Thursday, September 25, 2008

New Cancer Drugs

By Thulas Sukati

Probably one of the most unusual roles for Sean Connery was his portrayal of a doctor in a South American jungle, looking into a way to eradicate cancer. Although there are other more awful diseases, this one holds the crown at the moment because of how often it is diagnosed. Research over the years has helped our understanding of cancer but not to the point where we are able to foretell exactly when it will happen.

If someone were to ask you what cancer was, would you be able to give them a definition like the one in this article? They invade and destroy adjacent tissues and may even spread to other anatomical sites through a process called metastasis.

They affect many people without them even knowing they are there. As you get older the risk of cancer increases. While smoking, chemicals and radiation for instance, can be the cancer trigger, it is the poison from these or other sources that transform body cells and create genetic abnormalities which grow and multiply.

The cause can also be the responsibility of faulty DNA replication or a genetic trait inherited from parents which means a person can be born with them. Complex relationships between carcinogens and a person's genetic makeup may explain why only some develop it after exposure to a known carcinogen.

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. Much of the world's research into diseases is to try and find the reason why some people do not contract certain diseases while others do. We all want to know more about the causes of cancer what we can do to help prevent this illness from striking.

There is a saying 'You Are What You Eat' and this is now being looked at more closely as food may have a direct effect on the incidence of the disease in certain groups. Studies have shown that there is a connection between dairy produced calcium and prostrate cancer.

No-one is immune from cancer. It can affect anyone at some time in a person's life. Sometimes the disease is only picked up through routine screening. All this research is gradually leading towards more effective treatments for cancer and it is not always the terminal disease it used to be.

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