Australian patients name financial pressure as top cause of cancer
Myths and cancer can go together hand in hand. Not surprisingly, in a complex disease that horribly impacts upon, and cuts short so many lives, there remain many questions around cancer causes. Despite cancer research increasingly unveiling more about the ‘big C’, we still see myths thrive.
What effect does this have? Myths are just part and parcel of the great unknown – right?
Unfortunately myths are undermining cancer prevention with Australian patients placing stress about money and the mortgage above established causes of the disease such as smoking, obesity, and family history.
New Cancer Council NSW research[i] published in Cancer Causes Control has revealed these findings, whilst showing that half of all patients didn’t know what caused their cancer and a quarter thought the disease was unpreventable.
This is contrary to the fact that up to a third of all cancers can actually be prevented through simple lifestyle choices like regular exercise, a healthy diet and quitting smoking.
Certainly stress is linked to several health problems, but it does not cause cancer. What it can do is affect people’s behaviour, so that they engage in more risky activities like smoking and drinking and eating unhealthily. It’s not the stress we can necessarily change but our reaction to it.
If as individuals, we continue to focus on stress as a cause it potentially takes away our focus on known cancer prevention factors. That’s not good as we want people choosing fact over fiction and doing things that are more likely to make a difference to cutting their cancer risk.
The research also revealed a gulf in the opinions of cancer patients depending on whether or not their type of cancer had a well known cause. Breast cancer patients were 60 per cent more likely to blame stress than lung cancer patients who understood the link to smoking.
The link between smoking and cancer is now ingrained in most of us. But when there is a gap in our knowledge, it appears we tend to grasp to any explanation. It’s easier than having unknowns in our lives.
So people wanting to cut their cancer risk are better off making some really simple lifestyle choices, such as keeping fit and active, avoiding smoking, restricting junk food, and knowing their family history for hereditary conditions.
How can we banish myths and generate a better understanding on what causes cancer?
The answer is twofold; more research and better communication of cancer causes and prevention. Many organisations, including Cancer Council are investing a lot of time and money into research. We do that part well.
What this study shows us is the importance of evidence-based prevention messages, to replace these myths. But the trick is to take the science and make it palatable, interesting and relevant to everyday people. Also as health professionals we need to work together to distribute these messages, so prevention messages are even more part and parcel of visiting the doctor.
Possible? I hope so. Watch this space…
[i] This research was a collaborative effort. Thank you to Simon Willcox who completed this research as part of his Master of Public Health (Honours) and Bernard Stewart, University of NSW.
Freddy Sitas is the Director of Research at Cancer Council NSW, leading top cancer researchers to find out why people get cancer and how to prevent, treat, diagnose and manage the disease. As a world expert in cancer research, Freddy regularly contributes to international research, publishing in over 90 peer review journals, numerous books, reports and other publications.
ANI
November 27, 2011 at 3:51 pm
cancer is caused by toxic relationships and the stress of..
Cancer I have found is caused by stress when the individual doesn’t understand the nature of the stress involved. Very briefly cancer is caused when an unsuspecting person reacts somatically to ideas that indicate some sort of attack taking place in their body owing to the action of mirror neurons in the brain. Cancer is all about stem-cell mediated immunity erroneously ignited. The source of these ideas? Toxic people, at least one of which is in a close relationship with the victim and often is trusted by the victim. The victim (which doctors call a patient) is put into a potential danger situation. This causes them to become fearful, which is a somatic reaction to ready the body for action. Fear has two qualities that are sought after by toxic people. One is that it heightens perception and that includes ESP or mental perception INSIDE of relationship. NO double blinding here! The other is that it causes excitation in the body, which can be erroneously associated with ideas presented. The person is also angered to make them aggressive. The images of hate video depicting the person are vile so they push them into unconsciousness but that doesn’t help. They sense being attacked and where they are attacked they try to put up a resistance barrier of cells. The harder they fight the more cells that they amass.. cancer. It is very easy to disassemble and I have repeatedly regressed cancers and have remained healthy without drugs and medical procedures. I would be happy to discuss this further with you if you like. My email address is ani.eade1@bigpond.com.