Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood). These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, and do not invade or metastasize. Most cancers form a tumor but some, like leukemia, do not. This list looks at 10 common misconceptions about cancer.
Misconception: All cancers are the same.
Probably the biggest cancer misconception because the “Cure for Cancer” slogan makes people assume it is essentially one drug that will fix one illness. There are over a hundred types of cancer and they are all approached differently, depending on how much knowledge is known about the specific cancer and also depending on the patient’s specific needs. Thanks to the fund raising efforts of organizations such as Susan G. Komen and Avon, Medicine has made great advances in breast cancer research. Others, like pancreatic and esophageal cancers, are relatively out of the spotlight and as such, much is still being discovered and survival rates are still comparatively low.
Misconception: There is no cure.
It gets a bit confusing because we delve into technicalities but while the disease is incurable so far, the individual cancer patient can be cured. So while it’s technically true that cancer as a broad topic isn’t curable, it’s also horribly wrong and very much false to tell someone they can’t be cured of their cancer. There is a cured status, so as far as individuals are concerned, there is a cure for their cancer. Remission is the first five years immediately after diagnosis. If, after treatment and after those five years, there is no recurrence of the cancer, then the patient is declared cured. Certain types, like skin cancer, are curable by simply removing the tumor. While childhood leukemia and breast cancer are incurable as a disease, 80-90% of patients undergo successful treatments, become cured, and can live relatively normal lives.
Misconception: Cell phones cause cancer.
This is a misconception that is has no definite answer but the general consensus is that it is false. Fact of the matter is that cell phone technology is advancing rapidly and they now contain far less carcinogens than their predecessors. Studies on the correlation of cell phones to brain cancer are difficult to determine because it’s hard to accurately document such a study, however, the most recent attempt was done by the Danish Cancer Society and they have found no link between cell phones and brain cancer.
Misconception: Any lumps or large masses detected during cancer screenings are cancerous.
Not every abnormality is an automatic cancer diagnosis. It could just be a cyst that would either reabsorb itself into the body or need to be surgically removed. Some tumors are benign, meaning they are non-cancerous, however, determining which are benign, pre-cancerous, and cancerous is why screenings are important.
Misconception: Artificial sweeteners cause cancer.
This is a misconception that has regularly shown up in news headlines since the 1970s because of a 1969 study on the effects of cyclamate on mice. It was later disclosed that the mice had been given the cyclamate equivalent of 800 cans of diet soda per day for several weeks. No studies observing moderate amounts of artificial sweeteners have shown that it can lead to cancer. Artificial sweeteners are discussed because it is the most prevalent food myth but it applies to many other kitchen goods from coffee to broccoli to even water (specifically the fluoride content in water). Just as in the artificial sweeteners situation, too much of anything could lead to cancer, but it requires an excessive amount of the product to be potentially hazardous.
Misconception: All you need to beat cancer is a positive attitude, not treatment.
A good attitude does wonders to help alleviate the gravity of the situation. That’s why so many members of the cancer ward medical staff have a very pleasant demeanor. It certainly helps that the patient can maintain a positive outlook throughout treatment. However, cancer is much more than “mind over matter” and thus far, western medical research has provided the only avenue that has been repeatedly and comprehensively studied and consistently proves to be the most effective treatment against cancer.
Misconception: Surgery could cause cancer to spread throughout the body.
This myth probably originated decades before, when physicians could only diagnose the most advanced stages of cancer and surgeries were exploratory. Cancer treatment was still pretty rudimentary and without modern machinery, there was no way to fully determine if every cancerous cell was removed. Equipment has vastly improved since then and can provide a much clearer picture of what needs to be done during surgery.
Misconception: Only women get breast cancer.
Women are 100 times more likely to get breast cancer than men but since men also have breast tissue, it is still possible for them to develop breast cancer. The American Cancer Society states that roughly 2000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.
