Causes of Cancer

The genesis of cancer seems to be multi-causal, and cancer itself is sometimes defined as not just a specific localized condition, which a specific drug (or herb) will counteract but a manifestation of systemic disease (Dr. Jürgen Buche, Dr. Johanna Budwig and others). There may be multiple exceptions such as cancers developing after exposure to noxious radiation and carcinogens, cancers developing in an “energetically weak spot” (see Energetics) etc.

In the following listing, I also include some of the neglected areas and point to links both “on site” and “out site” for further study of possible, probable, “known” and suspected causes of cancer.

Special note: none of the purported cancer causes listed in the following are meant to create fear, guilt or other negative feelings in the reader. If you should have any such response, I would advise to study Healing Cancer Naturally’s “Mind over Matter” and related pages first, such as Healing Cancer & The Power of Your Mind, Creating and handling fear when dealing with cancer (On mind power & avoiding negative vs nurturing positive influences), Energetics, Emotions and Spirituality.

Known causes of cancer

• Radiation (incl. mammography)

• Carcinogens (cancer-inducing toxic chemicals)

• Aflatoxins

Suspected/probable causes of cancer

• Emotional “toxicity” I Emotional “toxicity” II

• “Energetic” factors (particularly lack of “life force energy”)

• Nutritional, particularly trace mineral deficiencies and imbalances

• Toxic chemicals & pesticides

• Oversupply of omega 6 fatty acids & hydrogenated fats/undersupply of

essential omega 3 acids leading to cellular asphyxiation

• Cellular oxygen deprivation

• Fluoridation

• Fungi producing mycotoxins: The Fungal/Mycotoxin Etiology of Human

Disease (particularly CANCER)

• Chlorine: “Cancer fighting nutrients become deadly when combined

with chlorinated tap water”

• Parasites and/or pollutants (Dr. Hulda Clark)

• Heavy metals, examples in On the link between lead and lymphoma/

leukemia/anemia and re dental toxins such as amalgam, nickel,

root fillings) On the link between toxic dentistry (root canals,

amalgam, nickel etc.) and cancer

• Lymphatic restriction (breast, prostate)

• Cancer Bacteria (breast cancer)

• Geopathic stress

• Power Lines

• Cell phones (brain tumors esp. in children , & genetic damage)

• Cell-Phone Transmitter Stations (mobile phone towers) & possibly

cordless home DECT stations (for more info, please do a search for

Cell-Phone Transmitter Stations, Cancer, Cancer Clusters, CFIDS etc.)

• Fluorescent lighting (skin cancer)

• Aspartame

• Mental factors

• Spiritual factors (incl. “karma”)

• Edgar Cayce's perspective of cancer

• Summary quotes on cancer causes

On cause(s) of disease

Radiation

My recent study (Radiation from Medical Procedures, 699 pages) provides the first powerful evidence that the U.S. population's accumulated exposure to medical x-rays is a necessary co-actor in causing over half the deaths from cancer, and over half the deaths also from ischemic (coronary) heart disease. Since the study's publication in November 1999, no one has shown that it overestimates the impact of x-rays in causing cancer and coronary heart disease. Some people say "it must be an overestimate," but they have never shown how. Some of the critics have never even looked at the study.

John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph.D.

“The X-rays and Health Project. An educational project of the Committee for Nuclear Responsibility. www.x-raysandhealth.org”

According to Dr. Gofman “X-rays are a proven cause of human cancer. It is doubtful that you can find any cancer biologists who would deny that statement. Much of the proof comes from the study of people who accumulated their x-ray exposure from multiple exposures, with each exposure received at extremely low doses. Every year, over 200 million diagnostic medical x-ray exams, 100 million dental x-ray exams, and 7 million diagnostic radionuclide exams are administered in the USA (population: 270 million people)...In the "War on Cancer," there is a big hole. Why are x-rays --- an undisputed cause of cancer --- rarely mentioned? Why is there no agency or organization dedicated to reducing exposure to x-rays, to the lowest levels at which it is technically possible to acquire good images? It is demonstrably feasible to reduce x-ray dose per x-ray procedure, probably to half on the average, without any loss of image-quality and without the purchase of major new equipment.”

Example Mammography (leads to an increased breast cancer risk), e.g. “Young women with Hodgkin's disease treated with high levels of radiation to the chest are much more likely to develop secondary breast cancer than women on less aggressive radiation regimes, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study found that the breast cancer risk was eight times higher among women exposed to the highest levels of radiation than women who were given the smallest doses, where those women were treated before age 30.”

