Don’T Believe The Hype – 10 Persistent Cancer Myths Debunked

[mibrains]

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/don%E2%80%99t-believe-hype-%E2%80%93-10-persistent-cancer-myths-debunked Don’t Believe the Hype – 10 Persistent Cancer Myths Debunked

 

March 27, 2014 | by Lisa Winter

Photo credit: Cancer Research UK

 

Note: The content of this article was written by Oliver Childs and Kat Arney as a blog entry for Cancer Research UK. The link to the original entry was shared on the IFLS Facebook page, but (true to IFLS form) their servers crashed from the traffic. It is being rehosted here with permission. Though my name is at the top of this article, I did not play any role in creating the content. Enjoy! -Lisa 

 

Google ‘cancer’ and you’ll be faced with millions of web pages. And the number of YouTube videos you find if you look up ‘cancer cure’ is similarly vast.

 

The problem is that much of the information out there is at best inaccurate, or at worst dangerously misleading. There are plenty of evidence-based, easy to understand pages about cancer, but there are just as many, if not more, pages spreading myths.

And it can be hard to distinguish fact from fiction, as much of the inaccurate information looks and sounds perfectly plausible. But if you scratch the surface and look at the evidence, many continually perpetuated ‘truths’ become unstuck.

In this post, we want to set the record straight on 10 cancer myths we regularly encounter. Driven by the evidence, not by rhetoric or anecdote, we describe what the reality of research actually shows to be true.

• Myth 1: Cancer is a man-made, modern disease
• Myth 2: Superfoods prevent cancer
• Myth 3: ‘Acidic’ diets cause cancer
• Myth 4: Cancer has a sweet tooth
• Myth 5: Cancer is a fungus – and sodium bicarbonate is the cure
• Myth 6: There’s a miracle cancer cure…
• Myth 7: …And Big Pharma are suppressing it
• Myth 8: Cancer treatment kills more than it cures
• Myth 9: We’ve made no progress in fighting cancer
• Myth 10: Sharks don’t get cancer

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/don%E2%80%99t-believe-hype-%E2%80%93-10-persistent-cancer-myths-debunked

[trichcycler]

I always was told that cancer is not contagious. Yet, sex  can transfer cancer now I hear. Parents force their little girls to get vaccinated for the virus that spreads the disease the way I understand it now. I also learned that cancer cannot exist in an alkaline organ, affected by more than just diet of course. For being such a nasty disease that supposedly ends life, our bodies sure go the extra mile to support the growth of cancerous tumors. I see the death rate from cancer is lower in than ours in places that offer no treatments at all. The people I know that have died "fighting" the disease, passed  as a direct result of radiation and chemotherapy, not cancer. Considering most every food sold to us contains disease causing agents, I tend to think we've been lied to on the matter, and it may be by design.

Edited March 30, 2014 by grassmatch

[t-pain]

sex transmits hpv (herpes) which causes cervical cancer.

 

there is a vaccine for it now for women. i'm curious if it can be a vaccine for men to prevent getting herpes? hmm

[GrowGoddess]

I am not so sure I believe Oliver and Kat. I wonder what pharmaceutical company they are working for.

 

I have read many articles from credible sources that state the opposite that offer studies and results of those studies.

 

I wonder how they can consider some of those entries myths when there are credible studies stating different. 

 

For instance, myth 8. I have read three credible articles stating differently. These articles were from MSN, I have them bookmarked, but my bookmarks have become an abyss of information. 

 

In many cases when a cancer patient dies it is just written off as it was the cancer that killed them.

 

A cancer patient I was going to meet with and offer to be his CG died before we could meet. The company he worked for was switching insurance companies. All employees had to go have a physical. He had no visible health problems before he went it. It was discovered after the physical that he had cancer. They immediately began treatment with those chemo pills. He died 4 weeks later from fluid build up (caused by the pills). He did not feel sick at all until he began taking the pills. It was written off as it was the cancer that killed him, not the treatment.

[trichcycler]

Genital HPV Infection - Fact Sheet Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Some health effects caused by HPV can be prevented with vaccines.

• What is it?
• Transmission
• Problems
• Cancer
• Prevention
• Vaccination
• Diagnosis
• Statistics
• HPV & Pregnancy
• Treatment

 

  What is HPV?

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). HPV is a different virus than HIV and HSV (herpes).  HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives. There are many different types of HPV. Some types can cause health problems including genital warts and cancers. But there are vaccines that can stop these health problems from happening.

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How is HPV spread?

You can get HPV by having oral, vaginal, or anal sex with someone who has the virus. It is most commonly spread during vaginal or anal sex. HPV can be passed even when an infected person has no signs or symptoms.

Anyone who is sexually active can get HPV, even if you have had sex with only one person. You also can develop symptoms years after you have sex with someone who is infected making it hard to know when you first became infected.

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Does HPV cause health problems?

 

In most cases, HPV goes away on its own and does not cause any health problems. But when HPV does not go away, it can cause health problems like genital warts and cancer.

Genital warts usually appear as a small bump or group of bumps in the genital area. They can be small or large, raised or flat, or shaped like a cauliflower. A healthcare provider can usually diagnose warts by looking at the genital area.

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Does HPV cause cancer?

HPV can cause cervical and other cancers including cancer of the vulva, vagina, penis, or anus. It can also cause cancer in the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils (called oropharyngeal cancer).

Cancer often takes years, even decades, to develop after a person gets HPV. The types of HPV that can cause genital warts are not the same as the types of HPV that can cause cancers.

There is no way to know which people who have HPV will develop cancer or other health problems. People with weak immune systems (including individuals with HIV/AIDS) may be less able to fight off HPV and more likely to develop health problems from it.

[Highlander]

sex transmits hpv (herpes) which causes cervical cancer.

 

there is a vaccine for it now for women. i'm curious if it can be a vaccine for men to prevent getting herpes? hmm

 

Unfortunately, HPV isn't herpes (HSV).  Too bad there isn't a vaccine for HSV....we're only a few STD vaccines away from the good ol' 1970s!