Dr Manish Singhal - The best Cancer Specialist in Delhi
Cancer Myths – A Maze With A Dark End
Every person has his/her own reasons and beliefs for causes of cancer which gives rise to myths which create a misinterpretation about this disease. Besides, one sided knowledge and ignorant decisions can cost life. It’s very important to clear our doubts and know the other side of the coin because any myth may lead people to take wrong decision and finally leading to loss of life.
HERE IS AN ACCOUNT OF POPULAR MYTHS ON CANCER
Myth 1 – CANCER IS A MODERN, MAN MADE DISEASE
Just like many other diseases, cancer is also believed to be a man created disease. But in reality, it's existing from centuries. Cancer has its existence as long as humans have their existence on this earth. In fact, it was even discovered in dinosaur bones. Actually, the biggest reason or we can say risk factor for causing cancer is ‘Age’.
The DNA in our cells damages and then the cell repair it again as part of natural processes. But when this repair does not happen, it causes an accumulation of unrepaired DNA in the form of non-replicating cells which gives rise to cancer as our cells divide they are a replica of their parent cell. But when these cells are different from their origin cell, they can create cancer. All this process enhances with increasing age. Therefore, we can’t call it a man-made disease.
MYTH 2 – SUPERFOOD CAN PREVENT CANCER
Food items like Beetroot, blueberries, garlic, broccoli, green tea, Kale, Chia, Oatmeal etc are considered as superfoods and are believed to prevent cancer. But, the only reality is that cancer is quite a complex disease which takes nobody’s permission to occur.
Although, yes having a healthy eating habit can certainly help you in leading a healthy life. But there are many other factors which can cause cancer. Age (as mentioned above), air pollution, family history, a habit of smoking, alcohol etc. Above all, the term ‘Superfood’ is basically a marketing term to sell products. It has no scientific basis.
MyTH 3 - THERE’S A MIRACLE CANCER CURE
If you are also among those who get sparks of hope in their eyes while watching a video or reading an article about some miraculous treatment for cancer, then you are just making a fool of yourself.
Various media platforms especially the internet is flooded with videos about ‘natural’ or ‘miracle’ treatments of cancer. They give survival stories of people who survived from cancer by using the treatment mentioned in the video. But, who knows if they are genuine or not as we really do not know what other treatment they had , the stage of disease, or their medical diagnosis.
Besides, what about those who tried it but couldn’t survive? They pick only success stories to misguide you and never show any scientific proof to mark the trustworthiness of treatment.
Below is a list of treatments which are usually considered as miracle treatments.
- Aromatherapy
- Herbalism
- Holistic medicine
- Naturopathy
- Alkaline diet
- Fasting
- Superfood
- Macrobiotic diet etc.
MYTH 4 – SUGAR CAN CAUSE CANCER
Sugar (including simple sugar) is a range of molecules that can be found in plants, fructose and glucose. The white sugar we use is known as sucrose and is made from fructose and glucose stuck together.
All sugars are basically carbohydrates, often known as carbs which are molecules (as mentioned above) that are made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. So when we eat a cake or a carrot, these carbs broke down in our digestive system and release glucose and fructose which get absorbed into the bloodstream and provide us energy to live.
Although whether cancerous or healthy, all cells use glucose for energy and because cancer cells usually grow faster, they demand more consumption of glucose.
Researchers are trying to understand the difference between energy usage by cancerous cells and normal cells to develop better treatment options. But, it doesn’t mean that sugar from sweets, cakes, and sugary food feeds cancer cells.
MYTH 5 – CANCRE IS A GUARANTEE OF DEATH
With every passing year, the rate of deaths from cancer is decreasing. Although, India still need to cover many miles in reaching to a satisfactory level where we can achieve a good figure of cancer survivors.
But we have some rays of hope too in the form of some advanced treatment technologies which has brought a promising change in cancer survival rate. In many cases, the patient got a complete freedom from cancer and there are also many other cases in which the patient survived for 5 years or long after treatment. So, calling cancer a guarantee to die will be judgmental. Yes, it is certainly a fatal disease but we should not underestimate our efforts too. Whether it is about chemotherapy, radiation therapy or cancer drugs, we have done considerable progress in finding better options for cancer treatment.
Recently a versed team of Indian scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School has set a milestone by developing a nano-technology to measure the effectiveness of chemotherapy. This will help doctors to work on better treatment options as the technology will tell if the chemotherapy treatment is really working or not.
This news is certainly a reason to celebrate, as it’s another success in our struggle against cancer. And for sure, we are not going to stop until we do permanent arrangements of bidding a final goodbye to cancer.
Remember, myths can be enjoyed in gossips only but can’t be taken seriously while taking big decisions of life. Before believing on any foolish internet video or so called promising treatment search for its scientific confirmation. After all, it’s about your life and you can’t afford even the smallest mistake.
