CANCER

The word “cancer” is a general term that affect an organ or group of cells adversely. While most defective cells (millions every day) die and are flushed from the body, every so often, abnormal cells develop, manage to grow, and begin to divide out of control. This process is known as carcinogenesis.

These cells spread through your body via your blood or lymphatic system, damaging healthy cells as they reproduce. Certain things increase your cancer risk.

Infection, environmental pollution (air, water, and soil), obesity, lack of exercise, tobacco  use , hormone imbalance, chronic inflammation, metabolic conditions, overconsumption of alcohol, and stress have been pinpointed as the most common threads among cancer patients. 77% of all cancers are diagnosed in people who are age 55 or older so getting the facts early can prevent a lot of grief in later life.

 

Why do some damaged cells die while others survive and mutate into cancer?

The answer lies in your immune system – without a doubt, one of the most

fascinating functions of the human body. It defends your body against invasion from viral infection, bacteria, inflammation, allergens, and even something as small as a thorn in your thumb.

What you might be shocked to learn is that you have cancerous cells inside you all the time but they don’t form into tumours or cancerous masses because they are taken out by your immune system before they have the chance to organize and cause a real problem.

 

Essentially, your “Immune Army” looks for “sick” cells – those that are infected or have unusual proteins present – and destroys them.

We’ll examine the relationship between immunity and cancer. There are many ways you can “fine tune” your immune system to fight and even prevent cancer from becoming part of your life.

 

Experts worldwide estimate that more than half of all cancer cases are preventable. Of the 1.6 million new cases of cancer that will be diagnosed in 2014 in the United States alone, perhaps 800,000 could have prevented their cancer. In India we have about 10,00,000 cases diagnosed every year with approximately 5,50,000 deaths. How many of these could be preventable?

 

 What Does Your Immune System Do?

Your immune system is a work of art. A brilliant display of design and function, it consists of organs, tissues, proteins, and specialized cells. It protects every cell in your body – hundreds of trillions of them – from attack.

Whether it is protection from a cold when the person next to you sneezes and forgets to cover his or her mouth, killing bacteria caused by contaminated food, pushing toxins from your body caused by the environment, or destroying damaged cells before they have the chance to morph into serious disease…your immune system is always on guard.

 

The army of your immune system is always on the move, travelling the pathways of your entire body via lymphatic vessels and blood vessels. They are on constant lookout for germs, parasites, and cells that don’t pass inspection.

Cells that are foreign to a strong and well-fortified immune system are surrounded, attacked, and killed by the white blood cells – also called leukocytes – on patrol.

Leukocytes are produced and stored in the lymphoid organs, which include the

thymus, bone marrow, and spleen. These crucial fighter cells are found in little pockets of tissue throughout the body but are clustered in higher numbers in your lymph nodes.

 

There are two main kinds of leukocytes:

• Phagocytes destroy invading substances and bacteria.

• Lymphocytes are able to memorize previous invaders and enlist the entire body to be on the alert for more of the same cells.5

Cytotoxic T-cells are the biggest, baddest lymphocytes on the block and when they receive intelligence from the B-cell lymphocytes that an invader has been spotted, they swarm to the location to attack. They are helped out by macrophages, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells. If the mission is a big one, reinforcements come from all over your body to do battle.

 

Anything considered “foreign” is called an antigen. When its presence is detected, an alarm is raised. The B-cells produce antibodies that will always remember the specific invader. This is known as the immune response.

The army mobilizes to the intruder, attacks it, and destroys it. If you are attacked again by the same germ or infection at a future date, the antibodies are already present in your body and instantly rally a defence, which keeps you from succumbing to it a second time.

 

                                          THE TRAITOR INSIDE YOU

The trouble with cancer cells is that they are “foreign” but sometimes not foreign enough to trigger an immune response. This trained army screens out your body’s own tissue and unlike germs and bacteria, cancer cells are your cells that have mutated and gone rogue.

A cancer cell is one that goes undetected by your immune system and has broken the natural restraints that inhibit excessive growth and replication. Each replicated cell is the same, growing and spreading, infecting healthy tissue.

Cancer is a Trojan horse – hiding in plain sight. These defective cells may even give off a signal that confuses the immune system enough to attack healthy tissue.

 

Our built-in defence against disease…fails.

 

The idea that your immune system can prevent and fight cancer – naturally – has long been met with skepticism by the health industry. The accepted treatments in the medical community have long been chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

Those methods may still be the top choice for some but what if you could improve your chances of getting rid of cancer for good? What if your immune system could help to ease the debilitating side effects caused by traditional cancer treatments and cancer can be prevented and fought naturally?

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