Cancer is Man-Made
One in three of us will now contract cancer at some point in our lives and cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as a cause of death in industrialised societies. And, according to a recent report by the World Health Organisation, these figures are set to rise by a further 50% to 15 million new cases per year by 2020.
The USA leads the way with the highest incidence of cancer worldwide closely followed by Italy, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada and France. However, the developing world is rapidly catching up with the industrialised nations and now accounts for 50 per cent of the world’s cancer burden.
The currently accepted methods of allopathic treatment - radiotherapy (burn), chemotherapy (poison) and surgery (cut) are woefully inadequate in addressing the underlying problem with half of all cancer patients dying of their disease in developed countries and 80 per cent in developing countries - mostly due to late diagnosis.
We are constantly offered the 'jam tomorrow' prospect of gene therapy, vaccination and some new wonder drug that will fix this modern ill, but what if the causes of cancer are much more fundamental and mostly within our control?
A message from the past
The findings of research jointly conducted by Professor Rosalie David, a biomedical Egyptologist at the University of Manchester and Professor Michael Zimmerman of Villanova University, Pennsylvania are published in the October issue of Nature Reviews Cancer. They are intriguing and give support to the naturopathic view of the causation of cancer as being primarily end-stage toxicity.
The researchers examined almost a thousand mummies from ancient Egypt and South America dating back 3,000 years and also searched the fossil record and ancient medical texts for evidence of cancer throughout history.
Professors David and Zimmerman found evidence of only a few tumours amongst the thousands of mummies, and with one exception, these were benign. They argue that since these ancient peoples were assumed to have had no access to surgery, any evidence of tumours would have remained intact. Although critics have been quick to argue that such evidence may have decomposed, Professor Zimmerman says that evidence of tumours typically remains better preserved than healthy tissue.
They also searched manuscripts to find documented evidence of cancer and came up with some reports from ancient Egypt which they considered to be "tenuous", and suggested that such problems were more likely to have been caused by leprosy or even varicose veins.
The first documented descriptions of breast and other cancers appeared in the 17th century, with cancer of the scrotum in chimney sweeps recorded in 1775, cancer of the nose in snuff users in 1761 and Hodgkin’s disease in 1832. However, more recent records show that cancer, and particularly childhood cancer rates have risen massively since the Industrial Revolution.
They also searched the fossil record, and found a few dozen, mostly disputed, examples in animal and Neanderthal bones although some evidence of tumours in dinosaurs was found.
They conclude that, according to Professor David, "Extensive ancient Egyptian data, along with other data from across the millennia, has given modern society a clear message – cancer is man-made and something that we can and should address.” Cancer, they conclude, is a modern disease created by the pollution, diet and lifestyle of modern life and that there is nothing in the natural environment that causes cancer.
Some critics have been quick to argue that since cancer is an age-related disease and the average age of the mummies was 25-50 years of age, they would show little evidence of cancer. The researchers have countered with the fact that they found evidence of other age-related degenerative illnesses such as arteriosclerosis, arthritis, Paget's disease of bone and osteoporosis.
The research has been greeted somewhat coolly by the established cancer research community with Dr Rachel Thompson of the World Cancer Research Fund, commenting that the research was "very interesting" and Jessica Harris, senior health information officer at Cancer Research UK, saying that it was wrong to suggest that cancer was purely man-made.
But, what if we don't need to go into ancient history to find evidence of the causes of cancer? What if the changes occurred much more recently and are extremely well documented?
The 20th century 'nutrition transition'
In fact, we have seen evidence of the advent of cancer in recent times with the work of the dentist and nutritionist, Dr Weston Price. He examined the indigenous peoples of the world just 80 years ago and found them mostly to be in robust good health with the notable exception of infectious diseases such as malaria. However, over the forthcoming decades he witnessed the rapid decline in physical and dental health as Western diets were adopted in these societies.
This is referred to as 'nutrition transition' and in the nineteenth century medical journals such as the Lancet, the British Medical Journal and the East African Medical Journal were full of medical workers documenting the advance of degenerative diseases - including cancer in formerly healthy indigenous populations.
These workers included medical missionaries such as Dr Albert Schweitzer who worked in West Africa in 1913 and found a lot of infectious illnesses, but documented that he ".. was astonished to encounter no cases of cancer at all." However, the coming decades saw a steady increase in all the diseases of 'civilisation' which he attributed to the adoption of the Western way of living. This often started with the native people who worked in the households of the Westerners and who were exposed to their way of eating.
Other medical workers, such as Dr Samuel Hutton who worked with the Inuit communities in Labrador in northern Canada observed the robust health of the indigenous peoples - until they were exposed to the settlers' foodstuffs. These people rapidly degenerated whilst those in more remote areas did not. He too commented "I have not seen or heard of a case of a malignant growth in an Eskimo."
The settlers diet was especially processed so as to deter the growth of any pests and to enable long sea journeys so molasses, white flour, white rice, sugar and biscuits were staples.
You have to wonder though, if the rats and bugs won't eat it, what is wrong with this food?