Misconception: The prevalence of cancer is on the rise.
It’s true that there are more cases of cancer than in the past but it doesn’t take into account many other factors, such as increased population and longevity (risk for certain cancers increase with age). When compared to populations of the past, there is actually a decrease in the risk of cancer. This misconception may be prevalent simply because the topic is no longer taboo and people hear about it more often than they did in the past.
Misconception: Medical science already has and is withholding a cure for cancer.
Conspiracy theories abound and like many other conspiracy theories, this one is false. The Hippocratic Oath is taken to save lives, which a cure for cancer would surely do. If that weren’t enough, then surely no one would believe a pharmaceutical company wouldn’t want to be the first to claim ownership of a cash cow like the “Cancer Cure.” There was an article published recently of a drug that has been tested on four dogs and cured all four dogs that had cancers previously thought to be too advanced to be treated. With a few more successful cases, researchers will soon be allowed to see if this drug could yield similar results in human testing.
Also, wouldn't the proof for item 1 as a myth be item 10?
If there is over 100 different types of cancer, wouldn't there need to be over 100 different cures? That is a lot of cures being kept secret. ( if they existed in the 1st place)
100 Wonder drugs would hardly be non-profitable, if marketed.
actually there was this guy in nz who was cured by the very thing doctors didnt want him to have look him up if you can sorry i dont remember his name
yeah. number 8 is interesting.
My cousin, Kay, developed breast cancer in her late twenties back in the 50′s. After a mastectomy, she was fine and has been ever since, still alive fifty years later. Almost every member of my family has had a cancer of one sort or another, but it has never been a cause of death. Always makes me think of the hope in a cancer diagnosis- it’s not always a death sentence by a long shot.
I’ve never heard of number 1 but it’s definitely reassuring that if I ever get cancer it could probably be cured. Unfortunately though the only people I knew who had cancer were terminal…sorry didn’t mean to depress anyone
DC- Phew! What contrast a comment apart! I do think it may run in families…. My side is never hit hard, everyone on my friend’s side is terminal. It’s difficult. In my family, they treat it like no big deal, but acting that way to others seems disrespectful.
Picture #3 made my day… thats how sad my life is!!!
If its true that there’s a cure I wish they could just come out with it!!
hillery – if a family member has cancer you are more at risk, but it isnt genetic.
i’m working hard here in the uk to raise awareness of the symptoms of different types of cancer, hving missed all mine until it got quite advanced.
some one diagnosed and cured of cancer is more at risk of caner in the future, but doesnt mean they will get cancer again
thanks gabi
Cancer Treatment Profit > cancer cure profit
Item #2–Perhaps other contributors to the myth that cancer is “on the rise” is that there is a larger and wider reaching medical community (Hence more sources for statistics to be gathered), and that modern diagnostic tools have become more able to detect cancers.
Item #1–I cannot believe that the medical community that has to witness firsthand the suffering that cancer wreaks would allow a cure to remain secret. As mentioned, the Hippocratic Oath maintains that a doctor shall do no harm, and to knowingly withhold a cure would be contrary to that oath.
Thank-you Gabi for the informative list.
You guys… you know what I just realized..
I REALLY hate cancer.
@pinkbiscuits- Don’t worry, I know. It is important to know your family’s health history (which is why I know about my cousin’s from fifty years ago….). In addition, regardless of history, regular screenings are important. It’s strange this persistent attitude that it can’t happen to you, when chances are quite good it will. 1 in 3 these days, I believe…
another great list! thanks for the info!
Misconception: Surgery could cause cancer to spread throughout the body.
