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Drugs and Environmental Chemicals
The present era is full of chemical pollution all around. The air, water and foods, all contain thousands of man-made toxic chemicals. Most of them are potential carcinogens. According to Dr. Alfred Taylor of the biology institute of the University of Texas, even sodium fluoride in fluoridated water is linked to cancer growth. Several commonly used drugs are considered by many researches to be possible carcinogens.
Many widely-used pesticides are also definite carcinogens. Animal Studies commissioned by HEW and conducted by Bionetics Research Laboratories of Bethesda, Maryland, showed that more than half of all mice given oral doses of DDT developed tumours. In spite of mounting evidence that DDT is a proven carcinogen, it is widely used on food crops all over the world.

Industrial Pollutants
Occupational exposure to industrial pollutants such as asbestos, nickel, tar and soot can lead to skin and lung cancers and leukemia. Aromatic amines used in the manufacture of synthetic dyes cause cancer of urinary bladder. Radium and other radioactive elements produce cancer of the bone.
Workers in some branches of the dye industry develop cancer of the bladder. The compounds found to be responsible are 2-naphthylamine and benzidine. Arsenites and arsenious oxide may produce cancer of the skin, if applied over a period of time.
Many persons working with X-rays develop cancers of the skin and those exposed to radiation develop leukemia. Ultraviolet radiation may, in certain circumstances, cause cancer of the skin.
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This century has seen remarkable growth in the scale and power of the studies carried out by epidemiologists, and in the sophistication and skill with which those studies have been conducted. The growth of the science has been driven by the increased incidence of cancer and the pressure from governments and citizens to have answers, and has been greatly enhanced by the increasing availability of computers and the application of information technology to collecting the facts about cancer in the population.
Epidemiology proceeds on a broad front, integrating knowledge from cancer registries (collections of statistics on officially reported cancer occurrence and mortality), clinical studies and specific studies designed to answer a single question about a possible link between a cancer and a possible causative factor. Answers can often only be deduced by adding together all of these approaches. However, it is easier to describe how epidemiologists work by splitting their activities rather artificially into two kinds: descriptive work and analytical work.
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It is always possible that race is a factor in determining a woman’s susceptibility to breast cancer, although it seems that dietary and environmental issues are more likely to be the explanation where there are racial divides in the statistics. For instance, there is a higher incidence of breast cancer in African-American women compared to European-American women.
The African-American women, generally speaking, fall into a lower-income group, with eating, smoking, and exercise habits which are more likely to be risk factors for breast cancer. If you then look at African women who are on a well-nourished diet, the incidence of breast cancer is relatively low. Japanese women have a low incidence, and Eskimo women a barely existent incidence of breast cancer, until they move to the West and adopt a Western diet, when their levels equalize with those of women in their host country. Even in Japan, where adopting Western dietary habits has been on the increase amongst the well-to-do since the 1950s, there is an eight-fold higher incidence of breast cancer among affluent women when compared to poorer women who rarely eat the meat and dairy products that wealthier women have adopted. Indeed, the window of opportunity to study the dietary differences between industrialized Japanese and Western populations may well be closing fast, and we will probably need to turn to rural Eastern cultures for the information that is needed.
Nevertheless, there is one common genetic difference which is relevant and that is the N AT2 gene mutation we discussed previously, which has different incidence rates among various racial groups.
Invisible foes-Breast tissue is sensitive to radiation damage, and the experience following the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki have highlighted this – a high proportion of female survivors later developed breast cancer. Questions are now being raised regarding EMFs (Electro-Magnetic Fields) created by computers, faxes, pylons and mobile phones and their impact on breast cancer. There is enough concern for the World Health Organization to have set up a five-year study examining all the health issues relating to EMFs.
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Cancer growths are made up of cells which belong to our body but which have stopped behaving in a cooperative and orderly fashion. The following four features apply (with a few minor exceptions) to all malignant growths or cancers:

1.The cells cannot differentiate normally.

2. The growth of the cells is, to a large extent, outside of the body’s control.

3. The cells can spread to other parts of the body (metastasize).

4. The cells can invade and damage nearby normal body cells.

There is a great deal of variation in the differentiation of cancers. Even with one cancer growth, some areas are more differentiated than others. This is one of the reasons why the pathologist might ask for another specimen if he or she has trouble making a definite diagnosis. The pathologist would be hoping to get a more differentiated specimen which contained more clues to the origin of the cells.

