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An Ounce of Prevention

Now that the thirty-one days of Pinktober have passed, I feel safe enough to vent a bit of frustration with the whole breast cancer awareness movement. 

Don’t get me wrong—I recognize that fund-raising is a necessary underpinning of medical research, and I appreciate societal commitments to eradicating disease. It’s just that I’m not sure there’s anyone in America who is unaware of breast cancer, and it seems that more and more companies are skipping the altruism part and going pink strictly for profit.

Despite the tidal wave of pinktastic merchandise that floods October to amp up awareness, breast cancer continues to be diagnosed and, more disturbingly, to claim lives. 

Current research suggests that the emphasis on early detection has backfired, leading many women through unnecessary treatments for cancers that were never going to become invasive. However, the body of medicine remains confounded on how to predict and prevent metastatic breast cancer.

Even with the latest advances in treatment options, doctors are still unable to predict with certainty which of their patients will achieve long-term survival and which will suffer metastatic recurrence. A radiologist once summed it up to me this way: Breast cancer is sneaky.   

I hate to be a skeptic, but cancer is big business. From medical imaging to genetic testing, from cutting-edge surgical techniques to comprehensive oncology clinics, the quest for an ever-elusive “cure” is a money-maker that keeps medical industries booming.

I'm not sure there's a drug company out there that's truly interested in finding a cure. Drug companies are financially motivated to find marketable treatments for cancer, but curing it? That would be a fiscal disaster. 

Frankly, I'd rather see cancer stopped before it starts. I'd like for my daughter to grow up without worrying about whether or not she'll get breast cancer. Maybe instead of going down the rabbit hole in search of a cure, research should be focused on ferreting out and proving methods of prevention.

It's widely known that a variety of environmental influences can alter DNA, resulting in the development of cancer even in the absence of a genetic tendency. The standard American diet has been implicated as an emerging risk factor for breast and other cancers. Long on shelf life and short on nutrients, it packs a potent punch of endocrine-disruptive chemicals that wreak havoc in the body.

Every day, we ingest an astounding dose of estrogen-mimicking chemicals, unnecessary antibiotics, and extraneous hormones through the very foods they eat. Milk and meat from cows treated with bovine growth hormones. Soup from cans laced with BPA. Fruits and vegetables sprayed with pesticides and wax.

Sugar, a favorite additive of the food industry, has long been known to feed cancer cells. High fructose corn syrup, a staple ingredient on packaged food labels, is frequently sourced from genetically modified corn, which has been linked to increased rates of cancer in rats.

If the foods consumed by Americans activate cancer, doesn’t it stand to reason that changes in dietary practices could short circuit it completely? Wouldn’t it be prudent to thoroughly investigate this angle, to invest in research that harnesses the power of the fuel we put into our bodies to fight this illness?

I’m tired of pink ribbons and awareness and pinning a future on hope. I’m tired of hearing about the latest treatment options, each with its own set of debilitating side effects. I’m tired of fund-raising for a cure.  

It’s time to stop putting business before health. It’s time to reassess our priorities, to focus our efforts on mitigating the environmental factors that promote the proliferation of cellular changes that create cancer.

The proverbial ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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