Article #4: Ten Commandments of Cancer Prevention

Dr. Michael B. Shinkin, formerly with the National Cancer Institute, has formulated the following ten commandments for cancer prevention. Our comments will follow but we do think that Dr. Shinkin's commandments bear repetition for health-conscious individuals:

1. Do not smoke tobacco or substitutes. (Cigarette smoking may be responsible for as much as 50% of the cancer in males, according to some experts, and a smaller, but significant percentage in women. Smoking marijuana may also cause cancer.)
   
2. Do not drink alcohol. (Alcohol in excess is believed to promote tumor formation.)
   
3. Eat sparingly a "prudent diet." (Too great a calorie intake and an excessive fat consumption have been associated with a higher incidence of some cancers.)
   
4. Avoid unnecessary X rays. (Shinkin emphasized the word "unnecessary.")
   
5. Avoid excessive sun exposure. (Sunbathing has been linked to an increased rate of skin cancer.)
   
6. Avoid inappropriate drug intake. (Some medications are suspected of being carcinogenic.)
   
7. In the work place, avoid or minimize contact with irritants.
   
8. At work, avoid or minimize swallowing foreign materials.
   
9. Avoid or minimize breathing foreign materials.
   
10. Use appropriate protective measures and devices while working.

These commandments appeared in conjunction with an article in the Los Angeles Times headlined "Cancer War Making Slow Progress." The fact that it is not going to make any progress is highlighted by this quotation which says, in effect, medical people are completely baffled by it: "But although 44% of the National Cancer Institute budget goes toward basic research, a basic understanding of the cause of cancer is decades away, according to some scientists."

This quotation sums up the results of the medical approach: "So far, after 50 years of cold war and 10 years of highly-publicized warfare, no major inroads have been made into the overall death rate from cancer." Both cancer deaths and the cancer death rate are now the highest in history and are getting even higher.

These ten commandments for cancer prevention should be labeled ten prominent causes of cancer, for most of the strictures deal with carcinogens. Cancer does not have to be prevented—it has to be caused and subjecting ourselves to carcinogens is definitely cancer causing. One commandment has to do with sunshine. This will not cause cancer except in the toxemic. And the toxemic condition must get the blame for the cancer, not the sunshine. Sunshine is a healthful influence, not a pathogenic factor.

Tobacco, coffee, salt, herbs, teas, hot foods—anything that continually poisons or interferes with our body processes (such as hot stuff down the esophagus)—can evolve into cancer.

Do not drink alcohol. This should also apply to anything and everything except pure water and only the most wholesome of liquid foods (juices). Vinegar is a first cousin to alcohol and is carcinogenic. So are teas, coffees, and hot drinks of all descriptions.

Eat sparingly. Yes, overeating will cause cancer but of the foods Dr. Shinkin refers to, even a sparing diet is cancer causing. Animal fats, hydrogenated and/or heated vegetable fats, fried foods and biologically-incorrect foods are all carcinogenic.

Avoid inappropriate drug intake. We must recognize that all drug intake is inappropriate because all drugs are carcinogenic.

The simplicity of cancer prevention is that it will not happen unless caused. We must either cause it ourselves or subject ourselves to causes. If we say let nothing into your body but those essential elements and influences for great health, we automatically exclude everything that is abnormal to the body. So we can be like little children in avoiding and resisting medicines, chemicals, foreign materials and so on. It's our well-being and we'd do well to heed our inner wisdom in taking care of ourselves.

Reprinted from Better Life Journal