Cancer Risk Factors: Genetic, Race And Other Biological Risk Factors Of Cancer

Though it is difficult to pinpoint who can be more susceptible to a particular type of cancer, there are certain biological, gender and ethnic factors which make the occurrence of a particular type of cancer more probable in some individuals than others. Speculations about the causes of cancer and the mechanisms that lead to its occurrence have been constrained by some of its biological characteristics. These include the relationships between incidence and genetic susceptibility, age, sex, and the delay (which is sometimes misleadingly called the ‘latent period’) that occurs between exposure to a causative agent and the appearance of clinical disease.Genetic susceptibility to cancer: It has been demonstrated by various studies that if one member of a family develops a specific type of cancer, other members are somewhat more likely to develop that same type than would be expected in the population as a whole. Several genes have such a great effect on susceptibility that bearers of one such gene (if it is dominant) or two (if they are recessive) almost invariably develop a particular type of cancer. Examples include the dominant genes for polyposis coli and Gardner’s syndrome that lead to cancer of the large bowel, and the recessive genes for retinoblastoma and xeroderma pigmentosum that lead (in the latter case) to squamous carcinoma and (less commonly) melanoma of the skin.The genetics of breast cancer is well established. Breast Cancers occur when a buildup of genetic mutations in critical genes-those that control cell growth and division or the repair of damaged DNA-allow cells to grow and divide uncontrollably to form a tumor. These genes are BRCA1, BRCA2, CDH1, PTEN, STK11, and TP53. In most cases, the genetic changes that trigger breast cancer are acquired during a person’s lifetime and are present only in certain cells. A history of breast cancer in closely related family members is also an important risk factor, particularly if the cancer occurred at an early age. Some breast cancers that cluster in families are associated with inherited mutations in particular genes, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are major genes related to hereditary breast cancer. Women who have inherited certain mutations in these genes have a high risk of developing breast cancer. The proportion of all cancers that occur in people who are highly susceptible to cancer in this way is, however, very small. It means that though cancer can run through generations it is not necessarily so in most of the cases. Those with no close relatives who have this disease do develop it in increasing numbers.Race too plays an important role in the susceptibility to a particular type of cancer. Caucasians (people who are from or trace their origin to Europe, West Asia or North Africa) are at a greater risk of developing basal-cell and squamous carcinomas of the sun-exposed skin. This risk is greatly diminished in Chinese, Japanese, and Asian Indians. Caucasians have a 30% chance of developing basal-cell cancer in their lifetime and maximum number of such basal cell cancer cases occur in neck and head. There is also a relationship between type of blood group and cancer.For example a particular gene that is present in those with blood group A, increases the risk of gastric cancer by about 20 per cent over that of people belonging to blood groups O or B.Such genetic, race and other relationship to cancer should help doctors, researchers, scientists and other health care specialists to identify high risk groups. This can help in early diagnosis and prevention of aggravating factors.

Cancer: So There’s a Cure?

Your docter says: “You have cancer.” What do you feel: Fear? Bewilderment? Anger? Resentment? Loss? Many if not all of us has had at least one personal encounter with cancer, having suffered from a form of it ourselves, having witnessed a loved one do the same, and in most cases, having lost a loved one to the disease. For most, it’s a frightening and disheartening matter, as the diagnosis always comes with the same jargon: “We don’t know where it comes from or how and why it’s caused… ” “We don’t have a cure yet… ” “At best, we could recommend the following treatment plan, but with no guarantees… “Depressing to say the least. Discouraging for most. And in many cases, downright devastating. So, what if someone told you that there is a cure? That we’ve been sitting on it for generations, and that it grows in our backyards? And that the Food and Drug Association (FDA) and American Medical Association (AMA) will never disclose it to us knowing it would kill their multi-trillion dollar industry of related surgeries, treatments, and patented prescription drugs? As the medical journals of this country’s indigenous (Native American) tribes suggest, nature provides the answers to much of life’s maladies, including many forms of cancer. Many (if not all) of these documents however, have been confiscated, hidden, and/or destroyed in seizures initiated by the FDA and the AMA of medical pioneers’ practices in prior generations as formulas competing with their patented medicines have surfaced from these sources. As we know, the medical industry has flourished tremendously throughout the generations, profiting immensely on treatments of chronic illnesses, and those requiring lengthy and expensive treatment processes, including cancer.OK, so how is all of this related? Let’s start with simple economics, which teaches us that patented products is the path to prosperity, as the patent limits the right to reproduce and sell a product to its legal owner(s). Law