Why is cancer increasing? Is chemotherapy really the right thing to do? How to prevent it? What should you pay attention to after the age of 50?

At the beginning of 2021, the World Health Organization's International Cancer Research Institute (IARC) released global cancer data for 2020. The data showed that in 2020, there were 19.29 million new cases of cancer and 9.96 million deaths worldwide; in 2020, there were 4.57 million new cases of cancer in China, accounting for 23.7% of the world's total, and 3 million deaths. my country ranks first in the world in both the number of new cancer cases and the number of deaths.

In recent years, the number of cancer diagnoses and deaths has increased year by year. Why is this? What should we pay attention to in preventing cancer? What should people over 50 pay more attention to? Let's discuss it together.

The causes of cancer are not fully understood at present and can be divided into two categories: exogenous and endogenous.

1. Endogenous factors

Endogenous factors include genetic factors, immune factors and endocrine factors.

Genetic factors

We often discuss that tumors have a certain degree of heredity. In fact, there are only a few rare tumors that are truly hereditary. In the occurrence and development of most tumors, genetic factors only increase the body's susceptibility to carcinogenic factors, but are not the determining factor.

Immune factors

Everyone carries oncogenes in their bodies. Many cells in everyone's body die and become cancerous every day, but thanks to our immune cells being able to remove cancerous cells in a timely manner, cancer does not occur. But when our immune function is reduced, the immune cells' ability to remove cancerous cells is reduced, and cancer will occur. For example, HIV, their immune system function is lost, and they are very likely to develop cancer.

Endocrine factors

The occurrence and development of some cancers are related to hormone levels in the body, such as ovarian cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer. Increased hormone levels can promote the occurrence and development of these tumors.

2. Exogenous factors

Exogenous factors include many aspects, such as biological factors, physical factors, chemical factors, psychological factors, personal behavior and lifestyle, etc.

Biological factors

Certain viruses, parasites, etc. can cause cancer in humans. For example, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) make humans susceptible to liver cancer, Helicobacter pylori (HP) causes gastric cancer, Clonorchis sinensis causes bile duct cancer, and human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer.

Physical factors

Physical factors are mainly radiation, such as ultraviolet rays, which can easily cause skin cancer.

Chemical factors

There are many chemical factors, such as our diet and air pollution. Humans have evolved on this earth for millions of years, and it took only tens of thousands of years from primitive man to Homo sapiens, but the environment on earth is no longer the same as it was before. From the beginning of the industrial revolution to the present, various chemical synthetic substances have entered human life, and the human body has no time to evolve to adapt to these substances. Chemical additives, various aromatics, etc., may have carcinogenic effects on the human body.

Psychological factors

The function of a person's immune system is closely related to his or her mental state. People with an optimistic attitude will have better immune function. Some patients diagnosed with cancer are very optimistic and their prognosis is much better. However, some people with depressed mentality have low immune function and are more likely to develop tumors, and their prognosis is worse after developing a tumor.

Personal behavior lifestyle

Not only tumors, but also high blood pressure, high blood vessels, high blood lipids, high uric acid, etc. are closely related to behavioral lifestyles, such as sitting for long periods of time, being fond of smoking and drinking, etc.

Neither exogenous nor endogenous factors alone promote the occurrence and development of tumors, but are the result of the interaction of multiple factors. For example, some people smoke and drink, but still live a long life, which may be related to their low genetic susceptibility.

Cancer treatment At present, there are conventional treatments for cancer, such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc., as well as new treatments such as proton therapy and targeted therapy. These treatments are all aimed at killing tumor cells and preventing them from damaging normal tissues of the human body.

Although these treatments are commonly used now, I personally think that they may not be completely correct. For example, chemotherapy can kill tumor cells, but it will also kill normal cells in the human body. In addition, the human body's white blood cells are extremely sensitive to chemotherapy. White blood cells account for the majority of the dead normal cells, which leads to further damage to the immune system.

