90% of everything that we read is false. I read that somewhere. If we take that statement to be true, which lets face it, is taking a chance, then how do we trust anything that we read. When people back their arguments up with book-learned information we can just say, "yeah, well, your uncle is a donkey" and actually stand a chance of having that be just as relevant. It makes rather a good point about perspective and connotation and seeing only what you want to see and believing only what you want to believe. No wonder the world is full of such confusion, no one has their facts straight.
All this mass confusion leads to miscommunication and miscommunication leads to misunderstanding. It's like a global game of broken telephone, except sometimes what you get at the other end isn't always funny. Sometimes it can be deadly, especially when it deals with cancer and the myths surrounding its causes.
On http://www.cancer.gov they list some myths, a truth and a case unproven. The myths are
1) Commercial artificial sweeteners can cause cancer: in 1969 the Food and Drug Administration banned the sweetener cyclamate because there were rumours that it caused cancer. These days, rumours continue to plague the sweeteners saccharine and aspartame but research has found no link between them and cancer.
2) Fluoridated water causes cancer: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have found "no credible evidence" that fluoride in water causes cancer.
3) Antiperspirants/Deodorants cause Breast Cancer: it has been claimed that chemicals found in antiperspirants and deodorants are absorbed through nicks and cuts in the skin and cause breast cancer. The National cancer Institute and The FDA have found no proof of this.
4) Coral calcium is effective in the treatment of cancer: marine coral is a dietary supplement which has been touted as a cure or treatment for cancer and other chronic ailments but there is no scientific evidence to back this claim up.
The truth is that grilled or pan fried meat does increase the risk of cancer. The grilling process causes harmful chemicals, called heterocyclimamines, which are carcinogenic, to be released. It is recommended that you keep your grilled meat portions down to a minimum or try marinating meat or precooking it in the microwave oven first. The unproven theory is that magnetic field exposure causes cancer. This includes electro magnetic fields produced from power lines, televisions, cell phones, microwaves etc. Numerous studies have been undertaken to try and correlate electro magnetic fields to brain cancer, leukemias, lymphomas and breast cancer but none have been conclusive. Nevertheless it is recommended that you try to limit your exposure to these devices.
It appears that everyone has their own set of "top 10 Myths about cancer". Here are some that belong to http://health.discovery.com
10) What you do as a young adult will not affect your chances of getting cancer in later life: the reality is that your diet, level of physical activity, sun exposure and whether or not you smoke all influence your cancer odds in late adulthood.
9) There is a cancer cure available but the medical industry is hiding it because they are making so much money from treating people: there is not one type of cancer, so there cannot be one overriding cure, also people are being cured from cancer all the time, so that is pure bunkum.
8) Cell phones cause cancer. We covered that one above. No conclusive evidence but try to limit your exposure.
7) Do injuries cause cancer later in life? No they do not, often while people are getting their injuries checked out a tumour may be found, but the injury did not cause it.
6) Between air pollution and smoking which is worst? Its not air pollution. Even inhaling second hand on a fairly regular basis is worse for you than the air pollution of an average American city.
5) Surgery causes cancer to spread: Sometimes surgery has been left too late and then the cancer has spread too far for anything to be done about it. But these day's surgeons know how to operate without causing the cancer to spread and they operate only when it is necessary to do so.
4) Bug spray causes cancer. This claim is not supported by any available evidence. Besides, household bug spray is used in concentrations that are too low to do any damage whatsoever.
3) Applying sunscreen once a day prevents skin cancer: sunscreen needs to be reapplied several times a day for it to be effective.
2) Harmful chemicals in grilled meats. Covered above.
1) The risk of dying of cancer in the US is increasing: that is the perception because more and more people are being diagnosed with cancer but in reality fewer than half those diagnosed with cancer these days will die from it.
Finally there is http://www.cancer.about.com/od/causes/tp/cancermyths.htm which has
1) Hair dye causes brain cancer
2) Cell phones cause cancer
3) If your mom and dad had cancer you will get cancer, which may not necessarily be true but is not necessarily a myth either. Cancer can be genetic in some cases; your chances of getting cancer are increased, depending on the cancer, if one of your parents had it, so it's best to be careful.
4) Cancer causes hair loss, it is not the cancer, it is the treatment that causes your hair to fall out.
5) Only women get breast cancer: men get it too, its just not as talked about.
6) There is a cure but they are hiding it. Covered that above.
7) Cancer is almost always fatal. Covered that too.
8) Antiperspirants and deodorants cause cancer. Covered it.
9) Some types of cancer are contagious. No cancers are contagious, honestly. Please feel free to touch and hug and kiss and share to your hearts content.
10) Positive thinking will cure cancer. Ah, this could actually be quite contentious because I am dead sure that there are people out there who would swear, hand on heart that positive thinking cured them when nothing else would. Lets us say that positive thinking is extremely important in the healing process, that it speeds the process up some and that it keeps the depression at bay.
But 90% of this article is lies anyway so you can believe what you want to.
Sandra wrote this article for the online marketers Tell Her UK cervical cancer one of the most informative and reader friendly sites on cervical cancer on the web
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