by Alicia Pinder
Though overall cancer incidence and mortality have continued to decline in recent years, the disease continues to devastate the lives of far too many Americans. In 2009 alone, approximately 1.5 million American Men, Women and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 died from the disease. With the growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer, the public is becoming increasingly aware of the unacceptable burden of cancer resulting from environmental and occupational exposures that could have been prevented through appropriate national action" Excerpt from a letter to President Barack Obama by the President's Panel on cancer.
Cancer continues to shatter and steal the lives of Americans. Approximately 41percent of Americans will be diagnosed of cancer sometime in their lives and about 21percent will possibly die from cancer.
Actually we seem to be losing the war against cancer because we have refused to address to a large extent the environmental causes ofcancer. We have stubbornly refused to look at cancer from the angle of modern lifestyles and hazards from medical sources, not to talk of what we garbage in, in the name of food.
Convenience of modern life, from our toiletries, make up, automobile, generators, dry cleaning, airplane travel, potable tap water, cellular communication and electricity which was made to make life easy for all, has considerable impacted our environment and human health and some other unconfirmed effects on our health.
It might interest you to know that mobile source, air emission for trucks, cars, ships and other passenger vehicles and equipments contribute approximately 30 percent of cancer resulting from air pollution, and disinfection of public water supplies with intention of reducing water borne diseases may indirectly be affecting our health and research indicates that long term exposure to disinfection by- products may increase cancer risk.
Do you know that even chemicals used for household pest control can turn to a component of carpet dust leading to health risk for children playing on the floor?
The use of cell phone does not help matters either as this device are used regularly by older and younger ones alike. Though there's no evidence between the use of cell phone and cancer, however research on cancer and other diseases among long term and heavy users of wireless device is very limited.
Over the past two decades technology like imaging, nuclear medicine examinations including new pharmaceuticals interventions has all made possible diagnosis and treatment of human disease, cancer inclusive,but they also carry some health risks. It is on record that Americans get half of their total radiation exposure from medical imaging and other medical sources, actually medical radiation has nearly doubled over the years.
It might interest you to know that computed tomography (CT) and nuclear medicine tests alone contribute 36 percent of total radiation exposure and 75percent of the medical exposure of the US population.
The worst of it all is medical imaging of children since they have more years of life during which malignancy initiated by medical radiation can set in, and worrisome aspect of it is that many referring physicians, radiologists and the general public are unaware of radiation doses associated with various test.
"Even those who receive multiple scans or other tests that requires radiation may assimilate doses equal to or exceeding that of HIROSHIMA atomic bomb survivors."
It is widely believed that a single large dose of ionizing radiation and numerous low doses is equal to the body over time.
How doses one feel discovering that pharmaceuticals contribute a considerable source of environmental contamination, drugs of all types find its way into sources of water supply when they are improperly disposed.
About the Author:
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