As we analyzed above, the occurrence and development of tumors are the result of the interaction of multiple factors. So in terms of treatment, I think it is impossible to treat it with a single treatment method, but should be a comprehensive treatment with multiple methods.

Tumor cells can cause premature death of the human body. When the human body dies, the tumor cells also die. This is not in line with the law of biological evolution. Therefore, I think we should change our thinking and seek to "coexist" with tumor cells.

I personally believe that once you are diagnosed with cancer, in addition to conventional treatments, you should also adopt comprehensive treatments such as changing your lifestyle and diet.

Prevention of cancer is more important than treatment for any disease. Fortunately, more and more people are paying attention to disease prevention.

Cancer prevention needs to be carried out in many directions, such as avoiding harmful environments, adjusting one's lifestyle, etc. If endogenous factors cannot be changed, then only exogenous factors can be changed.

For example, the famous movie star Angelina Jolie discovered through genetic testing that she had a higher risk of breast cancer, so she underwent surgery to remove both breasts.

First of all, you should avoid smoking and drinking. Although there may be people around you who love smoking and drinking and live long, you should not take risks because you don’t know whether your genes are susceptible. I believe that there are many more people around you who die early from smoking and drinking than those who live long.

Second, we need to have a good attitude. Today's social life is stressful, and there is no way to change this situation. We must adapt to it and face it with an optimistic and positive attitude. People who are optimistic and positive tend to be healthier and live longer.

Third, we should be active in exercise. Active exercise can promote many functions of the human body, and the immune system is no exception. We should pay attention to the phenomena around us. Those who exercise regularly will be in better health.

Fourth, change in lifestyle and diet. This is very important. Many diseases are related to eating. We can discuss this from the perspective of human evolution. Before Homo sapiens, human food was tubers, raw meat, etc., the purpose of which was to be full. Now, there are a lot of processed foods, genetically modified foods, etc., and the human body has not evolved a system to adapt to these foods. Therefore, I personally think that we should eat more whole grains and less processed foods, and avoid excessive nutrition.

Fifth, we should actively vaccinate or treat biological carcinogens. For example, for hepatitis B virus, the general public should be vaccinated against hepatitis B, and hepatitis B virus infected people should have regular physical examinations and active treatment, etc.

Of course, in addition to the above-mentioned preventive measures, there are many more detailed preventive measures. I will not list them one by one. It’s just that we should pay more attention to cancer prevention, which requires us to start from multiple aspects and persist.

What should people over 50 pay attention to when facing cancer? The biggest factor in the occurrence of cancer is age. If a person lives long enough, cancer will eventually occur, because a person is derived from a fertilized egg, which is a cell that divides and differentiates. As the number of cell divisions increases, the mutation of genes will increase and eventually become uncontrollable.

Therefore, as age increases, the probability of developing a tumor also increases, so the most important thing at this time is a physical examination. When a disease occurs, we emphasize the "three earlys" - early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment. The purpose of a physical examination is to detect the disease as early as possible and then take early treatment measures. The earlier cancer is discovered and treated, the better the prognosis.

In addition to physical examinations, it is also necessary to do some of the above measures. Although some people have taken enough preventive measures, they still develop cancer in the end. This may be related to the extremely high genetic susceptibility, but we should not give up preventive measures, but pay more attention to them.

In conclusion: There is an old Chinese saying that "life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are determined by God", so many people think that they should enjoy themselves in time and everything is the best arrangement, which makes their behavior and lifestyle extremely unhealthy. For example, I have a friend who, despite being infected with the hepatitis B virus, still smokes, drinks, and stays up late. He was diagnosed with liver cancer and died before he was 40 years old. It doesn't matter if you live a few years less if you enjoy yourself in time, and what's the point of living a few years more if you pay attention to maintenance and have a boring life. It seems like a multiple-choice question, there is no right or wrong, after all, life is about experience. I personally think that we should restrain our behavior, be healthier, stay in this world more, and leave our own traces.