Two quotes from “Preventing Breast Cancer: The Story of a Major, Proven, Preventable Cause of This Disease” (1995) by John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph.D., Committee for Nuclear Responsibility, P.O. Box 421993, San Francisco, CA 94142:

"Our current estimate is that about 75% of the current annual incidence of breast cancer in the U.S. is being caused by earlier ionizing radiation, primarily from medical sources."

"Mammography - radiation induced breast cancer."

Cancer, toxic chemicals & pesticides

R. Derache writes in his book Toxicology and Safety of Foods, (published by Tec/Doc/Apria in 1986):

”According to Hayes (1975) and Recht (1980), a full four million different chemical substances have been extracted or synthesized, among which 60,000 are currently in use, including 4,000 as drugs, 2,500 as dietary additives, and 1,500 as pesticides, the remainder being used as industrial and farming chemical compounds as well as in consumer goods.

Instances of short-term poisoning of plants, ground life, ”domestic” insects, game, and water life are manifold and have been given comprehensive coverage.

Long-term effects are more surreptitious and give greater cause for concern, as we are about to show.

It is believed that some three million tons of DDT and eight million tons of polychlorinated biphenyls have been dumped in the environment.

Enduring effects are rated as following: the half-life of DDT in water lasts ten years and that of dieldrine twenty years. In the soil, half-life timespan is greatly extended (forty years for DDT). Metabolically, DDT (0.2 ppm) and PCBs (10 ppm) have been sampled in the fat of antarctic wildlife.

As to the build-up of those chemicals, whether in specific individuals or all the way down the food chain, it has been asserted that earthworms can concentrate soil DDT fourteen-fold while oysters will concentrate 10 to 70,000 times sea water DDT. In man, who comes last in the food chain, concentration is in no way marginal: 2 ppm of DDT in the fat cells of an average European, and 13.5 ppm in the average American.

In addition to ecotoxic hazards, there is a risk of imbalance, with biological units being destabilized and new chemical-resistant pest breeding, which makes diseases, (viroses, bacterioses, etc...), the more insidious, which merely compounds existing headaches.

Once body-unfriendly chemicals have entered the body, they are most commonly breathed out or voided in feces, or the waters. Alternatively, and quite typically, they are first metabolized in the liver, although breakdown usually yields substances of lesser toxicity. Intermediary metabolites may occur that prove more reactive and more toxic than the initial chemical (cf Parathion, Paraoxon). These may be stored for varying periods of time before being released back into particular organs or body fat, for instance, which preferentially concentrates organic chloride pesticides.

A number of insecticides, be they organic chlorides or phosphates or carbamates, in addition to their primary toxic effects, further affect cell metabolic processes by their impact on crucial enzymes like oxyesterases, dehydrogenases, carboxylases, and so on.

Many pesticides induce multiple-function microsomic monooxygenases (M.F.O.) and, consequently, those molecules warrant close attention. In 1965, FALK showed that liver cells constantly called upon to release enzymes for the breakdown of pesticides turned irretrievably hyperplasic. It was further hypothesized that such hyperplasia laid the groundwork for nodules, which adverts to the primary stage of liver cancer.”

Karen Vago writes in Protégez votre corps on the subject of toxicity of pesticides:

excerpted and translated by © 2004 www.healingcancernaturally.com

Copyright Notice

Epidemiological research re the toxicity of pesticides is difficult. Various observations however point to a connection between certain types of cancer and the frequent contact with pesticides, for instance among farm workers. Workers commissioned with the spraying of HCH and Aldrin in Mexico and other Central American countries as well as in the former German Democratic Republic displayed a clear increase in the incidence of gastro-intestinal cancer. Additionally, with various occupations, a connection could be established between contact with such substances and the occurrence of diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, prostate cancer, melanoma, stomach cancer and multiple myelomas.

She cites these relevant observations: Between 1929 (when pesticides and other noxious organic agents were introduced) and 1979, sperm counts have decreased from 90 million spermatozoa to 60 million, with the fertility rate showing a similar reduction. All tested sperm samples were found to contain pesticide residues.

Observations of persons who had accidentally come into contact with organophosphoric compounds as well as animal experiments* showed concurrent changes in behaviour and electroencephalograms (EEG: a graphical record of electrical brain activity produced by an electroencephalograph).

An anecdotal case story illustrating the possibly major importance of avoiding nonorganic fruits and vegetables

I recently (July 2006) heard of someone who developed colon cancer after living in Thailand for a number of years, where a major part of his diet consisted of pesticide- and otherwise toxin-laden tropical fruit (and vegetables). This slim and previously radiantly healthy man had been a vegetarian for 34 years starting at age 20 and prior to his Thailand experience had mostly been living on organic food.

