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Cancer's Tragic Toll
Cancer in humans is actually a group of over
100 related diseases which can develop in any part of the body, in any person, at any age
- although it most frequently develops as we grow older. According to the official
statistics, nearly 66 million currently
living Americans will go on to develop one
form of cancer or another before they die.
Cancer now strikes nearly three
out of every four families in the U.S. What's more, it kills more children between the
ages of three and 14 than any other disease. It is the second leading cause of death in
the United States today, following heart disease, and claims the lives of over one half
million men, women and children every single year.
The staggering medical costs
of treating cancer in this country is well over $100 billion dollars annually. exceeding the cost of any other disease,
including heart disease.
The Surprising Common Factor in Heart Disease and Cancer!
Scientific and
medical researchers alike now agree that one surprising common factor in
heart disease and cancer is diet.
The National Cancer Institute, for example, now recognizes
the crucial role that correct diet can play in an effective cancer prevention program. In
their report entitled, Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer, the NCI recommends a number of
specific dietary changes that could help stave off cancer throughout the lifetime of
virtually any individual, and names over a dozen specific foods thought to be powerful
cancer preventatives.
According to Amar Makheja,
Ph.D., Doctor of Biochemistry' at the George Washington University School of Medicine in
Washington, D.C., "Research shows that a deficiency of certain important vitamins and
minerals in the diet fosters the development of cancerous tumors. It is entirely possible
that simply making some sweeping changes in the national diet could dramatically reduce
the number of lives lost to cancer every year."
Clearly, the experts agree, dietary factors strongly influence
whether or not an individual will become another grim cancer statistic, or whether he or
she will live a long, healthy and relatively disease-free life.
Even the American heart
Association, which is normally medically orthodox, has been a staunch supporter of making
strategic dietary changes, and using dietary supplements, in order to prevent heart
disease, or beat it in cases where it has already begun.
As coronary disease specialist Cynthia Watson, M.D. explains,
"Dietary changes can prevent heart disease and help you avoid the agony and expense
of heart surgery." She states, "The fact is that changes in diet and lifestyle,
when undertaken early enough, may prevent you from ever requiring invasive medical
procedures such as coronary bypass."
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