There was a movie in the 1990's called 'The Medicine Man', where a scientist discovers the cure for cancer; whilst it still continues to kill people, it is not always the death sentence it once was. Think about that for a moment; can you even imagine the impact this would have on our world if the suffering of so many people could be put to an end? The causes for cancer seem to be many but despite all the knowledge we gain, it is still almost impossible to know if or when a person will contract it.



Of course many researchers belief that we are in effect born with cancer which is just waiting for something to set if off, but just what is cancer? Well, it is a disease that's characterized by a large number of cells that continue to grow and divide; they invade and destroy adjacent tissues and may even spread to other anatomical sites through a process called metastasis.

A cancerous tumor keeps growing but a benign one is self-limiting and generally won't cause any harm to the body. There are rare occasions when a benign tumor changes to a malignant one. It causes more deaths per population than any other illness and the older you get the more prone you are to contracting the disease; cancer is responsible for about 13 percent of all deaths worldwide. Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells; these abnormalities may be caused by other poisons within the body from smoking, radiation, chemicals or other infectious agents.

For some people the problem lies not with any form of external poison although faults with their parents DNA or genetic makeup can result in a person being born with the diseased cells. However this does not mean you will contract it as the relationship between carcinogens and an individual's genetic makeup is a complex one.

Owing to this ongoing, worldwide research, we do actually know a considerable amount about cancer even if we are some way from finding a complete and consistent cure. Once scientists discover the reason behind why some individuals are more likely to contract a disease than others, we may be closer to creating a cure. We all want to know more about the causes of cancer what we can do to help prevent this illness from striking.

The food you eat on a regular basis will have an effect on your health, especially in the future. Some believe it may even be causing a large number of cases in certain groups of people. People are generally eating too much of the wrong things such as an excess salt intake, too much saturated fat and certain dairy produce. Studies have shown that there is a connection between dairy produced calcium and prostrate cancer.

Cancer does not have any prejudice when it comes to invading a person's body as it can strike anywhere. Some people can have cancer for several years before they have any symptoms and this does not help their chances of being cured. However, mortality rates from cancer are decreasing and although a cure may not be possible, there are treatments available to slow its spread. Cancer is not the certain death sentence it once was and although many of its various forms are incurable at this time, medical science continues to improve.