Simple Theories…

We may find the answer is very simple…

Cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis… There are so many ailments and diseases we face as a society and they are becoming more and more widespread. Many of these issues have only been prevalent in our society for less than a hundred years, while human beings have been on this planet for thousands of years.

The question we should be asking ourselves is not how do we cure these ailments but rather what are we doing wrong that is causing them?

Here are some theories that I’ve recently been thinking about on what might be causing many of our current ailments. Again, these are just ideas; just my thoughts. Take these ideas with a grain of salt. My ideas may be completely wrong and currently there may be nothing to support these thoughts but at the very least I would like to get people to think outside the box. Think about how we might be living our lives the wrong way which is leading to a lower quality of life and premature death.  The fact that cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and so many other diseases are continuing to rise while our life expectancy in this country is no longer going up (this is the first generation of people believed to not outlive their parents) tells us we need major changes in our lifestyles.

Skin Cancer Theory– The common recommendation by doctors is to stay out of the sun. So I’m thinking, should we start living in caves? Should we do what Mr. Burns did in a Simpsons episode and block out the sun? Hundreds to thousands of years ago, when we had to spend most of our day outdoors hunting and gathering, were we dying of skin cancer? Why do we find ourselves to look more appealing when we have a tan? We manufacture our own vitamin D with adequate exposure to sunlight so why is staying out of the sun appropriate advice?

I’m thinking skin cancer has become prevalent because we are not spending ENOUGH time in the sun. Our bodies are so conditioned to be out of the sun that when we spend just 30 minutes in the sun we easily burn.  So of course we can develop cancer if we continue to damage the largest organ of the body. And sure we can blame our depleted ozone for not protecting us but remember our body is an adaptable organism. If we never spend any time in the sun, our body will not be conditioned to handle the sun’s radiation.

Let’s not forget about the sunscreen we use to “protect” us from sun burn.

You ever read the ingredient list?

Water , Octyl Palmitate , Glyceryl Stearate SE , Glyceryl Dilaurate , Benzyl Alcohol , Propylparaben , Carbomer , Fragrance , Sodium Hydroxide , Methylparaben, Cinnamates, OMC (Octyl Methoxycinnamate), Ethylhexyl p-Methoxycinnamate, Salicylates, OCS (Octyl Salicytate), Homomenthyl Salicylate, Triethanolamine, PABA (Para Aminobenzoic Acid), Padimate O, Padimate A, Glyceryl Aminobenzoate, Octyl Dimethyl Paba, Octocrylene, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Oxide, Benzoophenones, Oxybenzone, Dioxybenzone, Avobenzone.

What the heck is this stuff? Sure it may block UV rays from penetrating the skin but are any of these chemicals carcinogenic themselves?

Your skin is an absorbable organ (think drugs, nicotine patches etc.).  Would you want to eat any of these ingredients? Why would we apply it to our skin?

The Natural Academy of Science posted a comprehensive review on how balancing your omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in your diet plays a huge role in preventing skin cancer so no doubt our everyday diet plays a huge role in skin cancer, not just the sun.

http://www.pnas.org/content/98/13/7510.full

Breast/Cervical/Uterine/Ovarian Cancer Theory – While we may not know what causes breast, cervical or uterine cancer, here’s a thought: Birth Control Pills.

Disrupting your endocrine (hormonal) system can lead to many changes of the body (steroids for example). The endocrine system is an integrated system that functions as a chain. If one link of the chain is disrupted, then the whole system is affected.

So my thoughts are what happens when you introduce progesterone, estrogen or any combination of sex hormones to the body synthetically for many years? How does this disrupt the endocrine system? Could this put unwanted stress on the sex orgrans (breasts, ovaries,uterus, cervix) which may lead to cancer in the long run?

For one we know that estrogen and progesterone (common hormones used in birth control) play a role in the development of the ductal and alveolar structures of the breast. (Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function, eighth edition Sander et. al 2001 pg 674). Could a hormonal imbalance (too much or too little) cause a change in these cells where maybe they grow out of control (i.e. cancer cells)? How do these hormones affect the other sex glands, especially when an imbalance is present?

It seems too often we perform isolated studies on the body when the body is an integrated system. We may find the answers we’re looking for when we start thinking simpler.

Prostate Cancer Theory – my guess here is prostate cancer may be due to an inefficient amount of sex.  The old saying, “if you don’t use it, you lose it” may be true here. As we become older and typically unhealthier our sex drive decreases. I’m guessing  sex drive in our society as a whole is on the decline. Being overweight and not eating healthy I’m sure plays a big part in this.

The prostate glands major function is to secrete the bulk of the fluid in which ejaculated sperm are suspended (Human Phys page 640). So I’m wondering if a person stops ejaculating on a regular basis (at least a couple times a week), could this cause an enlarged prostate over many years? Could this trigger prostate cancer?

Again, these are just questions and theories I have. By no means am I a cancer expert but I have to think the answers we are looking for when it comes to solving these issues lies within our everyday lifestyle habits. Whether it’s the inactivity, poor diet, stress… I think we’ll find that these are the major issues causing our problems. That way we can stop spending so much time, money and effort on trying to find a complex cure and work on something much simpler… but sadly there is much money to be made on the gullibility of our society. And if we can convince people they can still be lazy and just take a pill to be healthy, we’ll continue this free fall of sickness and disease…maybe we need to start over…