As a general rule, the more differentiated a cancer is, that is, the more closely its cells resemble those from which they originated, Wgt. more favourable the outlook. More differentiated cancers tend to grow more slowly, spread later and damage adjacent cells less than the undifferentiated cancers.

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Along with the cancer-producing dietary habits we have adopted, we have developed methods of food processing, preserving and packaging that call for the addition of thousands of chemicals to our foods. When these chemicals were first created they were considered a great advance in nutritional technology, making it possible for people to enjoy foods and delicacies from different countries from all over the world. As with other contributions to industry and technology, what at first appeared to be a breakthrough welcomed by many, has resulted in worries about safety and health issues. Many additives have been banned, yet there are thousands of food contaminants still being used as the profits attained are worth more than the consumer’s health. Many of these food additives and preservatives have been linked to serious health conditions and even cancer formation. And we are still asking ourselves why cancer has become so rampant in our society.

Artificial Colourings

Most artificial colourings are synthetic chemicals that do not occur in nature. Colourings are not listed by names on labels. Because colourings are used almost solely in foods of low nutritional value (lollies, soft drinks, gelatine desserts etc.) you should simply avoid all artificially coloured foods. The use of colouring usually indicates that fruit or other natural ingredients have not been used, unless otherwise stated. A small number of dangerous food colourings are listed below, along with code names and other names that may be listed as on the packaging.

Blue No. I (Code No. 133, Brilliant Blue FCF)

Found in beverages such as soft drinks, dairy products, gelatine, desserts, cereal, lollies and baked goods. Suggestions of a small cancer risk, allergic reactions in sensitive people, asthma, hyperactivity.

Blue No. 2 (Code No. 132, Indigotine, Indigo carmine)

Found in pet food, biscuits, ice creams, baked goods, beverages and lollies. Reasonable certainty of no harm, however there is some small indication of possible brain tumour formation cancer, asthma, hyperactivity, allergic reactions.

Carbon Blacks (Code No. 153)

Currently banned in America. A black food colouring found in jam, jelly crystals and confectionary. It may be a possible cause of cancer.

Citrus Red No. 2 (Code No. 123, FD & Ñ Red No. 2)

Injected into some oranges, packet cake mix, jelly crystals, soft drinks, cereals, blackcurrant products. Studies indicate that this additive may cause cancer, asthma, hyperactivity, rashes, and malignant tumours.

Red No. 2 G (Code No. 128)

Found in meat products. This additive may cause cancer, asthma, gene damage, skin reactions.

Red No. 3 (Code No. 127, Erythrosine, FD & Ñ Red No. 3)

Artificial colouring used in canned red cherries, snack foods, scotch eggs, packet trifle mix, sweets and baked goods. A possible link to breast and other cancers, hyperthyroidism, gene damage, thyroid tumours and benign tumours.

Red No. 40 (Code No. 129, Allura Red, FD & Ñ Red No. 40)

The most widely used food dye. The Unites States FDA has admitted to ‘problems’, but said evidence of harm was not ‘consistent’ or ‘substantial’. It has caused tumours and cancer in mice, hyperactivity and hay fever. Used mostly in junk foods such as soft drinks, lollies, packet cake mix, jelly crystals, chocolate biscuits, sweets, gelatine desserts, sausage and pet foods.

Yellow No. 2G (Code No. 107)

Artificial colouring used in soft drinks. A widely used colouring which causes allergic reactions, primarily in aspirin-sensitive people. May also cause cancer, hyperactivity and asthma. This is labelled on food items.

Yellow No. 5 (Cod No. 102,Tartrazine, FD & Ñ Yellow No. 5)

Used in confectionary, sweet corn, soft drinks, canned peas, cheese crackers, fruit juice cordial, jam, pickles, cereal, lollies, snack foods. It may cause hyperactivity, thyroid tumours, migraines, asthma, insomnia, confusion, blurred vision, cancer.

Yellow No. 6 (Code No. I 10, Sunset Yellow FCF, FD & Ñ Yellow No. 6)

This dye may cause tumours in the adrenals and kidneys. It may also cause allergic reactions and is possibly cancer-causing. It is also linked to allergic reactions, asthma, hyperactivity, hay fever and abdominal pains. Found in beverages, fruit juice, cordials, hot chocolate mix, cereals, ice cream, packet soup, snack foods, sausages, baked goods, lollies and gelatine.

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