Should `Cancer in the Family’ Keep You on High Alert?

Not always. Not as a rule. Approximately 50,000 studies have been conducted on cancer in the year 2005 and some of the `relevant to the topic’ researches found that 90 percent of cancer cases are not about cancer in the family but an outcome of triggers caused by environment – be it smoking, too much exposure to harsh sunrays, and viruses like hepatitis B. So even though it may look like cancer “runs in the family,” it may not really hold much ground.

Sometimes when cancer is being discussed at length it scares us. Because it seems like everything under the sun can give you cancer. The pollution in the air, the preservatives in food, asbestos in environment and contamination and chemicals in water- all these can seemingly be the cause of that dreadful disease we do not even want to think about.

The scene is quite scary because considering, all of us breathe, drink water and eat junk or ready-to-cook food, sooner or alter we should all get affected with it. But only some of us do. Have you wondered why only some of us get affected with cancer while others don’t? Researchers are working on this question so that they can make sense of why our own body cells sometimes turn against us and become the cause of cancer.

Research institutes estimate that approximately just 10 % of cancer is caused because of genes that get passed down from one family member to another. For example in colon cancer, inheritance factor may play primary role in about 3 to 5 percent of those who get affected by the disease. Prostate cancer – 10 percent is because of genes or inheritance. In Breast Cancer the inheritance percentage may go up to 5 to 10 percent.

If you have a family where cancer runs then the first step that you are expected to take is the timely visits to the doctor so that if at all you are affected with it, it can be diagnosed early and can be treated before it goes out of control.

What triggers cancer after all? Well age, geographical location, diet, viral infection and smoke are the main triggers. How to avoid it? Eat plenty of fruits and veggies, avoid smoking and polluted environment, don’t depend too much on supplements, practice safe sex and stay physically active. Don’t believe everything you read or hear about unless you have checked it with your doctor. It is read and said that supplements of beta-carotene can cut your risk of cancer but in reality they may actually make lung cancer more likely in smokers. Will breast saving therapy and treatment work better than mastectomy? Ask your doctor. Let him decide what will go better with your body.  Take a second opinion about everything. Because when we are talking about cancer – we are talking about life and death.