Precision Cancer Prevention: How to Keep Cancer at Bay? (B-1)
Updated: Sep 6, 2022
Opening Story
In July 2006, I was volunteering as a medical doctor in a hospital in Congo-Kinshasa. On a Friday evening, after finishing my daily chores, I went to buy some stuff from a shopping centre. As soon as I came out of the mall, a group of five or six people in military outfit, approached me. One of them showed me his ID and without letting me see that properly, quickly went on to say, ‘We are from the intelligence, as you know our country is in civil war, we need to ask you some questions’. I said, ‘sure, how I can help?’ They said, ‘Come with us’ and guided me to a microbus. As soon as I sat in the micro, it started moving. They asked me for my ID, then my cell phone, then my wallet. I handed over all my belongings to them. While they were robbing things from me, the micro rapidly took me out of the city. Before even I fully realized what’s happening, I was kidnapped and at that point, I could do nothing to save myself.
Luckily, I survived that kidnap. I am not here to tell you that insignificant story of mine. Rather, I want to draw your attention that currently living in a safer, more secure and civilized country, I see many of us frequently getting kidnapped every single day, no panic, it’s from inside. They even don’t know how that is happening. Yes, I am talking about cancer. Like the kidnappers robbed everything from me, cancer is looting us from within. The difference is - it grows inside our body slowly and very silently, invades our blood vessels, continues to recruit healthy cells, tissues of all types, invade every body organ and all the systems one by one. It takes nutrients from our body to attain its devastating power, it consumes our strengths and defeats our natural defense systems and ultimately takes our lives.
By the time a cancer is usually diagnosed, it has already spread to distant organs and systems through blood and body fluid (lymphatic) systems. At this point, most cancers go beyond the reach of standard treatment regimens. The best combination of treatment goes effectless and there is no complete cure in most of the cases. In our medical term, a very successful treatment regimen means only an extension of at best 5 extra years in life that also happens very rarely. The 5-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined that were diagnosed during 2009 through 2015 was 67% overall, 68% in whites, and 62% in Black people in the USA. But that treatment comes with exorbitant bills that is beyond the means of many middle-class families. In the USA over 56% bankruptcies are due to such medical emergencies, and this is always unachievable for the common people, even in the developed countries, let alone other developing nations; so, this leads to massive death rates.
Whereas we can pay a ransom and came out of the grip of kidnappers, cancer demands no ransom other than a person’s life. Then, what is the way out from this scourge. There is only one option- prevention. Here I come in with this blog – how to stay safe from cancer before it can kidnap us from inside. You can finally get this collection of the latest research and evidence-informed guideline on how to protect yourself and your near and dear ones from getting cancer at the first hand. In this book, along with evidence, I put together the essence of wisdom from the lives of people who suffered from, fell victim to and survived cancer in a very concise way so that you can reach to the heart of the matter very quickly. Therefore, it is worth your time investment reading this blog. The applied knowledge gathered from this reading can help adding to your life some more years - making it healthier and more enjoyable.
Why is NOW the best time to take action?
On 21st September 2021, the World Health Organization reports that cancer has become the leading cause of death worldwide1. Over 10 million people died of cancer in 2020 and it is estimated that the number of deaths is going to be increased every single year, if preventive actions are not taken. You may ask: What is my chance of getting cancer? The US National Cancer Institute has already answered this question. 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women in the USA can be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. The situation may be better or worse in other countries. The situation is alarming as in other words, men have a 50% chance of getting cancer and women 33.33%. However, you don’t need to be panicked, as it’s even less dangerous than the breaking out of a nuclear war. Just be aware of the fact that taking preventive actions can alter the situation and we have that option right in our hands. In this blog, you will learn how to stay safe from getting cancer by taking certain actions.