A report on the quality of fruits and veggies in Thailand found at hawaiianorganicgrowingguide.com/Thailand/foodmostfrightening.pd f summarizes and confirms the dangers inherent in eating nonorganic produce in these terms: “In short, the more one eats fruits and vegetables (grown in that country), the greater one’s risk of cancer.”

Dr. Johanna Budwig on pesticides in combination with a lack of esssential fats:

Interestingly. Dr. Budwig whose oil-protein health protocol appears to offer a good anti-cancer diet, observes the following: "In addition to the lack of vital (esssential) bio-logical fats and the ingestion of extremely dangerous fats, the following items are unbio-logical and to be rejected: all insecticides, many medications, the polluted air brought on by industrial activities... and most preservatives used in our food today. In fact, one could draw up an entire list of additional factors which negatively affect the organism, with their detrimental effects being more pronounced when there is a lack of 'essential fats'."

*Incidentally, in my eyes one of the great sins both against humanity and animals: Animal experiments are as useless and dangerous for humans as they are cruel to animals (e.g. thalidomide was tested safe on rats while penicillin would have never been allowed for human consumption had it initially been tested on guinea pigs or hamsters, since it kills those species). For a good summary re “Does animal testing help human medicine?” see for instance www.saav.org.za/FAQs.htm, and for thalidomide www.health.org.nz. Dr Irwin D Bross PhD writes, “There is no good factual evidence to show that the use of animals in cancer research has led to the prevention or cure of a single human cancer.” Full quote of Dr Bross and others under On Cancer Research

There are better alternatives that do not involve cruelty to animals and give much more reliable results for humans (such as tests performed on human cell cultures). These humane and solely reliable test methods just need to be implemented, and if a sufficiently large part of the public calls for them, they will be applied - to everyone’s benefit! Please consider joining this call!

Eat and/or grow your own organic foods to avoid pesticides and ingest a balanced minerals and trace elements spectrum. Tips on how to eat at least partially organic on a budget.

Carcinogens

are toxic chemicals officially recognised as cancer-causing

Example 1: Aspartame

Example 2: Dioxin

Dr. Edward Fujimoto, manager of the Wellness Program at Castle Hospital, explained on a TV program how to avoid the serious health hazards involved with dioxins (carcinogens which are highly toxic to the cells of our bodies):

Don't freeze your plastic water bottles with water as this releases dioxins in the plastic.

Don't heat fat-containing food in the microwave using plastic containers. The combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxins into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Use glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for heating food instead to get the same results without the dioxins.

This means that items such as TV dinners, weight watchers dinners, lean cuisine dinners, instant ramen cup of noodles, soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. While paper isn't bad one doesn't know what is in the paper so the use of tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc., is safer.

Saran wrap placed over foods as they are nuked, with the high heat, actually drips poisonous toxins into the food, so use paper towels instead.

Dr. Fujimoto added we might remember when some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem was one of the reasons.

Aflatoxins

Definition of aflatoxins

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 25% of the world's food crops are affected by mycotoxins, the most notorious of which are aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by certain fungi in/on foods and feeds, primarily by some strains of Aspergillus Flavus and by most, if not all, strains of A. parasiticus, plus related species, A. nomius and A. niger. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) placed aflatoxin "B1" (one of several identified aflatoxins) on the list of human carcinogens in 1988.

Occurrence

Aflatoxins are detected occasionally in milk, cheese, corn, peanuts, cottonseed, nuts, almonds, figs, spices, and a variety of other foods and feeds. Milk, eggs, and meat products are sometimes contaminated because of the animal’s consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated feed (for instance corn and cottonseed meal in dairy rations have resulted in aflatoxin “M1” contaminated milk and milk products, including non-fat dry milk, cheese, and yogurt). However, the commodities with the highest risk of and susceptibility to aflatoxin contamination are corn, oleaginous tropical fruits (peanuts), and cottonseed. Thankfully, procedures used in the processing of corn help to reduce contamination of the resulting food product. This is because although aflatoxins are stable to moderately stable in most food processes (i.e. survive them unharmed), they are unstable in processes such as those used in making tortillas.

Associated Diseases

Aflatoxins show acute toxicological effects in humans and have been associated with various illnesses, such as aflatoxicosis in livestock, domestic animals and humans throughout the world. Evidence of acute aflatoxicosis in humans has been reported from many parts of the globe, namely the Third World Countries, like Taiwan, Ouganda, India, and many others. The syndrome is characterized by vomiting, abdominal pain, pulmonary edema, convulsions, coma, and death with cerebral edema and fatty involvement of the liver, kidneys , and heart.

