ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND CANCER

                      Friends, this is a small post about cancer. Cancer afflicts all communities worldwide, approximately 10 million people are diagnosed with cancer and more then 6 million die of the disease every year. Cancer may be regarded as a group of diseases characterized by an abnormal growth of cells ability to invade adjacent tissues and even distant organs, and the eventual death of the affected patient if the tumour has progressed beyond that stage when it can be successfully removed.
        Now I am writing about environmental which causes cancer. Today our lifestyles are changed. Environmental factors are generally held responsible for 80 to 90 percent of all human cancers. The major environmental factors identified so far include:
     Tobacco :

              Tobacco in various forms of usages like smoking and chewing , is the major environmental cause of cancers of lung, larynx, mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, bladder, pancreas and probably kidney.
    Alcohol :

      Alcohol contributed to about 3 percent of all cancer deaths. Excessive intake of alcoholic beverages is associated with oesophageal and liver cancer. Some recent studies have suggested that beer consumption may be associated with rectal cancer.
   Dietary Factors :

  
         Dietary factors are also related to cancer. Some examples are - smoked fish is related to stomach cancer, dietary fiber to intestinal cancer, beef consumption to bowel cancer and a high fat diet to breast cancer. A variety of other dietary factors such as food additives and contaminants have fallen under suspicion as causative agents
    Occupational Exposures :

          Occupational exposures are usually reported to account to 1 to 5 percent of all human cancers. These include exposure to benzene, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, vinyl chloride, asbestos, polycyclic hydrocarbons...etc. Many others remain to be identified. The risk of occupational exposure is considerably increased if the individuals also smoke cigarettes.
       Viruses :

           An intensive search for a viral origin of human cancers revealed that hepatitis B and C virus is casually related to hepatocellular carcinoma. The related risk of Kaposi's sarcoma occurring in patients with HIV infection is so high that it was the first manifestation of the AIDS epidemic to be recognized. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes and spleen is a late complication of AIDS. The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with 2 human malignancies, viz. Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Cyto megalo virus (CMV) is a suspected oncogenic agent and classical Kaposi's sarcoma is associated with a higher prevalence of antibodies to CMV. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a chief suspect in cancer cervix. Hodgkin's disease is also believed to be of viral origin.
    Parasites :

           Parasitic infections may also increase the risk of cancer. Example, schistosomiasis in Middle East producing carcinoma of the bladder.
        Lifestyles And Habits :

             Our lifestyles changed. Habits and lifestyles of people which may be associated with an increased risk for certain cancers. Some examples are the demonstrated association between smoking and lung cancer, tobacco and betel chewing and oral cancer..etc.
    Others :

       There  are numerous other environmental factors such as sunlight, radiation, air and water pollution, medications and pesticides which are related to cancer

NUTRITION

Nutrition
Through centuries, food has been recognised as important for human beings, in health and disease. The history of man to a large extent has been a struggle to obtain food the science of food and its relationship to health may be called as nutrition. The word nutrition derived from "Nutricus" meaning suckle at Brest. The acquirements of substances like growth, development and maintenance of the living body is called nutrition. Good nutrition means maintaining a nutritional status that enable us to grow well and enjoy good health. Until the nineteenth century the science of nutrition had a limited range. Protein, carbohydrate and fat had been recognised early in the 19th century. The discovery of vitamins "rediscovered" the science of nutrition. Between the two World Wars, research on protein gained momentum. By about 1950, all the presently known vitamins and essential amino acids had been discovered. In fact  nutrition was regarded as a branch of physiology and taught as such to medical students.

Cellphone and cancer

Cellphone and Cancer
In our modern life, we are swimming in a sea of Electro Magnetic Radiation (EMR). The EMR from mobile phones are cause cancer and pose human health. In 1993 Dr. George carlo was hired by Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) to prove that cellphones were indeed safe. After six years of research (in 1999), stated publicity that cellphone use was not safe. That it may indeed cause cancer and pose humen health risks.


In this modern age, avoiding the use of cellphone should not be a better solution. The best protection against cellphone radiation is keeping a safe distance. So, always use a headset or speaker phone when ever possible to minimize explosure to harmful cellphone radiation. Also you can take text instead of calling.  Pregnant should avoid carrying cellphone next to your abdomen. Always keep minimum 1 inch from your body. Peoples should not sleep with an active phone next to besides or umder the pillows.

   Before selecting a phone, check the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) also.its a measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to a Radio Frequency (RF) electromagnetic field of a handset. SAR can be change constantly depending on several factors. You can request SAR information from the manufacturer.