What Is Cancer? What We All Need To Know

Cancer is a genetic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. Other terms used are malignant tumors and neoplasm. One defining feature of this disease is the rapid creation of abnormal cells that grow beyond their usually boundaries and which can then invade adjoining parts of the body and spread to other organs. This process is referred to as metastasis. Metastases are the major cause of death from this condition.

This disease knows no age and is to date the leading cause of death in the world, particularly in developing countries. Yet, many of these deaths can be avoided if it is detected early. Even in late stages the suffering of affected patients can be relieved with good palliative care.

What Are The Causes?

Cancerous cells are always being created in the body. So parts of your immune systems are designed to seek out and destroy these cells. Though this condition has been around as long as mankind, it is only in the second half of the 20th Century that the cases have exploded.

This has been blamed on the excessive amounts of toxins and pollutants in the air we breathe, high stress lifestyles that affect the immune system, junk food that is full of pesticides, subjected to radiation and now genetically modified foods, pathogens, electromagnetic stress, light and just about everything that was not here 200 years ago. These weaken the immune system by altering the internal environment in the body, hence promoting its growth.

Common Types Of Cancers

The most common types found in my country Kenya (in order of frequency) are cancer of the:

• Breast
• Cervix
• Esophagus
• Prostate
• Stomach
• Throat
• Ovaries

How Does Cancer Form?

This consition arises from a single cell. The transformation from a normal cell into an affected cell is a multistage process, typically a progression from a pre-cancerous lesion to cancer.

These changes are the result of the interaction between a person’s genetic factors and three categories of external agents, including physical carcinogens, such as ultraviolet and ionizing radiation; chemical carcinogens such as asbestos, components of tobacco smoke, aflatoxin ( a food contaminant); and arsenic ( a water contaminant) and biological carcinogens such as infections from certain viruses, bacteria or parasites.

Ageing also contributes to cancer development. The incidence of this disease rises dramatically with age, owing to the buildup of risks for specific cancers that increase with age.

Prevention

More than 30 per cent of tumors can be prevented by avoiding the key risk factors like tobacco use, obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol use, sexually transmitted infections, air pollution and indoor smoke from household use of solid fuels. High fruit and vegetable intake is essential.

Aloe Vera And Cancer

Aloe Vera boosts immune functions and fights any abnormalities in the body. The Aloe Vera Plant has polysaccharides that have strong immune boosting and cancerous tumor fighting capabilities. Scientific research contacted by the International Immunopharmacology concluded that the polysaccharides in Aloe Vera exhibited potent macrophage activators and produce increased volume of nitric oxide, a compound that has tumor fighting potential.

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