This is not a misconception at all. The part “throughout the body” is indeed exaggerated, but all the rest can be true. It is well known that during surgery, even when “modern machinery” is used, it is impossible to say that ALL cancer cells are removed. “a much clearer picture of what needs to be done during surgery” does not mean that during surgery every single cell is targeted and destroyed. Apart from that, another important aspect is the fact that the peritumoral tissue, includes cells that are not fully transformed into cancer cells but alterations caused by their environment lead them in an intermediate phase. These cells can do a lot of harm when a simple infection during surgery is caused. When an infection occurs, our body reacts and sends inflammatory cells and chemical compounds to “fight” the foreign body (e.g. bacteria). It has been proven (numerous publications in scientific journals can confirm it) that mediators of inflammation can cause angiogenesis and metastasis by altering the fate of cancer cells or pre-cancerous intermediates. Finally, according to the new “trend” in cancer research there is a group of cancer stem cells, hidden in a niche. If these cells are not removed -which can easily be the case since they are not abundant- they can cause the formation of a new tumor which could easily be more aggressive and resistant to previous thertapeutic agents
Interesting list. It just happens that my aunt is having radiofrequency ablation this morning. Her doctors found a spot on her lung about 4 weeks ago. I haven’t researched this procedure too much but from what I understand it’s fairly “new”.
You’d think a thing like that happening in my family would help me stop smoking…:( sadly it hasn’t yet.
@ pinkbiscuits: I beg to differ, but some types of cancer are most definitely genetically inherited. Retinoblastoma has both inheritable and non-inheritable forms; some types of colon cancer are also inherited (Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, also known as Lynch syndrome). Furthermore, even the tendency to developing some forms of cancer can be inherited (for example, BRCA1 and 2 genes are responsible for heightened susceptibility in some women to both breast and ovarian cancer; famous actress Christina Applegate has recently undergone a double mastectomy after discovering that she’s carrying one of these defective genes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Applegate#Breast_cancer ).
@ katerina: some invasive procedures, such as TruCut biopsies of some particular types of cancer (especially hepatocellular carcinoma) may indeed “seed” some cancer cells that will later develop metastases on the skin, where the TruCut needle was inserted, which is why these biopsies should always be done cautiously.
this is one nice example then
thank you
I actually believed #6 (passively) since I heard this when i was young. Good to know, I will tell my diabetic dad that its ok
What a great list. Well done!
I got cancer several months after being hit by a car on my bicycle and firmly believe that the trauma and shock weakened my immune system enough to allow cell mutation. The cure is as bad as the disease as radiation or chemo kills all cells.
This list is mostly all completely wrong, there is a study to back up absolutely everything, (say smoking is healthy). I have been an oncology patient, and am well informed, this list, should be removed, as not enough research has been undertaken, to make such large statements.
I personally believe there’s a conspiracy among the medical community not to find a cure. Just think of all the jobs and money related to cancer research that would disappear if a cure was found.
21.Sotexson:
Rick Simpson Story After a serious head injury in 1997, Rick Simpson sought relief from his medical condition through the use of medicinal hemp oil …
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7331006790306000271
Sorry Gabi 319 – you were doing SO well until you declared no.#5 a myth – it is NOT. Ask ANY Oncologist or Oncology nurse or worker and they will tell you without fail that any patient who approaches his or her treatment with a positive attitude is FAR more likely to have a better response to treatment than one who doesn’t.
As a paramedic I saw the difference between poor attitude v/s positive attitude affecting response rates: twice I saw (and we regularly transported the same people to and from clinics) patients with a milder form of a cancer cark it while another with the SAME cancer and pronounced virtually incurable- reach remission status.
My wife workd for The Cancer Council and the nurses, doctors, professors and ‘survivors’ have all said exactly the same thing: a positive attitude won’t cure you or get you into remission – - – but it woill go a LONG way to allowing your treatment to help you get there.
On a personal note; a close mate had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL). The sub-group which presents with this form of the disease for their demographic are Vietnam Veterans and their children/partners/grandchildren – and ALL of them came into contact with Agent Orange while “in country”. NHL is vicious and tends to kill the most robust of its victims within 3-5 years: Graham, who had the most positive attitude I haver EVER seen in any oncology patient: bar none – fought the bloody thing for 14-and-a-half years. And he crawled up off what appeared to be (at the time) his death bed 4 times (even his specialists had given up on him)! It was his 5th ‘flat-line that got him!
