-
The Cause of Cancer
Cancer
,
as
a
lifestyle
issue,
is
considered
as
one
of
the
most
deadly
diseases
worldwide, which has an impact on
quantities of respects of life. The most terrible
damage this issue does,
however
, is to economy as itkilled and
disabledmillions of
people,causing $$895
billion economic loss in 2008 (Rijoand Ross2010).
There are
four main causes of
cancer
. First, tobacco use (often known
as smoking) is the most
significant
cancer risk factor in the 86% to 90% of deaths
from cancer
are a result of active
cigarette smoking(United StatesPublic Health
Service, Office
of
the
Surgeon
General
and
Office
on
Smoking
and
Health2004:
39).Tobacco
smoke contains more than70different
cancer-causing substances, which will enter
the lung and spread around the rest of
the body when people inhale smoke. It has
been shown that these chemicals can
damage DNA and change important genes,
which causes cancer by making cells
grow and multiply out of control. For example,
almost nine in ten cases of lung
cancer
, which has one of the lowest
survival rates
of all cancers, and is
the most common cause of cancer death, are caused
by the
increase ofmutant cells
associated with chemicals from smoking(Cancer
Research
UK 2012). Moreover
,
it is not only related to lung cancer
,
but many other types of
cancer as well.
The risks of over a dozen other cancers including
cancers of the
mouth,
larynx,
pharynx
(upper
throat),
nose
and
sinuses,
oesophagus,
liver
,
pancreas,
stomach,
kidney,
bladder
,
cervix
and
bowel,
as
well
as
one
type
of
ovarian
cancer and some types of leukaemia are raised by
smoking. There is also
some
evidence
that
smoking
could
increase
the
risk
of
breast
cancer
(Cancer
Research UK 2012).
The
second cause of cancer is unlimited alcohol use
(usually known as drinking),
which is
considered as a serious factor
. It has
been found that every increment of 10
grams
per
day
of
alcohol
raises
the
risk
of
breast
cancer
in
women
by
9%
andabout389100 cases of cancer as well
as 232900 deaths fromcancer worldwide
in
2002are
attributable
to
alcohol
drinking
(Boffetta
et
al
2006:
884
–
887
and
Smith-Warner et al 1998: 535-540).
After alcohol enters your liver
, it is
converted
into a toxic chemical called
acetaldehyde, which is one of the main reasons why
we
get hangovers and have a headache in
the morning. However
, acetaldehyde does
serious damage to the DNA and stops
cells from repairing this injury, which will
cause
liver
cells
to
grow
faster
than
normal.
These
regenerating
cells
are
more
likely to pick up changes in their
genes that could result in cancer (Cancer Research
UK 2009). Moreover
, alcohol
abuse is not only associated with liver
cancer
, but also
many other
types of
cancer
. A causal
connection has been established
between
unlimited
alcohol
use
and
cancer
,
such
as
cancers
of
the
oral
cavity,
pharynx,
prostate,
oesophagus,
colon,
rectum
and
in
women,
breast
(Boyle
et
al
2003:
973
–
1005). For
instance, compared with women that drink no
alcohol, women who
drink 35-44 grams of
alcohol per day have an increased risk of breast
cancer of
32 %and those who drink
between 30 and 60 grams of alcohol per day,
increased
their risk of colorectal
cancer by 26% while those who consumed more than
60
grams per day increased their risk
by 64%(Collaborative group on hormonal factors
in breast cancer 2002: 1234-1245 and
Ferrari et al 2007: 2065-2072).
Recommendations
Thus, one of the most effective waysfor
people to prevent themselves from cancer
is
to
give
up
smoking,
which
is
an
action
of
saving
lives.
Avoiding
secondhand
smoke is another way to prevent
cancer
. Secondhand smoke is the smoke
exhaled
from
a
smoker
or
a
lit
cigarette,
pipe
or
cigar
containing
more
than
60
known
cancer-causing
chemicals(Fayed2009),
which
will
do
even
more
harm
than
third
way
of
preventing
cancer
is
to
stop
drinking
or
at
least
use
alcohol with a limitation. If a
personcan totally stopusingalcoholunlimitedly, the
risk
of prostate cancer will be
decreased by 33% when compared to those who drink
1
drink per month to 3 drinks per month
and the rate of risk will be reduced by 65%
and 85% whencompared to those who
drinkbetween three drinks per week and one
drink per day and between one and three
drinks per day (Sesso,Paffenbarger
, and
Lee2001: 749-755).