Cancer is the number two killer in the U.S. This year alone, over two million cases of cancer will be diagnosed, with over six million people dying from the disease. Almost half of all people can expect to get a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime (Yikes!). Cancer rates among younger people are on the rise (More yikes!).
What should upset everyone about these staggering statistics is that we’ve been fighting this battle for a long, long time. In 1972, President Richard Nixon declared “war on cancer.” Here we are, over 50 years later, and trillions of dollars later, with little hope that we will ever get a hold of this disease.
I recently heard an interview with Danny Hillis, an inventor, author, and scientist, in which he said something about cancer that caught my attention. He noted that we need to rethink how we view cancer, that it’s not something we cure, but something we stay ahead of. Most people do not realize that at any given time, there are cancer cells in their body. Cancer cells form within each of us every day.
Fortunately, we have an incredible immune system that detects and destroys these cells at a rate that prevents them from reaching life-threatening numbers. That is… until it doesn’t. Hillis says that we need to stop thinking of cancer as a noun, and start thinking of it like a verb. He used the word cancering, as cancer is something that is constantly going on within all of our bodies.
I like this idea because it puts more emphasis on doing the things that improve the body’s ability to stay ahead of cancer’s relentless effort to grow out of control. The current model is limited to waiting until there is enough cancer that it can be detected through diagnostic testing (such as bloodwork or scans), try to determine what stage it is in, and frantically (and often unsuccessfully) try to treat it. By the time cancer gets detected with our current limited diagnostics, there has to be so many cancer cells that is often too late.
The best cancer detection and elimination system is already in place, within our bodies, at work every second of every day. Our immune system has likely been fighting cancer since the beginning of time. Cancer isn’t new. Our ability to fight cancer, from the inside-out, isn’t new. It works really, really well, most of the time, in most people.
Our innate immune system seeks out and destroys any foreign entities with our bodies. Viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungus, or any other pathogens that end up within us, are sought out, contained, and destroyed. Cancer cells are on that list. This safety system is working relentlessly without us even knowing it is going on. We often do not even know a problem exists, as the immune system eliminates the threat before any detection is warranted, or any symptoms show up.
The current model of detecting cancer and treating it with harsh chemicals, radiation, or surgery has proven effective in some cases, but is clearly failing overall. There must be a shift in helping people boost their own body’s ability to fight cancer on its own. Staying ahead of cancer, preventing it from getting out of control, is our only hope to change the ever-increasing rates of cancer. I’m not saying that treatment is unnecessary, or not worthy of ongoing investigation, but we need to keep cancer from getting to a stage where treatment is even required.
What can you do now? We know that what we eat matters. We know that how much we move matters. We know that the amount and quality of our sleep matters. We know that the amount of stress we are under, and our response to it, matters. So… I’d say we start there. We don’t need any more proof or convincing, and we certainly do not need a bigger reason to improve our daily lifestyles.
With cancer rates continuing to rise, and expected to rise over the next several decades, change is drastically needed. You can wait until you have enough cancer that you have a diagnosis, then embark on the grueling, and often futile, medical treatment protocols, or you can understand that you already have cancer cells in your body, and work to bolster your immune system to stay ahead of it.
Thinking of cancer as a verb, and knowing that it is an ongoing battle for everyone, all the time, puts more emphasis on the need to live a healthier lifestyle. Not everything is in our control, and you can do everything right and still get sick, but there is NEVER an argument about eating, moving, thinking, and living well. You are cancering right now… but can reduce your odds of getting “cancer” by making healthier lifestyle choices.