I only knew of a few of these as being false already. Glad to know about the sugar one. Not that it matters to me…I happen to be allergic to all synthetic sugars….but it was nice to know.
Great list, gabi!
6 pinkbiscuits: Glad to see you keeping your spirits up. Hope that gabi’s list might have put some of your fears to rest. Hang in there, dear!
20 lola: Just wondering what part/parts of this list are wrong?
24 oouchan–have you checked into “Truvia”? From what I understand it is NOT a synthetic sugar, but derived from the natural herb-Stevia.
If you have tried it, can you share your experience?
@20 Lola, that’s a pretty large statement you’re making yourself. Do you have anything to backup your position, besides being a patient? Perhaps you’re reading the “Misconception” statement as a fact instead of the misconception that it is?
Number one can be true as cancer is a huge moneymaker. Why would they want to cure it when people keep putting in money for a cure?
Some of the “facts” in this one are opinions.
25 deeeziner: Sorry, but I have never heard of that. I wonder where I can get it to try some.
When splenda came out I was very excited because that meant I could use that in place of real sugar. (it’s a ***** being allergic to diet food when you are trying to lose weight!) I was almost rushed to the hospital because my tongue swelled up. It went down almost immediatly but it was enough to scare the pants off me.
I will have to do some research on the breakdown of truvia before I tackle it. I don’t want a repeat.
Thanks for the heads-up!
24.oochan: There are over 92 different health symptoms associated with aspartame consumption. It seems surreal, but true.
http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html
25.deeeziner: 29 Feb 2000 … “I wonder if we could find out more about stevia,” Ross says. “Is it truly a pure herb and are there long term side effects?” …
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/stevia/
6.pinkbiscuits: Have to agree with Shagrat..you must believe you will beat that pesky bug..positive attitude is the most important component of any cure..sorry gabi319! but the jury is still out on many of your ‘facts’.
28.oouchan: Stevia is used world wide with few if any side effects and can be found in any good health food store. My favorite sweetener is honey. side note..if I had your mailing address, I could mail you the Now magazine with all the upcoming Pride news.
Truvia–
http://truvia.com/made-from-plants.html
This seems to be the homepage for the product with FAQs, and a zipcode based locator of markets that sell the product.
gabi:
Great list!!
#5: Though I agree that a positive attitude is not ALL you need to beat cancer (and other ailments) it does go a long way to helping your body cope and beat the disease. I dont know if it´s just me but every time I get down about something it´s like my immune system shuts down and I get sick. The reverse is also true!
#1: To all people who believe in this conspiracy theory, do you really think that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of doctors who would keep quiet about this? Let´s not even mention the Hippocratic Oath, just plain human decency when seeing people suffer and waste away from this disease?
32.GTT: Only one of my Onclogists agreed with my accident trauma causing cancer, and only off the record. There is peer pressure to not rock the boat.
Woops! Oncologist.. great list as always gabi!
Screw cancer, i have to take a bunch of summer classes classes for the whole semester i missed during chemo, but at least I have my hair back now
***** Cures Cancer – “Run From The Cure” The Rick Simpson Story – 58:01 – Mar 7, 2008. Rick Simpson – *****culture.com/articles/5169.html …
video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7331006790306000271
29 lostatsea1: Aspartame is the one that will kill me. I had a very small dose when I was younger (chewing gum) and ended up not breathing. NOT good stuff at all!
lostatsea1 & deeeziner: Thank you. I will look at both and see if either of them work….or at least don’t kill me.
