Posted on 01/02/2015 6:32:36 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Plain old bad luck plays a major role in determining who gets cancer and who does not, according to researchers who found that two-thirds of cancer incidence of various types can be blamed on random mutations and not heredity or risky habits like smoking. The researchers said Thursday that random DNA mutations accumulating in various parts of the body during ordinary cell division were the prime culprits behind many cancer types.
They looked at 31 cancer types and found that 22 of them, including leukemia and pancreatic, bone, testicular, ovarian, and brain cancer, could be explained largely by these random mutations — essentially biological bad luck.
The other nine types, including colorectal cancer, skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma, and smoking-related lung cancer, were more heavily influenced by heredity and environmental factors like risky behavior or exposure to carcinogens.
Overall, they attributed 65% of cancer incidence to random mutations in genes that can drive cancer growth.
"When someone gets cancer, immediately people want to know why," said oncologist Dr. Bert Vogelstein of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, who conducted the study published in the journal Science with Johns Hopkins biomathematician Cristian Tomasetti.
"They like to believe there's a reason. And the real reason in many cases is not because you didn't behave well or were exposed to some bad environmental influence, it's just because that person was unlucky. It's losing the lottery."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
If a person wasn't at all grateful for the body and soul God gave them, but instead envied other people for their looks and talents, how would that play out over a person's lifetime?
If nothing is done to stop that envy for others and perhaps hatred for the gifts God has given, I wonder if that sort of sin leaves debris within which accumulates with repetition over time.
Theoretically, at some point a sort of critical mass is reached, perhaps the moment when God says "enough is enough" and the person reaps one or more disease from these seeds of sin sown within.
In support of that theory is the healing power of prayer, faith and belief, which often results in "miraculous" healing.
Just a theory...
Have to think about what can cause mutations. Medicines?? Natural aging?? Foods?? Environment??
OK, but the body has built in defense mechanisms against mutations, does it not? So the next question would be what can interfere with the body’s ability to self-heal?
I know why I got breast cancer. I worked in a cancer research hospital laboratory. I did cytochemical staining of bone marrow slides using all those nasty little vials of chemicals with carcinogenic labels. Back in the days before gloves or bio hazard hoods were in use.
Exactly.
And the odds of losing the lottery are close to 100% - so the analogy really is off...........
Perhaps because it runs counter to historical beliefs in Providence?
While this is obvious beyond any need to state it: The fact is that there are 3 mega powerful forces attempting to squeeze as much juice out of each living being as possible. And while these 3 Mega Forces pretend to offer benefits, and enhance our lives, they are primarily self serving while being destructive and dangerous to individuals. And we need to be on guard.
1-BigGov: Fattening itself at the expense and well being of the citizen.
2-BigCorp: Loyal to BOD and Major Investors. Willing to betray and screw the consumer in the name of short term profits. For example, BigPharma is killing people.
3-BigMedia: Lying Journalists and Agenda driven Entertainment hide truth and foster dissension.
So between the time we are born and die we need to keep our eyes open and be on the defensive. We are targets for everything from BigGov shakedowns to poisonous Doctor approved prescriptions.
I wouldn’t bet my life on this study. I guess they never heard of the BRCA gene.
Bush’s fault?
. The way to cure cancer is to get a persons immune sysem to recognize it and destroy those cells.
When a persons immune system doesn't recognize the threat , cancer cells will spread.
So-called Miracle Cures happen when a person is cancer ridden and given up for lost; but hangs on, and after years go by is diagnosed s cancer free.
Their immune system for whatever reason decided to attack the cancer cells, resulting in a reversal of the otherwise fatal problem. -Tom
I believe that over time, medical research will find that many of these “random” changes are actually the result of viruses.
That is to say, those who maintain positive, cheerful outlooks, maintain a sense of humor, and don't have a lot of stress and drama in their lives tend to stay healthy.
On the other hand, those who have cynical and negative attitudes, those who "keep a cloud" over them, always sighing and saying "woe is me" tend to get ill a lot more. Not just cancer but other diseases. They aways seem to be "down with the flu" and they piss and moan about every little thing.
Hate, negativity and envy are especially self-destructive emotions to have and we would all do well to purge ourselves of those.
There are exceptions of course - anybody can be struck down at anytime - but I'm convinced that generally speaking, those who are upbeat and positive do much better in the game of life.
I tried to explain the simple fact the report lays out to a friend, when I said we cannot really “cure” cancer; because we cannot prevent the occurrence of the random genetic mutations that cause, and will continue to cause most cancers.
My own belief about the role of the hereditary and environmental factors in cancer is that they do not cause the random mutations that actually cause cancer, but they lower the body’s ability to ALWAYS overcome random mutations (which we all do very often), often enough to prevent a mutation from starting the “cancer” process. The body is always “cleaning up” (killing) random mutations observed in cell development. When we get a cancer it was not fast enough often enough in getting that job done.
We can get better at “cancer treatments”. In my mind that is not a cure, which to me would be the elimination of “what causes cancer”, which I do not believe we can do.
It’s the cosmic rays that are screwing up the cells. Where’s my foil?
I certainly agree with the probabilistic view of the way our world works.
I also like to imagine I have a sense of spirituality, although some might disagree, because I am not formally religious. My understanding of Providence--and I may be misinformed--is that it involves divine balancing of the scales--rewards/punishments based on the exercise of free will. That seems divinely manipulated, and therefore deterministic, although not determined by us. Perhaps the discomfort lies there.
Or admitting, "No one knows..."
A non-existing virtue these days, specially among self-defined so-called science."
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