According to the World Health Organization, India had an estimated 1.16 million new cancer cases in 2018, and one in 10 Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime and one in 15 will die of the disease. So, it's no more a rare disease, thanks to the MODERN LIFESTYLE and the MODERN MINDSET !
Now, what is CANCER ? Truth to tell, we don’t know much about it. Of course, we have moved a lot from ‘Radium needles’ to ‘Robotic surgery’; from ‘Family doctor’ to ‘Oncologist’; from ‘Horoscope predictions’ to ‘Predictive gene testing’. You might have heard the story of ‘Predictive gene testing’ and the American Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. She had her both breasts removed surgically in 2013 at the age of 37 to prevent development of breast cancer in future (preventive double mastectomy), on testing positive for the gene BRCA 1, though she had no symptoms at all. We don’t know why the legend, Steve Jobs, the most outstanding ‘digital brain’ behind the APPLE (iPod, iPad, iTunes, & iCloud) died of cancer.
People know a lot about the goodness of technology and the professional excellency in treating cancer. I am not going to write about it ... this is only a small 'scribbling' about some bitter truths and negative facts which may make the concerned researchers, technologists and the professional specialists squirm in their seats and get angry.
Incidence of cancer is said to be increasing day by day. Bad lifestyle; bad mindset; bad environment; bad foods; bad habits; bad industries; bad gadgets; bad luxuries; bad modernity; bad consumerism; bad cosmetics; bad business; bad brought up of children, etc. are said to be the promoting factors. A study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution indicates that people who live in very cold regions like Denmark and Norway are at an increased risk of developing caner. And another study concluded that 'jet lag' may increase cancer risk by disturbing our body clocks which are controlled by the same mechanism that causes tumours. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently (2013) added the polluted air which we are breathing to the list of cancer-producing agents ! Quit the planet ! Instead of ‘cleaning’ the planet and ourselves we are focussing on medical and surgical ‘cleaning’ of the affected people, by establishing a $1.72 trillion cancer business. Perhaps, it is the genetics (indirectly, biological phenomena / Environment / Nature / God / Destiny / Superconsciousness / Supreme Being / creator of geo-biological phenomena / or whatever) that play a major role in causing natural morbidity and mortality. Curiously, in a study by Nir Barzilal (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York) about 500 persons who were in the habit of smoking, drinking and eating junk food were found to be in the age group of 95-109 ! The researcher said that they possibly posses “additional longevity genes” to buffer them against the bad lifestyle. Genetics may have an edge over habits, but it should not be a statistical excuse for indulgence.
HOLLYWOOD STAR’S GENETICS
The word ‘genetics’ reminds me of the American Hollywood star Anjelina Jolie (aged 37 in 2013 and named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 & 2011) who was in the news in May 2013 all over the world – not for her Hollywood fame, but for making public about the surgery to get her both breasts removed to prevent development of breast cancer (preventive double mastectomy). The details are published in the op-ed article in the New York Times (May 14, 2013). The news went viral all over and her medical choice has the world up in arms. A Time cover story titled “The Angelina Effect” observed that she has put “genetic testing on the spotlight.”
Jolie’s mother had breast cancer and died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56. The actress had a ‘predictive gene testing’ (which costs $3,000), and she tested positive for the gene BRCA 1 (harmful BRCA mutation). The harmful BRCA 1 / BRCA 2 gene mutation is associated with higher incidence of cancer of breasts and ovaries -- around 65 per cent may develop breast cancer, and around 40 per cent may develop ovarian cancer. So the actress is at a higher risk .
There are two medical options. Jolie may have periodical check-ups to detect cancer early, without preventive surgery, and with or without drugs like Tamoxifen. Or to have both the breasts removed surgically to minimise the risk of breast cancer. The surgery is not a 100 percent guarantee as 100 per cent removal of breasts is not guaranteed – even after radical surgery somewhere a little breast tissue may remain. If she belongs to the about 45 per cent of the cases who may not develop breast cancer, this mutilating surgery is unwarranted. But who knows ? She was told that she had an 87 % risk of developing breast cancer. Two years later, she got her ovaries also removed for the same reason of the possibility of getting cancer (40 per cent of chances of getting cancer of ovaries). She didn’t have any symptoms, only predictions.
Predictions are a ‘game of numbers’ ! Perhaps, as good or as bad of the words of an astrologer. An easy way of making a fool of one’s self is to predict the chances of getting cancer. Notwithstanding the tremendous advancements in science, we still do not know all about cancer. There must be other ‘intermediate risk genes’ and other known (hereditary, lifestyle, etc.) and unknown factors. It was her decision; she got the surgery done on February 16, 2013. For more information on this, click on http://blog.itriagehealth.com/angelina-jolie-public-double-mastectomy/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Jolie
As far as the world is concerned, Jolie’s personal case is of no significance. What is of importance is the dust the news, coming as it is from a celebrity, kicked up and the debates that followed. This may create a huge demand for ‘preventive gene testing’ and a spurt in such kind of surgeries – warranted or unwarranted. Some wondered as to whether it (the public announcement) is a corporate ploy to promote vested interests of ‘preventive gene testing facilities’ and / or to influence the judgement of the ongoing case of “AMP (Association for Molecular Pathology) versus Myriad Genetics (which holds some patents on BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 human genes) whose judgement is expected to be announced in June 2013 in the US Supreme Court. If the Court grants the patent, it would be like giving a patent to Isaac Newton for the earth’s gravitational force!
