Shouldn’t the search for a cure start with the search for a cause?

It seems, almost daily, you hear a story about the brightest minds working on new research, or a charity organization raising funds for the fight to find a cure for cancer. And rightfully so. An estimated 571,000 Americans die ever year from this horrible disease(1). Finding a cure is important. But, with all of the talk about finding a cure, I’ve always wondered why no one talks about finding a cause.

Modern medicine has made tremendous strides in treating a large number of ailments to the human body. Consider that just 100 years ago, a mere blink in time relative to human history, a gunshot wound would mean almost certain death. If not from the bullet then from infection or other complications. But today there are trauma centers all across our nation that save the lives of gunshot victims. And while this injury is treatable, wouldn’t it be better to avoid getting shot in the first place? Wouldn’t spending time avoiding the cause be better than spending time in the ER?

The notion of preventing an illness is nothing new. We take vitamins and supplements, along with the occasional apple or glass of orange juice to keep our immune system strong in hopes of avoiding a cold or the flu. At a young age, we’re vaccinated against a long list of bad bugs. Preventative medicine can be found up and down the aisles of our local drug stores. The purpose of all of this is to prevent the cause of a disease from entering our bodies. Doctors and scientist study the cause of these ailments. So, if the study of the cause of diseases is so common, why do we only hear people worrying about those that already have cancer and never hear about how to prevent it in the first place?

The causes of cancer aren’t a complete mystery. Everyone knows that you shouldn’t smoke, as it can lead to cancer. If you spend your every waking moment out in the sun, you can’t be completely surprised if you someday develop skin cancer. And you may have crossed paths with a sign warning of asbestos removal. We have been warned about some of the potential causes of cancer. But if people know what to avoid, why do they still get cancer?

Part of it is choice. Smoking kills, but it is still a big money business with people willing deciding to light up daily. People ignore the warnings that they are given. But the warnings aren’t always so obvious. Today, we see signs warning of the risk of cancer due to the inhalation of asbestos particles. But those particles are there for a reason. At one point in time, we were told not to worry, that there was nothing wrong with filling our buildings full of asbestos. And it prevented fires, so it was desired in construction and it was built into our lives. At the time, we looked away, ignoring the risks.

And that may be the real reason we hear about ground breaking research dealing with the cure, but not the cause of cancer. Because we don’t want to know. Smokers know they should give up their cigarettes. But how about your cell phone? People will point to research that says cell phones are safe. But who is to say that this is any different from the research sponsored by the big tobacco companies decades ago proving that their product was “safe”? And if you were convinced that your cell phone slightly increased your chances of getting cancer, would you put it down? For most people, the answer is “probably not”.

We walk around every day, soaked in radio waves. Some much more powerful than our cell phones. But no one wants to give up their modern conveniences like television and radio. Every day we drink water with fluoride added, even though there are studies that label it a potential carcinogen (2) and link it to decreased IQ levels (3). Likewise we cover ourselves in cosmetics and fragrances, cook on Teflon(R) coated pans, we eat and drink numerous chemicals many of which we can’t even pronounce. As humans, we should eat food. Yet I’ve never picked fruit from the aspartame tree or sodium benzoate bush. But find me a college student that is willing to give up their diet Mountain Dew(R).

So, as it turns out, we may hear about the causes of cancer every day. You could hear about it on a radio add, or read about it on the your ingredients or your lunch. We may be looking right at them, and to some extents more knowingly than others, welcoming them into our bodies. Maybe we don’t know about the harmful effects of some, maybe we don’t want to know about others, or maybe we just don’t care even when we do know.

So, the next time you hear about the great strides bright minds have made towards finding a cure, ask yourself if you’re making any progress in finding the causes of cancer in your day to day life.  Hey, it’s something worth thinking about.

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1. http://www.cancer.org/Research/CancerFactsFigures/CancerFactsFigures/cancer-facts-figures-2011
2. http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/water-fluoridation-and-cancer-risk
3. http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluoride-dangers.aspx