Barbara Ehrenreich: What Causes Cancer? Probably Not You

[marmar]

from The Nation:


article | posted July 19, 2007 (web only)
What Causes Cancer? Probably Not You

Barbara Ehrenreich


This article also appears on Barbara Ehrenreich's blog.

The perennial temptation to blame disease on sin or at least some grave moral failing just took another hit. A major new study shows that women on a virtuous low fat diet with an extraordinary abundance of fruits and veggies were no less likely to die of breast cancer than women who grazed more freely. Media around the world have picked up on the finding, cautioning, prudishly, that you can't beat breast cancer with cheeseburgers and beer.

Another "null result" in cancer studies--i.e., one showing that a suspected correlation isn't there--has received a lot less attention. In the May issue of Psychological Bulletin, James Coyne and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania reported that "there is no compelling evidence linking psychotherapy or support groups with survival among cancer patients." This flies in the face of the received wisdom that any sufficiently sunny-tempered person can beat cancer simply with a "positive attitude." For example, an e-zine article entitled "Breast Cancer Prevention Tips" advises:

A simple positive and optimistic attitude has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. This will sound amazing to many people; however, it will suffice to explain that several medical studies have demonstrated the link between a positive attitude and an improved immune system. Laughter and humor has been shown to enhance the body's immunity and prevents against cancer and other diseases. You must have heard the slogan "happy people don't fall sick."

So far no one appears to have read Coyne's study. On June 30, a month after its publication, all-purpose guru Deepak Chopra assured Sanjay Gupta on CNN that the mind can control the body: "...You know, of course, the ... study where women who supported each other in a loving environment with breast cancer, the survival doubled." Gupta, last sighted seeking to discredit Michael Moore's Sicko with his "fact- checking," simply nodded, although the study Chopra was referring to was discredited years before Coyne's research came out. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070730/ehrenreich2

[glowing]

1. Well, a better study would be a study that had women who only

ate organic fruits and veggies, and other's who ate American. I have a feeling that the pesticides and GMO foods have a bit to do with creating cancerous cells... But a positive attitude helps as well... Health isn't just body its mind and soul too..

[marmar]

2. "I have a feeling that the pesticides and GMO foods have a bit to do with creating cancerous cells"

I agree with you. The French don't eat particularly healthily, but that don't eat all that Frankenfood crap either, and they live longer than most people.

[kimmerspixelated]

Touche'!

[kimmerspixelated]

4. Touche'!

[valerief]

3. It's the industrial poisons that are killing us. I have no doubt. You can

blame clogged arteries on the "food" part of one's diet, but the cancers and other crap come from the "non-food" part of our diet and the crap we inhale and maybe even exposure to other invisible stuff we produce. I mean, if this crap kills other animals, it's killing us, too. Years ago when I heard that over 30% of all fish in Boston Harbor had tumors, I knew I couldn't deny any longer that pollution was the cause of most of our really bad diseases.

[kimmerspixelated]

5. The modern world is quite

toxic, even mainstream lotions and potions for your skin are laden with parabens which they use in antifreeze, I found out. Mainstream sunscreens are an absolute joke. It is now believed they are the cause of cancer, instead of guarding against it! Anyway....I would like to see a study that compares the health of those in the previous century when preservatives/toxins weren't added to absolutely everything! I bet the sheeple would be quite surprised at how uncancerous those times were!

[Berry Cool]

6. Yeah. I get so tired of people being blamed for their own disease because they "didn't eat healthy."

What if they did eat healthy and their food was loaded with poison anyway thanks to modern farming?

[eridani]

7. With life expectancies of about 50 years.

Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather figure out ways to reduce the poison load than to go back in time and die in childbirth.