After all, Mrs. Jolie who is widely known and committed for humanitarian service might have gone public only to help women in similar situation to take informed medical decisions. It is remarkable that she got the honorary Oscar award for her humanitarian work at the Goverors Awards ceremony in Hollywood (November 2013).
Huge ads have started appearing in Indian newspapers of ‘preventive gene testing / ‘genetic screening for the risk of hereditary cancers’ (26 genes including BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 in women -- “Fee structure: Rs. 31,955/- only – Ph. 07767971888 – www.datarpgx.com – March, 2014”). Genetic make-up is a very complex one. Our DNA includes genes from some retroviruses and some other germs also. We don’t know everything about the processes that go on outside the genes, the epigenetics. We have some seven octillion atoms in around 100 trillion cells in our body -- too huge to understand how they all work in sync !
And we see ads for ‘genetic markers’ for heart problems -- Apolipoprotein E Genotype Test, gp 21 Genotype Test, etc.
As the advertisers say, the tests based on genetic screening may help in planning prevention now and treatment in future. On the other hand, some of the ‘normal’ persons today who are detected to have abnormal results on genetic screening may receive an early divine call sheerly due to the stress of knowing the abnormality ! Perhaps, they would have lived a normal span of life except for these tests. In a way, ignorance is a blessing in disguise !
Russian geneticist Dimitri Belyaev created foxes that looked and behaved like dogs -- wagging tails, licking their custodians, having upturned tails, with floppy ears – through selective breeding. We see a peculiar phenotypic polymorphism in bees. Why is there such a difference between ‘queen bee’ and ‘worker bee’ ? Is it due to a differential diet during growth and maturation -- the larva ordained to be the queen bee being fed a huge portion of royal jelly ( the protein royalactin) ?
DON’T CALL IT A CANCER
We often pump in drugs for lifelong by labelling a large population as “pre-hypertensive”, “pre-diabetic”, “pre-cancerous”, etc. Most of these people require only lifestyle modification and observation over a period of time before interventions can be thought of. In fact, a recent publication (July 2013) in The Journal of the American Medical Association suggested that some pre-cancerous conditions, like the one that affects the breast called ‘ductal carcinoma in situ’ should be renamed to exclude the word ‘carcinoma’ so that people are less frightened and less likely to seek what may be needless and potentially hazardous remedies that may include surgical removal of breasts. It is also suggested that many of the abnormalities detected during breast, prostate, thyroid, lung and other cancer screening procedures should not be called ‘cancer’ at all but should be renamed as “indolent lesions of epithelial origin” (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/does-cancer-need-a-new-name/article4986091.ece).
NEEDLESS / FUTILE TREATMENT
Needless and harmful treatment is often extended to too many of these ‘indolent lesions’. In the same way aggressive, expensive and painful surgical treatment / radiotherapy / chemo therapy is often given to patients with advanced disease only to prolong the suffering in the name of prolonging life. Many of these patients would definitely prefer euthanasia, if they know what is happening. When the immune system fails we “rarely cure, mostly comfort and always console.”
GRIM STATISTICS
Grim statistics show that one 1.16 million new cases of different cancers are diagnosed every year in India and that about 784,800 people died due to cancer in 2018. In India's population of 1.35 billion, one in 10 will develop cancer, and one in 15 will die of cancer. Though it is known that about 40 per cent of all cancers are caused by tobacco, the government has no will power to strangle the tobacco industry which has a stranglehold over nearly 275 million tobacco-users in India.
FABRICATED RESEARCH
During the recent past, tremendous advancements have been witnessed in the field of cancer leading to better understanding of the problem. This has saved scores of lives across the world.. However, the world seems to be running on money. It is said that there is a lot of money in the cancer and cardiac fields. Business barons seem to go to any extent to laugh all the way to the bank. They may even influence researchers and doctors to get favourable “scientific” evidence for their products – launched and yet to be launched – through “paid research.” There is too much of evidence on this. “The world famous not-for-profit Mayo Clinic, Rochester, US which spends $500 million a year on research concluded in 2009 that data about harnessing the immune system to fight cancer had been fabricated, resulting in the retraction of 17 papers in nine research journals.” Incidents of fraud in medical research are far too many to be ignored. Read under the heading “MODERN MEDICINE – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” on this page. Go to http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/research/cancer.html to read the article “Cancer Research – A Super Fraud ?” and https://www.facebook.com/LCSurvivors/posts/273639842729834 to read interesting quotes and comments on cancer “charities”.
“Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud and that the major cancer research organisations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them.”
--- Linus Pauling, Ph.D. (Two-time Nobel Prize winner)
Is this quote an 'eye-opener' to the realities OR an uncharitable comment ? -- T. Rama Prasad
THIS IS AN ABRIDGED TEXT OF MY 'SCRIBBLING. THE FULL TEXT WILL BE POSTED LATER. -- T. Rama Prasad |
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