A bit of insight into cancer

Given the recent threads on cancer and alternative "cures", I thought this old bit of art would be helpful in giving some members a bit of insight into the mindset of cancer research.

Granted, there are plenty of members whose minds have been made up and nothing will sway them. I'm not trying to change the minds of these people (as it would be like banging my head on a brick wall). Instead, I'm aiming at the general population who is genuinely seeking more information, rather than just self-gratifying justification of pre-determined answers.

Cancer Research - PhD Comics

I have always thought cancer was natures way of remove the invasive species that is us from the picture. After all humans have a many defense mechanisms in our body's, why would nature not have them as well.

I know when I say this that it personifies what most humans believe to be an innate part of our existence, but i don't believe nature is as passive as most humans think.

I believe although I have no proof that nature is cleansing it self of a parasite, or at least keeping it at a manageable level. I have had several family members die early to cancer and also one close friend, so please do not think of me as unfeeling, but as a realist with a focus on the natural order of the universe.

reply to post by mileysubet


Your theory is essentially invalidated when you take into account that most cancers occur in people over 50 years of age. Why would nature wait until someone has consumed a lifetime's worth of resources before trying to "remove" them?

Luckily, there are much more logical reasons behind cancers developing in individuals.

Originally posted by VneZonyDostupa
reply to post by mileysubet

 

Your theory is essentially invalidated when you take into account that most cancers occur in people over 50 years of age. Why would nature wait until someone has consumed a lifetime's worth of resources before trying to "remove" them?

Luckily, there are much more logical reasons behind cancers developing in individuals.

Actually, his theory makes sense; it may be nature's way of telling us that we have lived our allotted time on this Earth and, now it is time to go and pass the world on to the next generation.

One of the main reasons for the growth of the population on the planet in the past century is that we are now living much longer. Maybe nature is trying to keep our numbers in check but, we keep fighting back against the natural order through technology.

BTW, here's your pic:





Really informative, thanks for posting it.


The cartoons on that site are pretty funny, its worth checking out.

The thing about cancer is that wild dogs rarely get cancer yet domestic dogs do. Also in countries that rely more on processed foods the cancer rate is much higher than those that rely on fresh foods like Russia, cancer is almost unheard of in the east of Russia. What I believe cancer to be is something brought on by the exploitation of our own bodies. We put chemicals into it every day with food that has been processed. Of course we will get cancer because our bodies are only built by what we put in them.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Thanks for posting the pic in the thread! I'm not as technologically adept as I should be, and couldn't find a way to get it to show up, haha. So, thanks very much =)

And as for the "allotted time" idea, I don't think that this holds much water, either. We're able to reproduce cancerous mechanisms in the laboratory, and they are almost exclusively due to environmental factors interacting with genetic quirks, rather than something linked to age specifically. The main reason you see spikes in cancer rates as people age is that the ability to make new T-cells rapidly declines after your thymus begins to harden (around age 40). This has always occurred, regardless of the population size, which is why cancer has existed as long as humans have. It has less to do with keeping humans and their lifespans in check, and more to do with an organ that responds poorly to environmental stressors.

Originally posted by michael1983l
The thing about cancer is that wild dogs rarely get cancer yet domestic dogs do.

That's because wild dogs don't live very long. They have found cancer in a lot of animals -- including dinosaurs.

Also in countries that rely more on processed foods the cancer rate is much higher than those that rely on fresh foods like Russia, cancer is almost unheard of in the east of Russia.

Sorry -- they've actually got very high rates of cancer ( see here )