A number of epidemiological studies done in Asia and Africa have demonstrated a positive association between dietary aflatoxins and Liver Cell Cancer (there was a higher-than-average incidence of liver cancer with aflatoxins present in the tumour among the population of Uganda, Kenia, Mocambique and Thailand). The expression of aflatoxin-related diseases in humans may be influenced by additional factors such as nutritional status, and/or concurrent exposure to other causative agents such as viral hepatitis (HBV) or parasite infestation, etc.

Factors favorizing aflatoxin production

Aflatoxins are found on many foods stored under certain conditions of humidity or heat, with insect damage of the host plant an additional major determining factor in mold infestation and toxin production. Similarly, high crop densities and other factors have been associated with increased mold growth and toxin production.

Help & detoxification strategies

Human exposure to aflatoxins with their ability to cause cancer and related diseases in humans is difficult to avoid because fungal growth in foods and feeds is not easy to prevent. There is particular concern for the possible adverse effects resulting from long-term exposure to low levels of these important mycotoxins. Because aflatoxin contamination is unavoidable, numerous strategies for their detoxification have been proposed (e.g. thermal inactivation, irradiation, fermentation, chemical methods of detoxification and many others). Irradiation however doesn't kill the fungus, it remains active in the food, in fact it is believed that irradiation stimulates aflatoxin production. The Journal of Food Protection reported on tests where the aflatoxin content in irradiated rice was measured to be fifty times higher than in unirradiated rice.

When in doubt, it may be a wise choice to simply avoid peanuts and corn (except in the form of tortillas).

Lymphatic restriction (tight clothing)

By impeding proper circulation of blood and lymph, tight clothing can contribute to the formation of cancer or other diseases. According to Singer & Grismaijer's book Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras, women who wear a bra 24 hours per day have a 75.00 % chance of developing breast cancer (3 out of 4). If they wear it more than 12 hours (but not during sleep), this chance is 14.28% (1 out of 7). With less than 12 hours per day, the breast cancer risk is dramatically decreased to 00.66% (1 out of 152) and women who never or rarely wear one, run the lowest risk at 00.60% (1 out of 168). Compare Can Wearing a Bra Kill You?

One (perhaps the only) way to keep attractive and healthy breasts without a bra is proper nutrition & internal detoxification:

"I’ve seen white women whose breasts had stretched down as far as their belly button, spring back to normal size in a few months. In other cases, I observed breasts swollen with fat, shrink to normal size, without stretch marks. A raw, instinctive diet ensures that a woman eats the right amount of protein and stimulates the clearance of encroaching fat. Muscles regenerate and restore normal body shape as expeditiously as possible." More on instinctive eating

Dr. F.X. Mayr’s research into the link between nutrition, dietary habits, intestinal health and overall health & beauty arrives at similar conclusions.

Aspartame

(marketed as 'NutraSweet', 'Equal', 'Spoonful’, ’Equal Measure’, ‘Canderal’ (E951), ‘Benevia’, etc.)

“There are more adverse reactions to Nutrasweet reported to the FDA than all other foods and additives combined. In certain individuals, it can have devastating consequences.”

"According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of spartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame: Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes." “Ubiquitous” Aspartame is found in foods such as instant breakfasts, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, cocoa mixes, coffee beverages, frozen and gelatin desserts, juice beverages, laxatives, multivitamins, milk drinks, pharmaceuticals and supplements, shake mixes, soft drinks, tabletop sweeteners, tea beverages, instant teas and coffees, topping mixes, wine coolers, yogurt (sometimes not listed on the label). More on aspartame dangers in rtf (194 KB) or zip (72 KB) format. Also see www.aspartameispoison.com and www.dorway.com.

On cause(s) of disease

by Ulla, creator of Healing Cancer Naturally, © 2004

I believe humanity and the medical sciences will come to understand the true causes and causal relationships in human health and disease when we have arrived at a wider and deeper understanding of our own make-up, which would include our energetic, emotional, mental and spiritual natures. For an introduction into a more expansive and truer understanding of human nature, see Energetics and Spirituality.

As matters stand, the true functioning of the human body in both health and illness may be among those areas of science where we are still complete beginners on this planet, with much half-baked “truth” propagated... As Sir David Weatherall, Regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and head of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, honestly and succinctly put it in a conversation with a Stanford University professor who healed himself of one of the most lethal cancers known: "What you must understand, Mr. Gearin-Tosh, is that we know so little about how the body works."

To further corroborate this state of affairs: the authoritative and encyclopedic classic German Medical Dictionary “Pschyrembel” (updated yearly) which gives a complete listing and description of all diseases known to man and is The reference work for all German-language workers in the medical field, apparently states for 80% of all listed illnesses: “Cause unknown”!