Dr Stanislas Tanchou, a French physician analysed the death registries in the nineteenth century and noted that cancer was more common in the cities than in rural areas and that it was increasing generally throughout Europe. He observed that "Cancer, like insanity, seems to increase with the progress of civilisation. "
Dr Ales Hrdlicka, a physician and anthropologist, also found no signs of cancer among the Native American populations he studied, and in fact, only 2 deaths from cancer were recorded in the 1914 amongst tribes numbering 63,000.
Finally, a fascinating, if unplanned, experiment happened late last century on the remote Polynesian atoll of Tokelau which happened to fall under the jurisdiction of New Zealand. The islanders ate mostly fish, coconut and breadfruit, but amid concerns about overpopulation, half the islanders were moved to the mainland and supplies were shipped in to support the remaining inhabitants in the 1970s. Supplies included corned beef, sugar, white flour, crackers, cigarettes and alcohol.
The average weight of the adult males increased by 30 lbs and they started to suffer all the diseases of civilisation. However, when the supply ship ran aground in 1979 the islanders went for 5 months without deliveries, returning to their native diet, losing weight and regaining their former levels of good health - until supplies resumed and their health deteriorated once more.
The diseases of civilisation
The diseases of civilisation that come with the nutrition transition to a refined, sugar-laden diet include:
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Obesity
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Diabetes mellitus
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Cardiovascular disease
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Hypertension
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Stroke
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Cancer
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Tooth decay
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Periodontal disease
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Peptic ulcers
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Diverticulitis
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Gallstones
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Haemorrhoids
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Varicose veins and
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Constipation
Does that list sound horribly familiar?
Apparently, once one of the following diseases appears, the rest all inevitably follow.
Causes of cancer
According to the World Cancer Report from the WHO, one third of cancers worldwide are preventable by addressing factors such as smoking, diet and infections and a third are estimated to be treatable. These factors are addressed below, along with a largely unrecognised cause - oral health and dental procedures.
Diet and cancer
The Western diet is characterised by being highly refined, rich in fat, sugar and animal protein and is often coupled with low levels of physical activity. Try to eat real, whole foods and plenty of fruit and vegetables and avoid processed anything. The WHO has suggested encouraging the consumption of locally produced vegetables, and discouraging the adoption of Western dietary habits and this may yet work to prevent the rising tide of degenerative and chronic illnesses in developing countries.
Smoking and cancer
With the discovery of tobacco in the New World in the sixteenth century, one of the greatest avoidable cancer risks was introduced to the rest of the world. The Industrial Revolution brought mechanisation and mass production of cigarettes in 1880. And in the 20th century, approximately 100 million people died world-wide from tobacco-associated diseases - more than in both World Wars combined!
Half of all regular smokers will be killed by their habit, with one quarter dying prematurely in mid-life. Smokers stand a 30 fold increase in relative risk for lung cancer compared to non-smokers with roughly 90 per cent of lung cancers in both sexes attributable to smoking. Smokers also stand a six-fold increased risk of cancers of the bladder, mouth and throat, a four-fold risk of the chance of contracting pancreatic cancer and double the risk of cancer of the stomach, liver, uterus, kidney, nose, oesophagus and myeloid leukaemia which means that more than 50 per cent of cancers are caused by smoking.
The embracing of the habit of smoking in the various parts of the world such as Asia and Eastern Europe and the tendency to start smoking at younger and younger ages will predispose them to substantial risks in later life.
Whilst it is best never to have smoked or lived with a smoker, stopping in your thirties produces the greatest reduction in risk, but a 60 per cent risk reduction is obtained even when the habit is quit after the age of 50 years.
Alcohol and cancer
Excessive alcohol consumption (especially in conjunction with smoking) has been shown to be related to a greater incidence of cancers of the mouth, throat, breast, bowel and liver. Such that 6% of all cancer deaths can be attributed to alcohol.
Infections and cancer
Especially in the developing world, the effects of infectious agents such as the hepatitis B and C viruses, the human papilloma viruses and Helicobacter pylori account for nearly a quarter of all cancers.
Oral health, dental procedures and cancer
To this list I would add the consequences of dental decay and gum disease that come with the advent of the Westernised diet along with the introduction of modern dentistry.
Periodontal or gum disease is known to harbour many hundreds of different types of microbes which become anaerobic as the disease progresses undermining the bony support for the teeth and ultimately leading to more tooth loss than tooth decay.
Retaining a dead tooth with a root canal treatment also causes bacteria within the body of the dentine to convert to their anaerobic forms producing toxic chemicals which can circulate within the body.
The shrinking of the jaws which occurred within one generation with the introduction of the Western diet has led to overcrowding of the teeth. This usually necessitates dental extractions in order to remove the wisdom teeth and often bicuspid or premolar teeth to enable orthodontic alignment. The majority of lower wisdom tooth extractions although apparently healed, are thought to become cavitations which are areas of necrotic bone.
Root-canal treatments, gum disease and cavitations can all act as foci of infection that can undermine the immune system and lead to chronic and serious illnesses such as cancer and effective treatment requires addressing these issues.
Added to these bacteriological concerns are the routine use of toxic metals of all descriptions in dentistry and particularly the continued and widespread use of dental amalgam which contains the second most toxic substance known - mercury - which directly poisons many bodily systems.
Final thoughts on cancer
Let us hope that history and the bitter lessons learnt by the industrialised world serve as a warning to the developing world. Sadly, there seems little evidence that that is the case.
Further resources
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