Totally disagree with #1. Maybe we haven’t found the cure yet, but the business men in charge of the pharmaceutical companies DID NOT take any Hippocratic Oath…
There’s no money in a “cure.” A “cure” you pay for one time, or maybe a series of times, and the cancer or whatever else the person may be suffering from is gone. The real money is in temporary fixes that people (or filthy rich insurance companies) need to keep paying for again, and again, and again.
This was a few years ago when I was still in High School, but I recall reading an article in a magazine about an old drug that showed good progress against cancerous cells. However, further research wasn’t being done because for whatever reason (I didn’t quite understand why at the time and can’t recall now) but that drug wasn’t patent-able so the pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t make much money by researching it further.
It is my personal belief that, if we wanted to cure cancer right now and money was no object, we could do it. Look at what we did in order to develop the a-bomb during WW2. We locked some of the nation’s (and even a few of the world’s) greatest minds in the desert for a while and managed to invent a weapon capable of leveling entire cities in a relatively short amount of time. If we tried to do the same thing with a cure for cancer and put the brightest minds on the case armed with all of the best research and studies and supplies we have at hand, I think it could be done.
37.oouchan: I have a facebook link with segues, perhaps you might join us.. silly me! you can probably google Now Magazine Toronto for info on Pride.. save postage that way!
if doctors really gave two *****s about their patients why does it cost over a $1k just to get a check up after spending most of that time filling of paper work? Why do doctors charge so much for their “services”? If they really cared then they wouldn’t be driving mercedes and sailing in their yachts. I’m not saying all doctors are like that but the ones who make all the big decisions do and I don’t find it hard to believe that would withold information on cures for all sorts of things. There have been many many cases of natural cancer cures being brought to the attention of doctors who wanted nothing to do with them. Anyone one who thinks that doctors are a bunch of selfless humanitarians is naive. Yes, I don’t trust doctors, never have never will, thanks to 6 family members dying after suffering at the hands of these “good willed” surgeons. More like butchers. Very oppinionated list.
you conspiracy theory wackos are making this an enjoyable Friday afternoon!
38.EricB: You hit the nail on the head!! Big Pharma can’t make money on herbal remedies. I have a close friend who underwent rad, chemo and surgery many times and basically was written off. I saw a skeletal woman regain health and vitality through Ayurvedic healing..so who’s right?
41.scrumpy: I hope you never have to suffer from the after effects of Western cancer treatments as I have..so until you do STFU!
39 lostatsea1: Hey…I’m in the forums. Send me a private message there and I will send you my facebook invite.
Also, as much as conspiracy theories make me retch…this one is closer to the truth. Only because I have seen it first hand. NOT meaning that they are withholding a cure, but that research is dropped not ONLY for funding but because no money will be made from it. How sad.
23. Shagrat:
You misinterpreted that item. I said a good attitude certainly helps. I even believe it is crucial as a SUPPLEMENT to cancer treatment, however, it is not effective as the *only* source of treatment. Unfortunately, some believe the Power of Positive Thinking and other passive forms of treatment to be enough even though it hasn’t scientifically proven that it can be.
35. Buffilax:
Glad to hear you’re through with treatments (I assume so at least) and that your hair is growing back! Did it stay the same? My mother’s hair was stick straight prior to treatments and my aunt’s was incredibly curly. After their respective treatments, my mom’s hair is now curly and my aunt’s is straight!
oouchan:
I’m not a fan of sugar myself (no medical reason, simply personal preference) and prefer Agave Nectar if I want something sweetened. Maybe an option for you? Naturally created and has a lower glycemic index than natural sugar. A bit pricier but like I said, I don’t want that much sugar anyway! I’m a salt-tooth rather than a sweet-tooth.
Thank you for putting this up, Jamie. Excellent timing with putting this list up, as well. Tomorrow (June 6th) is the Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. A number of my friends and I will be racing and volunteering for the event. My first time was last year and it was great. If any of you are in the area (or are willing to roadtrip to the area!), definitely check it out.
44.oouchan: Thanks. Haven’t tried the forums.
