next>> The first stepCancer is probably as old as life itself. It has been found in fossils and in Egyptian mummies.
Every human body contains about ten billion cells, controlled by what scientists call DNA (deoxrybonucleic acid). DNA is the raw material of life; it provides the computer programme for each cell. Sometimes, and no-one knows exactly why, the DNA fails to stop a cell dividing at the right time and it runs amok. About one hundred thousand of these malignant cells are formed in us each day and are usually destroyed by the natural body immune system. But if the immune system is weakened in any number of ways, cells invade the body tissue and prevent its proper healing function.
This is what we know as "Cancer" and it can occur in several hundred forms, so there is unlikely ever to be one miracle cure or magic bullet.
It is probably true that most cancers can be avoided by a change of lifestyle; that it is the conditions we ourselves create which provide the soil on which it grows. There is a huge element of chance whether it will get out of hand in any one of us.
Human cancers in particular seem to thrive in a climate where the need to compete, removal of taboos, loss of religious belief, has become too much for us to handle. Stresses such as divorce, guilt, fears, bereavement, redundancy etc. probably DO NOT CAUSE but they may help cancer develop. So too do poor, over- processed foods and, of course, pollution. Cancer is also one of the natural consequences of ageing and since we tend to live longer, more of us may develop it later in life.
Of course cancer can be ugly, degrading and painful. Frequently it is none of these. So take heart.
The statistics may look bad; therefore turn the statistics on their head. One in four of us dies from cancer - true. That means three out of four survive. Everywhere, on buses, escalators and in supermarkets we pass people living with cancer. It is NOT always the relentless killer we dread.
Hope is greater for the optimist who banishes all negative thoughts and gets on with the business of living - well. We at New Approaches try to make this possible, guiding anyone who requests our help, individually, through the bewildering maze of unfamiliar options open today, and also, where we are able, with facts about new developments in traditional and holistic medicine.
If we do not have the answers to your particular questions we will know where to direct you.
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