Cancer Sucks

I wish I could say this is some kind of bad April Fool’s joke, but it is not. Last night, my father in law was diagnosed with cancer based on a biopsy of some lung nodules. As it turns out, the lung cancer is a secondary type of cancer, meaning that somewhere there is a Stage IV cancer lurking. Today, he will undergo more testing to try to determine the primary cancer location.

There seems to be some sort of cancer epidemic in our country. Perhaps it is a regional thing, but it seems like a lot of people are being diagnosed with cancer. Age, sex, economic status, and overall health don’t seem to matter. It makes me wonder if perhaps there is some environmental toxin that mutates DNA that people have been exposed to. There would almost have to be some kind of environmental trigger for so many people with so little in common to be adversely affected. My first guess would be organophosphate pesticides and herbicide exposure. There are pesticides everywhere in our world, even in places that are not obvious. Of course, we first think of the produce we buy at the grocery store, but what about the pesticides that we use to treat our homes for termites, or the chemicals we use for fire ants, or the insulation in our attics? What about the OFF that we so liberally use to keep ticks and mosquitos away? Plastic trash bags contain pesticides and rodenticides, too. We pour herbicides on our lawns in order to try to have the prettiest yard on the block. There are also many different carcinogens in our environment-things like PCB’s and other industrial contaminants. Carpets, paint, and building materials like pressure treated wood are known to outgas hazardous substances.

Many people have also probably been guinea pigs for the government without their consent. The most famous example of this is the 40 year long Tuskegee Syphilis experiment. At Hanford, WA, the government intentionally and systematically released radioactive materials into the environment for 27 years via air and water, poisoning downwinders, Native American groups, recreational boaters, and the salmon and river fish populations. Although not proven, some believe that the so called Gulf War Syndrome is a result of the experimental anthrax vaccine known as squalene. Squalene antibodies have been found in up to 95% of veterans with Gulf War Syndrome. Vaccines for military personnel are mandatory. Of course, many people participate in self destructive behaviors like excessive tobacco or alcohol consumption, they eat unhealthy foods with very little anti-oxidant value, and they don’t get enough sleep or exercise so their bodies are always stressed. I think physical stress is a larger cancer culprit than most people believe. Recent studies have shown that women who work at night have higher rates of breast cancer, probably due to the way our bodies create and use melatonin and other sleep and stress regulating hormones. Everything is interrelated.

When I was in college, I was a chemistry major, pre-med. I had plans to become a research scientist. My dream was to work at the CDC to try to find a cure for cancer and other diseases. Thirty years ago, I had great hope that all cancer would be cured in my lifetime. Now, I’m not so sure, but I still have hope. We’ve made great progress in treating cancer, and there are even vaccines against some types of cancer now, but there are many types of cancer, and they aren’t all created equal. The only thing that we can do is to use common sense and do what we know we should be doing, that is, don’t drink or smoke or do illegal drugs, exercise and get plenty of sleep, and eat a healthy diet full of anti-oxidant containing foods like fish and vegetables. Even that may not be enough, but it is the best we can do right now.