has it that one cannot patent or control the value of any one item that occurs alone in nature. For example: you cannot patent a pine tree if you think it cures cancer, but you can patent a man-made compound consisting of elements from a pine tree that would cure cancer. Now, let’s imagine that someone has come up with a compound that could effectively eliminate the disease without the need for invasive surgery, and chemotherapy, and radiation treatments which are destructive to the body, as they kill the good cells with the “bad.” That individual would be an international hero! They would end a generations-long epidemic! They would provide a halt to the existing, painful, and detrimental treatment processes for a disease that in most cases leads to a noticeable deterioration in a patient’s health and ultimately death! No more watching our beloved family members suffer needlessly for months on a sick bed over something that could be cured with daily teaspoon sized doses of herbs we can grow on our kitchen window sills! Today’s current treatment processes while grueling and hard for most including the administering doctors to witness, are extremely expensive, ranging from the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient depending on treatment type, length, and lengths of time considered with patient survival, remission, etc. As occurrences and types of cancer continue to grow within the communities worldwide, the cancer treatment industry subsequently grows and prospers, creating a society of wealth within an already wealthy (medical) industry. Makes sense while the industries make dollars, right? This is where finding a cure could halt the disease as fast as a common cold could pose a major conflict with an industry which sadly benefits from public ignorance, given that holistic medicine is not common knowledge in modern society nor promoted in conventional medical schools/training.In the meantime, the FDA and AMA approves and sells manmade compounds that can be patented for food and medical industries. The AMA profits more on recurring, chronic and “uncurable” illnesses, as it maintains a rotation of a repeat customer base subscribing to their prescriptions and treatments, which often span over periods of several months for the average cancer patient. So on a good day where everyone works and pays medical insurance, there is a steady cashflow from the insurance companies (and sometimes patients’ pockets) to the hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, drug manufacturers, etc. This provides a primary motive for the Food and Drug Administration and the American Medical Association (which work closely together) to discredit, conspire against, and seize any individuals who promote or practice an actual cure that would entirely halt one of the most profitable diseases on the planet. This has been done historically with innovative, practicing medical professionals who dedicated their lives in generating and distributing a cure for cancer, most whose practices have started in the United States, to be banished to foreign countries, including Canada, Europe, and Mexico. Each individual had a mile long list of patient testimonials and track records of proven success disease cures and extended (or permanent) patient remission periods that speak for themselves. In this article, I will mention a few medical founders and their products, which has maintained credibility and continue to be administered as alternative cancer treatments to this day.Several of these doctors (most in the US) have developed natural cures for cancer inspired by personal experience and by Native American medical journals, but have been fought for decades both legally & financially by American Medical Association and the Food & Drug Administration looking out to protect their assets. Tragically for them, the media was used as a tool in battling these doctors and labeling them as “quacks.” As we all know, media in its earlier stages was highly controlled, one-sided, and could make or break anyone’s reputation. Some of these medical heroes worth noting from more recent decades whose products deserve far more notoriety, research, and development than received over the years, are:1. Dr./Nurse Rene Caisse (1888-1978) created Essiac (her last name spelled backwards), a cancer fighting agent containing pine bark, rose hips fruit, and Vitamin C, along with other natural herbs. Frustrated with the rigorous, unchanging cancer treatment regimens and dying culture of patients from these processes where she worked, Rene Caisse quit her job as a hospital nurse and opened up a clinic where she was known as “Canada’s Cancer Nurse.” Here, she researched, discovered, and developed a product derived from Native American medicine aimed to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells. She administered this product for 30 yrs to cancer patients coming to her as a last resort after being given a short prognosis by their conventional medical doctors. She refused pay, but accepted donations, and was charged only $1 a month for rent to the Bracebridge Town Council, who welcomed her warmly. Many people travelled upwards of 300 miles every day, rain/shine/snow/sleet to see her. There are some patients still alive in over 25 years’ remission as a result of her treatment, which in Caisse’s and most doctors’ perspective qualifies as a cure. During her process in developing the medicine, Dr. Caisse has struggled for decades against the scrutiny of the Canada’s medical establishment for the right to administer her product as a medical professional, as she was up against systemic warfare with drawn out administrative and legal battles to