Knock down your risk of cancer by munching garlic and onions, by swallowing daily citrus fruits, by chomping Brussel sprouts, by shaving your x-rays to once a year, by avoiding the sun, by quitting smoking, and by steering clear of electrical wires, says author Vernon Coleman.
I add beware of cell phones. I’m sure it was a cell phone that fried the nerves in my friend’s thumb. She wore a hand brace for weeks. So, could cell phones fry not only your thumbs but your brains, too? Lately, I’ve heard of many cases of brain cancer. And I wonder who’s funding the research on risks of brain cancer for cell phone users. My guess is Apple.
And what’s with all the women aged 45-plus stricken with breast cancer? I know at least six women with breast cancer. And I’m next, given all the radiation I get from breast cancer screenings.
My doctor went gung-ho with screenings. During the past two years, she marched me to nearly fifteen X-rays and ultrasounds—plus a biopsy and an MRI. And found nothing. But recently she had a change of heart. I should cut back the zaps to just one ultrasound per screening, she said. But I did better than that: I scrapped all but one screening a year. After all, X-rays in excess might cause cancer.
Author Vernon Coleman recommends no more than one breast cancer screening a year coupled with frequent self-examinations.
He also says the cancer industry wastes donations on finding cures. Prevention, he says, makes better sense. So, if you are a nursing student, if you have a loved one with cancer, or if you eat the Western diet, you should read Coleman’s book Power Over Cancer. I cite his ideas below:
- Don’t waste the glut of funds on seeking cures, says the author: “It is invariably easier and more effective (and, in the long run a great deal cheaper) to prevent illness than it is to try and cure it” (location 164 of 1449, 11%).
- Seeking cures pads wallets in the cancer industry: “If the cancer industry spent its income on explaining to people how to avoid cancer, there would be little or no place for research laboratories and a great many scientists would be put out of work. Worse still, if the cancer industry reduced the number of people dying of cancer, its own income would fall” (location 197 of 1449, 14%).
- And what good has billions of dollars thrown at finding a cancer cure done? “Billions of dollars are spent each year on cancer research, but treatment, using the traditional methods of choice (surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy), has done nothing to improve overall mortality rates” (location 142 of 1449, 10%).
- So, aim to prevent cancer in the first place: “It is fairly wide known, I think, that cigarettes, sunshine, asbestos, and X-rays cause cancer. But it is less widely known that fatty foods and meat cause cancer. And it is less well known that fiber and green vegetables help protect against cancer” (location 95 of 1449, 6%).
- And be wary of frequent mammograms: “And several studies have suggested that the radiation accumulated through yearly mammograms might actually be causing breast cancer” (location 389 of 1449, 27%).
- You are at risk for cancers if you eat a Western diet: “Breast cancer could have been turned into a relatively uncommon disease, instead of one of the major killers of women, if politicians and doctors had been prepared to take on the food industry …” (location 336 of 1449, 23%).
Avoid lung cancer: don’t smoke or vape. A year ago, I entered the final round of interviews at a tobacco company. The interviewers puffed on special heated-not-burned cigs. And the company boasted the goal of a smoke free future. So, I told the interviewers I’d host meetups to help smokers quit. The key interviewer scoffed, “Our goal is not for people to quit. We don’t care about being healthy.” He patted his round belly, and laughter pierced the smoky room. When I probed about the smoke free future, he leaned back, puffed his cig, and shook his head.
I wonder who funds lung cancer research. My guess is tobacco companies.
