Daphnie Vega
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There are many myths on how and why we get cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and in addition to being aware of its significance, we need to know what is and isn’t true about cancer and its causes. Here are the top six myths about cancer that most people hear about:
MYTH 6: Cell phones cause cancer.
Cell phones have become more advanced during the past five years and now that technology has reached a peak cell phones contain far less carcinogens than in the year 2000. Studies on the correlation of cell phones to brain are difficult to determine, but the latest study was conducted by the Danish Cancer Society and no link was found between cell phones and brain cancer.
MYTH 5: Artificial sweeteners cause cancer.
The myth was particularly popular during the 1970s when there was a study done on the effects of cyclamate on mice. However it wasn’t until later on that it was discovered that the mice had been given an equivalent of 800 cans of diet soda a day of cyclamate for several weeks. Too much of any particular food can lead to cancer, but it requires an extreme amount of the food to actually harmful.
MYTH 4: To beat cancer all you need is a positive attitude, not treatment.
Although having a positive attitude towards the situation can alleviate the stress of being diagnosed with a disease such as cancer, treatment has been the only avenue that has been repeatedly effective towards the “beating” cancer. In this case it’s not as simple as “mind over matter” but having the help of medical treatment.
MYTH 3: Only women get breast cancer.
Women are 100 times more likely to get breast cancer than men but because men also have breast tissue they are also susceptible to getting it.
According to the American Cancer Society around 2000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer year.
MYTH 2: Cancer is on the rise.
There are more cases of cancer than in the past but we don’t take into the consideration the fact that there is an increased population along with longevity. When compared to populations in the past, there is a decrease in the risk of cancer.
In the past when a person was diagnosed with cancer it was considered taboo to speak to others about it, but as times have changed individuals are speaking more freely about this disease.
MYTH 1: Medical science already has and is withholding a cure for cancer.
There is one logical reason why this is false. If the cure for cancer was out there any pharmaceutical company would jump on the opportunity to be the first with such an amazing cure and of course the money would also be a factor.
There was an article published recently of a drug that has been tested on four dogs and cured all four dogs that had cancer.
With a few more successful cases, researchers will soon be allowed to see if this drug could yield similar results in human testing.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Information for this article was from listverse.com