London, UK 23 November, 2011 4pm GMT
Donations for Movember gladly accepted at http://uk.movember.com/mospace/789888
Yesterday I spoke briefly about Prostate Cancer… how many people it affects and so on. Now, although I am participating in Movember to raise awareness and funds for Prostate Cancer, I have not forgotten about cancer in general and how much of a killer it is.
Around this time last year I posted some controversial thoughts about cancer. I basically said “Cancer is Life” and the whole point was to rethink what we know about cancer and look at it in a different way. If we treat cancer as life, then should we not suffocate it? If cancerous cells survive without oxygen then how do we suffocate them? Give lots of oxygen in the area to kill them off?
[Update Edit, 21 March 2012: It has come to my attention that it is not all black and white as it seems and I may have generalised a bit here. Certainly cancer is formed through some mutation that may be caused by lack of oxygen, even cancer cells require amounts of oxygen to survive. The tumour area needs to be starved of all things that keep it surviving.]
Certainly, I think research in cancer must continue, but we also must think about how research may be done differently and also about prevention. If we are to think about treatments in a different way then we must turn the whole concept of cancer on it’s head. I am not trying to trivialise the disease… more I am trying to think about how we as society can think about cancer differently to find better cures… cures with no side effects. We seem to have got into thinking that radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the only ways of getting rid of cancer and have accepted the side effects of these methods. Why?
Why are we treating symptoms rather than fixing the root cause.
I still believe in this and so I quote parts of that blog below:
Today I am going to rock the boat a bit and say “Cancer is life”.
I’d like us to think about this.. I’d like us to think about cancer in a different way so that we may understand it better.
In no way am I dismissing the pain and suffering caused by it. In no way am I dismissing all those people who suffer or have suffered with it directly or indirectly. Cancer is a real problem.
However, let’s turn this on it’s head… what is cancer? Is it not mutated cells that are just multiplying, just as cells are meant to? Cells are living things… they multiply and grow in number… non-mutated or mutated, that is what they do. It is natural… it is life.
So, the cell has mutated for a reason… most likely it has mutated as an evolutionary process. Something within the body has changed that means the cells in their normal state can no longer survive.. it could be a lack of oxygen in that area for example. So, the cell evolves to survive in that new environment… it evolves, and it splits into two which then splits into four and so on.. the cell in it’s new evolved self is just doing what it is meant to.. grow and multiply… and it takes over because it is survival of the fittest.
So what causes a change of environment within our bodies? For one, we ourselves are the main cause due to our habits. It could be smoking for example. There are also external factors which could cause this… pollution for example. There are many reasons.
Have you noticed how these causes are man-made or influenced by humans? Some within personal control, some out of our control.
I’ll be the first to admit not knowing much about treatments for cancer. Of course, I have heard of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However to me these seem to be the zapping up of the cancerous cells (and in the process of doing so, zapping some of the good cells too) rather than going to the root cause of the cancer… ie fixing the environment within which these cells thrive. Of course, when the cancer it at a late stage then the zapping up is the right thing to do… but what preventative measures do the various health services take? What measures are in place to prevent the thriving of mutated cells?
Anyone able to comment on this to assist with increasing my knowledge in this area?
Today’s pictorial update…
The month of Movember is closing very soon… so please put your hands in your pockets and donate whatever you can to this cause. Thanks to those of you who are already supporting me in this. So far, £125 has been raised via my Mo Space 🙂
I hope more of you can support my “Mo” growth by donating (even if it is just £1 / $1 / €1) to the Prostate Cancer charity via my Mo Space at
http://uk.movember.com/mospace/789888
