Cancer (colon)

It’s a sad situation when we have to spend $60 billion a year in this country to screen for a disease (colon cancer) that should never have to happen in the first place. But, as long as our “system” of treating symptoms instead of promoting health continues; don’t look for that to change anytime soon.

Screening for disease and treating symptoms is big business — promoting health; not so much. In the cancer industry, we hear an awful lot about genetics, screening, early detection and high-tech treatment with surgery, chemo and radiation. But we hear very little about the optimal diet that will prevent most cancers from ever occurring in the first place.

I have provided a total of nine blogs below. The first three deal primarily with colon issues—the last six mention colon cancer but deal primarily with cancer in general. Here is an excerpt from the 4th blog:

Like colonoscopies to screen for colon cancer, everything is based on the risk of developing the disease and dying from it. In an earlier post (see below) about Dr. Oz, I talked about the $50 billion business of screening, just for colon cancer—a disease that carries a 7% likelihood of causing your death.

But what if that risk was lowered to one half of one percent? Do you think we’d still have a $50 billion business to screen for it. Would you go repeatedly for screenings if the risk of dying from the disease was 1/2 of one percent, 1 person out of 200? I wouldn’t and I don’t.

The last three blogs listed below deal with the “big business” that cancer has become. And that business depends on people getting screened, getting diagnosed and getting treated. The business would essentially disappear if everyone were to start eating a near optimal, whole foods, plant-based diet.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with colon cancer or is trying to decide whether or not to schedule a colonoscopy, I recommend that you include the following nine articles in your research. In these well-reseached blogs, there is a wealth of information which may prompt some ideas that may help you plan your strategy. Also, you may want to take a look at the Cancer (in general) page.

1. Oz shares colon story; “cancer screening $$ business” gets bigger (6-9-11)
2. Are you a colonoscopy customer? My personal story on this topic (6-1-12)
3. “High Fiber” diet saves lives…but not nearly enough (2-22-11)
4. Early detection of prostate, colon & breast cancer…with McDougall video (2-11-12)
5. Drugs for preventing cancer — now everyone can be a customer! (6-6-11)
6. The “war on cancer” turns 41; now a major industry…(7-16-12)
7. Searching for the cure—now has a life of its own. (5-18-12)
8. Screening for cancer…a very big business (2-21-11)
9. Riding the cancer train to fame and fortune (10-6-12)

My personal story in blog #2. When my 50th birthday rolled around, I forgot to go to the doctor to schedule my first colonoscopy—even though my wife would occasionally remind me. I also never got around to getting one when I turned 55.

For the rest of this story, take a look at the referenced blog #2. Need help in deciding your own strategy, you may want to consult with a physician who truly “gets it” about plant-based nutrition.

One-on-one MD Help. Sadly, 95% of our medical doctors are not aware of the power of plant-based nutrition to prevent or reverse many chronic diseases, including some cancers. Further, oncologists can only recommend the treatment regimens for which they have been trained. If you would like a second opinion (about cancer) from a medical doctor who truly “gets it” about food, you may wish to visit our MD Help page and schedule a telephone consultation with one of the MDs listed there.

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Please forward this page to anyone you know who may be interested in learning more about the causes and prevention of colon cancer. Click here to view the list of other “diseases” that will posted soon.

Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

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