which she eventually succumbed and lost her license to administer and distribute from a professional desk. Caisse died in 1977, but not before receiving formal accolades from a team of over 91 cancer survivors in 10 – 25 years of remission (some of whom are still alive today), all who accredit her and her product for their recovery of the disease and survival.2. Dr. Harry Hoxsey (1901-1974) created the Hoxsey treatment line and practiced in Texas in the 1920’s. Hoxey was inspired by his great grandfather, John Hoxey, a horse breeder whose favorite stallion was afflicted with a cancerous growth. The afflicted horse drew Hoxey’s attention as he took to grazing every day in a remote area near his property where a particular type of wild grass and flowery plants grew until his cancerous growth necrotized. Knowing that animals often instinctively seek out in nature what their bodies crave in nutrients, he concluded that there was a cure in those ingredients. He subsequently created a formula from them to administer to and successfully cure other people’s horses with the same affliction, and became well known in the region for it. His concoction started off with red clover, alfafah, buckthorn, and prickly ash, and evolved with further exploration. He passed his formulas on to his son and grandson, who in turn practiced as surgical veterinarians. Harry’s father got the notion that the cancer curing formula proving to be so helpful to horses could equally be as helpful to humans, and he began “quietly treating cancer patients” under the careful watch of MD’s, with Harry by his side as his apprentice since the tender age of 8. John Hoxey’s notoriety grew and drew large crowds of cancer patients, and he passed the formulas on to his son, Harry in 1919 as a deathbed legacy to continue administering the product as a doctor. Unfortunately, as Harry continued to explore and advance in his medicine and practice, and in spite of his own track record of success, documented cures, and detailed lab studies and medical reports, he was up against a lifetime battle exceeding 25 years with the FDA, the AMA, and the satire-hungry media who worked together in discrediting his medical findings and accomplishments, labeling him a “quack,” and forcing his practice out of the United States. His drug, Hoxey, is now available, respected, and administered to this day in Mexico, where he moved his practice before he died.3. Dr. Earnest T. Krebs, Jr. (1911-1996) created a cancer treatment alternative known as Laetrile, which was known for containing baking soda as a primary ingredient. Dr. Krebs followed in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Earnest T. Krebs, Sr (1876-1970). Both were raised and educated in the United States. Like his father, Krebs concocted many alternative remedies using natural resources that rivaled leading brands approved by the FDA and AMA, including his Laetrile formula for cancer treatment. As many pioneers before him, Dr. Krebs was discredited by the FDA and AMA, forbidden to practice administering his product in the United States, and took his product to Europe where he was allowed to practice and build a successful track record of patients with cures and remissions for several years before further administrative battles ensued. To date, his product outlived him and his battles, and is still served as an alternative cancer treatment, still with a growing track record of successful cures.It should be noted that Western medicine, as it is taught in the United States, is a Rockefeller creation, one of society’s wealthiest families known more for their philanthropy than their appetite for financial control over several aspects of western infrastructure, including the medical industries, which were heavily funded by them. Here, profit is priority. The Rockefellers own many large medical institutions and universities, where holistic medicine has not been traditionally taught over conventional medicine, which supports all of the ever growing multi-trillion dollar medical industries, and which supports prior theories that the FDA and AMA have vested interests in discrediting anyone that introduces a product that could lead to an end for one of its largest and most profitable segments. And naturally, most medical students just going with the flow in society, many of whom are there because their parents told them to be, are none the wiser, nor have much time during their rigorous study programs to explore much (like holistic medicine) outside of their curriculum, long less be prepared to address the topic as practitioners. For this reason when we ask any conventional medical doctor about holistic treatment options for any illness (especially one as serious as cancer), we will at best receive a diplomatic response about there not being enough evidence on record that it would be as effective as the drugs and processes currently on the market.So again, your doctor says: “You have cancer.” What do you feel? This time, should we say — Hope? A new sense of discernment maybe? Or possibly inspiration… with new knowledge that Mother Nature has likely provided us with everything we need to survive and heal ourselves. The writing is on the wall that there are viable alternatives in existence, so you’d at least have the option to travel for it, or bring it to light. Prayerfully, none of us would ever have to hear those words, but if we ever do, possibly we owe it to ourselves, our loved ones overtaken by the battle against the disease, and our brave pioneers to steer medicine into a different direction for the cause to keep our minds open, and keep hope alive for ourselves, our loved ones, and our future generations.