The disease known as cancer is one of the most dreaded there is. Actually it is a class of several diseases. It's characterized by cells growing uncontrollably, invading and destroying tissues, and often spreading to various parts of the body, through lymphatic secretions or the blood.
The medical specialty devoted to diagnosing, treating, studying and preventing cancer is called oncology, and oncologists confront a devastating, mystifying affliction. Cancer kills massive numbers of people; around 13% of all deaths worldwide in 2007 were caused by cancer.
Indications that cancer may be present include weight loss, pain, swelling, jaundice, and bleeding, among many others. Oncologists do not fully understand what makes cancer occur, but the cause has to do with cell mutations which are passed on to other cells. The body has ways of keeping these mutations under control, however, especially when carcinogens like asbestos are present, these ways sometimes don't work well enough.
Because the vast majority of the factors which increase the risk of getting cancer have to do with the environment and lifestyle, the emphasis in cancer cure research has been on prevention. For instance, cancer risk can be cut down a lot, but not eliminated, by doing such things as avoiding exposure to chemicals like asbestos, benzene, and nicotine, reducing consumption of meat, alcohol, salt, and refined sugars, and reducing obesity, while eating mushrooms may have a bit of an anti-cancer effect.
However, vitamin supplements have not been shown to effectively prevent cancer, and people should be very careful about spending their money on anything that is advertised as being able to do so. Because so many fear cancer, there are many cam artists who try to make money selling worthless cancer prevention and cure products.
In addition to avoiding things that increase cancer risk, the other principal way to lower the chances of getting cancer is by ingesting certain chemicals, such as by using tamoxifen, which cuts by 50% the chances of women getting breast cancer if they have a high risk of contracting it.
For the unfortunates who already have a form of cancer, cancer cure research has not been able to find a solution for all, but there are treatments, like chemotherapy, that have been successful for many. For others, it may be more realistic to hope for treatments that allow them to live with the disease without it getting worse, in much the same way as diabetes is not cured but controlled.
There are a few kinds of cancer for which cures are available, like testicular cancer, when it is found early enough. The bottom line is, it's much better to change your lifestyle in order to reduce the risk of cancer, rather than relying on a cancer-fighting products or getting cured after you have contracted it.
