Probably one of the most unusual roles for Sean Connery was his portrayal of a doctor in a South American jungle, looking into a way to eradicate cancer. Although there are other more awful diseases, this one holds the crown at the moment because of how often it is diagnosed. Research over the years has helped our understanding of cancer but not to the point where we are able to foretell exactly when it will happen.

Even now many people do not really understand what cancer is despite growing up with it all around them. This is a disease where unhealthy cells grow, divide and then expand into other cells, often transferring to parts of the body using a method called metastasis.

There are rare occasions when a benign tumor changes to a malignant one. Statistics show that cancer is responsible for around thirteen in every one hundred deaths each year. While smoking, chemicals and radiation for instance, can be the cancer trigger, it is the poison from these or other sources that transform body cells and create genetic abnormalities which grow and multiply.

The cause can also be the responsibility of faulty DNA replication or a genetic trait inherited from parents which means a person can be born with them. Complex relationships between carcinogens and a person’s genetic makeup may explain why only some develop it after exposure to a known carcinogen.

Research into the cause of cancer continues around the globe and is the disease most frequently studied on a regular basis. We are always learning more about diseases and how they affect our bodies and minds. By understanding the origins of cancer, perhaps we will be able to avoid contracting it until we come up with a cure.

There is a saying ‘You Are What You Eat’ and this is now being looked at more closely as food may have a direct effect on the incidence of the disease in certain groups. Studies have shown that there is a connection between dairy produced calcium and prostrate cancer.

Cancer can affect any part of the body from the bones, blood, skin or organs. nowhere is safe from it. Usually the cancer is at an early stage and a person may have a better chance of being cured. Although not it is not something anyone wants to be diagnosed with, cancer does not have to mean death these days, with the advances in medical treatment.

Tags: General Health

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