The increase in cancer diagnoses in recent decades, linked to increased life expectancy and unhealthy habits of life, is being accompanied by the spread of a number of myths about the disease.
Misinformation generates frequent misunderstandings that can lead to refuse treatment or to fall in an almost obsessive prevention, relate countless products or foods with a higher risk of cancer.
In order to avoid such situations, it should be noted some of the most common myths about cancer. Based on the findings of different studies and a recent scientific paper published by several oncologists Methodist Cancer Center Houston, these are the arguments that dismantle some of these myths.
It is an inherited disease
People with a family history are at greater risk of developing cancer, but nothing is a definite cause and effect, it is estimated that four out of ten cases can be prevented by adopting a healthier lifestyle. Smoking, alcohol and obesity are three risk factors that increase the chances of developing cancer than genetic inheritance. Therefore, the removal of these harmful habits, along with a healthy diet is essential to prevent disease.
Older people are not fit to undergo treatment
There is no age limit for treating this disease. Cancer patients should receive treatment that best suits your fitness regardless of their age. So much so that a large number of elderly will respond as well as young people do. What does happen many times is that older often have a number of other diseases that limit the treatments that can be submitted, as well as its benefits.
Telephony electromagnetic waves cause brain cancer
“If mobile produce tumors, all the males in the testes would ” explained the professor of medicine and scientist at the Institute for Cancer Research of Salamanca , Rogelio Gonzalez told a conference of the Month Caja Rural Health . The demands of neighborhood against the owners of telephony repeaters installed on their roofs, as well as webcasts of studies with little scientific basis on this issue, have helped fuel the myth, especially when it brain refers or testicular cancer.
Many elderly people respond equally well to treatment youth
In mid- October, the French agency for food and health security (Anses, for its acronym in French) published the findings of a meta-study, from the 300 most important research on the subject with a sweeping conclusions: “No there is no proven carcinogenic effect.” In addition, the gala agency emphasizes that it is not necessary to lower the limits of population exposure to magnetic waves.
The radiation produced by these waves, as well as X -ray or gamma, you would multiply the usual values to reach genetic changes in people who receive it.
Biopsies may worsen and spread cancer
The chances that the cancer will spread by using a needle to extract a sample of tissue (biopsy) are very low. In the past larger needles were used and the likelihood of spread was higher, notes the oncologist at Methodist Cancer Center Houston, Eric Bernicker. A common myth is that the cancer will spread if exposed to air during surgery. Quite another thing is that the doctor be more cancerous tissue than expected after making imaging.
Sunscreens prevent skin cancer
The use of sunscreen is recommended habit that reduces the risk of skin cancer, but it is far from sufficient. In many cases , this absolute belief gives us a false sense of security , which may lead us to think that by wearing sunscreen do not have to limit the hours of sun exposure or not need covering up with hats or shirts in the times of day ultraviolet rays are more intense and harmful ( from 12:00 to 16:00 hours).
Injuries or blows to the head can cause tumors
This is an outdated belief dating back to early last century, when scientists and doctors began to expand the idea that brain cancer was caused by past trauma. The hits do not usually generate a tumor in almost any occasion, though it is true that when an injury is suffered more medical tests are done and a tumor may appear. However, it was already there so the shot is not the cause of the tumor, unless it is a rare exception.
No matter how you cook it, it has no influence
The way we cook meat is associated with a range of negligible risk to health. One study that insists this thesis is conducted by the Institute for Cancer Prevention California, where it was concluded that prepare meat at high temperatures, especially when fried, can increase the risk of cancer prostate by up to 40 %, if performed regularly.
The researchers also found that men who ate baked chicken had a lower risk of prostate cancer, something not seen among those taking the cooked chicken in skillet. The heads of these damages are (in English known as HCA) heterocyclic amines, which are formed in the cooking, a cancer that attack DNA.
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