45 gabi319: Thanks. I didn’t know there were other options. I thought I was stuck with sugar or nothing at all. It sucks trying to buy gum. I am stuck with 1 type.
So thanks gabi, lostatsea and deeeziner for giving me some alternatives.
46 lostatsea1: You should…it’s a great place and the people are nice. So many things to try. Hope to see you there!
45.gabi319: One benefit was I didn’t need to shave for a while! The hair I lost on nape of neck grew back curly and black instead of the gray which covers my head!
lostatsea:
Yes, treatment may be rough – some more so than others depending on their particular treatment – but the thing is you’re still alive today. If left unchecked, that area that was affected seemed to provide a lot of nutrition for these cancerous cells to thrive. It would be no real effort for me to believe that, if left unchecked, your tumor would have greatly increased in size and the situation would be far different now. Yes, you know about Ayurvedic healing *now* (not even addressing its potential because I haven’t even looked into it yet) but did you during your diagnosis? Would there have been time to find such an obscure treatment in a timely fashion?
Yes, there is some validity to some alternative treatments, however, there are also a lot of crazy, get-rich-quick schemes seeking only to take advantage of someone naive enough to believe in them. My issue with alternative treatment is that it is the umbrella term for a very large, very vast, and very diverse field and we have not been able to determine which is valid and which is not. More importantly, which is SAFE and which is not.
49.gabi319: Mine (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) had progressed to stage 2, so no time to think of anything else at the time. It was only after the fact that I started to do research. Cancer is a huge money maker, so many Quacks have rushed in to claim cures.
I lost my taste buds, saliva glands and have Osteoradionecrosis in my jaw that may require a bone graft from my leg!
I’m a med student and I have an exam on Tuesday that includes cancer. Just to make it clear cancer is a genetic disease (because it most definitely involves genes being screwed up) but only SOME cancers are inherited. Also take note that inheritance is also a risk game, depending on what type of gene it is (dominant or recessive) and how many copies of the mutated gene you inherit from your parents.
#9 is incorrect. I’m a cancer survivor and there is NO cure for cancer. Even after those five years your cancer can still return. They use that five years as a definer on the likelihood that the cancer WILL return. If you survive those five years without recurrence, then it’s not likely that it will return until a distant period of time, in which other cancers or the one you already have may arise. But you’re not “cured.” Your cancer can actually return at any point, but it is simply unlikely. Big difference.
Great list gabi319 – my Mom suffered big time with breast cancer in the 70s – removed the breast – cemo every other week she was never the same after that.
Informative list, Gabi. Thanks. I learned a lot. I go to the VA hospital a lot (the Veterans Admin here in the US) for reasons other than cancer. But I see a lot of cancer patients there. I would guess that most are due to many years of smoking, exposure to nuclear material, or agent orange. I even saw one patient with a hole in his throat, putting a cigarette in the hole to smoke. That cured me of smoking about 15 years ago.
As far as number 1, I had not ever heard this before, but I am not surprised. A certain part of the population believes every conspiracy theory that comes along. I do not believe them simply because such large groups of people can not keep their mouths shut for that many years. Of course, if there was a cure, the company would make a bundle. DUH!!
54.red: Guess you haven’t read the posts..DUH! Some do research before ascribing to a particular conspiracy ..others blindly follow!
I don’t know if the 80-90% cure statistic is true for both breast cancer and childhood leukemia. did you mean to say it for just childhood leukemia? I may not have been keeping the best track here, but I’m pretty sure survival rates for breast cancer aren’t quite that high yet. My mother died of breast cancer about eight years ago after battling it for 6 and a half years. She also underwent a masectomy.
OK, as an afterthought for myth #1:
I do think that many prospective treatments may not be fully reserched because the proyected earnings do not justify the investment. Remember, pharma companies are FOR-PROFIT at the end of the day and it is just not good business sense to invest in something that will not give you a return on that investment.
