a choice than to stumble upon something that may have been avoidable. I personally wear sunblock whenever I can and make sure I am wearing it when I am in direct sun. My adoption of this information just means I plan my hikes so that I’m done before 11am or noon at the latest. If I’m invited to hours and hours on the beach I will be SURE to wear sunscreen and probably bring some sort of cover / shade to sit under.
Give Your Body Good Things to Build With
The last part that I’ve adopted is based on research is diet. This is the hardest part for me because I am a food lover! It’s hard to refute the saying “you are what you eat” given that what we eat is used to fuel and rebuild our bodies. It is important to be conscious of what you feed your body. There is a lot of ongoing research about food. In fact, too much to even scratch the surface in this article. There is ongoing research on organic vs organic foods, food genetics, soil compositions, oceanic and air pollution, the way we prepare our foods etc. All of them worth reading if your trying to educate yourself on these matters.
One surprising bit of research that I ran across is that fruits can have an anti-cancer effect in the body. I’ve seen articles including strawberries, blueberries, and even kiwi fruit. Other that show that cruciferous vegetables have a preventative DNA damage effect as well as possibly an ability to inactivate carcinogens. Other interesting research proposing that tea drinks can also help with anticancer activities. Green teas specifically contains polyphenols that are thought to contribute to anticancer activities.
Take Action
Based on my research, here is the advice that I have adopted.
- Eat berries
- Eat cruciferous vegetables
- Drinking tea and other antioxidant good and drinks
- Exercise
I’d recommend continuing your own research and deciding which (if any changes) are appropriate for you.