It is up to governments and NON-PROFIT organizations to investigate the viability of these types of treatments such as natural herbs and others that cannot be patented and protected.
That said, I do not believe that someone somewhere has a tested, viable CURE already developed that they are with-holding from the public.
Goood afternoon all. What an interesting list! I love lists which try to open or broaden folks awareness; if not by the list itself, but because we are actually talking through things in the comments. As one poster said, a very short time ago (70′s, 80′s?) the whole ‘c’ word was taboo – which didn’t help awareness one jot! Now we have made an advance.
Ok, first of all – nice graph jamie. If you’re peeking in – where did that come from? Without any references I don’t know what the diagram is in reference TO. It would appear that lung cancer is in the very smallest bracket?
#14: ames: Smoking in regards to cancer can be a double-edged sword. In one sense smoking has been proven (by some, again) to stimulate the immune system of the person, which can help fight disease. It can also interfer with the growth of Kaposi’s sarcoma (a type of cancer of the lymphatic endothelium). There was a list point about it last year (10 things that are surprisingly good for you). On the other hand, smoking has also been proved (by some) to increase the risk of some cancers. From my point of view, every-body is different.
#23 shagrat: – I couldn’t agree more. If you believe something is true, then it becomes true for you – and you can flesh out your reality within your own mind. I have seen this so many times, and have experienced it myself. If someone firmly believes they are a gonner, a no-hoper, then that reality sends signals throughout the body to reinforce those conditions. On the other hand, if a person believes it is within their power to do something about it, they can stir up a f*cking massive ***** storm within themselves; as the body moves to reinforce those conditions. The misconception perhaps is that a cancer patient has no control over their OWN fate; on the contrary – the real buck stops with YOU.
Are you gonna give up??? Studies have shown that cases are many times more likely to pull through if they have something (or more often someone) to pull through for. Then, if it often the partner or the children who become the deadliest weapons of all.
#47 oouchan: I also use honey for everything… is honey ok for you… ..honey?
gabi – good list
I see a lot of nit picking and it’s mostly garbage.
My nit pick – change #10 to #1 – I believe until people are educated about the genetics involved in cancer, both hereditary and mutagenic, and the myriad of causes for malfunctions in cell division, cancer will be treated as some mysterious unknown (some people whisper the word cancer – like saying it will evoke evil!)– far from it. Complex, yes, but thousands of conscientious researchers have spent thousands of hours working on the intricacies of these diseases. A foreknowledge of the disorder would head people in the right direction from the beginning and hopefully away from pseudo treatments, fake “cures”, and shameless profiteering quacks.
As for the non-argument about #5, positive attitude, may I state the obvious, any severe medical condition requires this. Hell, anything difficult thing you do in life requires a positive approach – DAAAA!
But I believe your point is, “cancer is much more than “mind over matter”” (double quotation marks – what to do?), absolutely correct. Attitude is very important, but not more important than understanding what is going on at the cellular level, and how the treatments are supposed to affect those cells growth, and all the side effects that those treatments can cause.
Allow me to give you a negative example of “mind over matter” pertaining to cancer –
I was watching the tube yesterday a.m. (before this list I might add) and an ad came on for one of those cancer treatment centers that keep popping up. There were three women shown in sequence, an older lady, a mid-aged, and a younger girl, talking to themselves – no wait – they were talking to cancer! They were looking at themselves, at there bodies, and saying “now you go away you awful thing”, ‘go away, I’m in control here, not you” and crap like that! I was shocked – I saw it for what it was – superficially it was all positive, and the ad ended with all of them hugging and smiling – in reality they were personifying cancer!!! They were acting like a group of mindless malignant cells was an entity that could be controlled, ordered around, banished by a person willing them away!!! If you don’t see the great danger that well…
58.Lifeschool: So true, my partner could not handle it and was a total pain in the ass..you would have thought she was the one going through it!