Cancer

Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine by Douglas Dupler

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Occupational hazards. There is evidence to estimate that certain occupational hazards account for 4% of all cancer deaths. For example, asbestos workers have an increased incidence of lung cancer. Similarly, a higher likelihood of getting bladder cancer is associated with dye, rubber, and gas workers; skin and lung cancer with smelters, gold miners, and arsenic workers; leukemia with glue and varnish workers; liver cancer with PVC manufacturers; and lung, bone, and bone marrow cancer with radiologists and uranium miners. Environmental radiation. Exposure is believed to cause 1-2% of all cancer deaths.

Ultra-violet radiation from the sun accounts for a majority of melanoma deaths. Other sources of radiation are x rays, radon gas, and ionizing radiation from nuclear material. Pollution. Several studies have shown that there is a well established link between asbestos and cancer. Chlorination of water may account for a small rise in cancer risk. However, the main danger from pollution occurs when dangerous chemicals from the industries escape into the surrounding environment. It has been estimated that 1% of cancer deaths are due to air, land, and water pollution.

Alternative medicine tends to disagree with conventional medicine about the causes of cancer, claiming that environmental pollution and emotional and psychological factors are major influences upon the disease. Samuel S. Epstein, a professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois and the chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, is one of the strongest critics of the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society. Epstein tends to echo many of the beliefs of alternative practitioners. He claims that mainstream medicine, driven by politics, profits, and pharmaceutical sales, is not discussing or sufficiently researching some major factors behind cancer, or researching ways of preventing those causes. Epstein asserts that a primary cause of cancer is the massive pollution of the air, water, food, and workplace. For instance, since the 1940s over 100,000 new chemicals have been added to the environment, and each year in the United States alone, over 10 lbs (4.5 kg) of pesticides and herbicides per person are used on the food supply, chemicals that are proven to be carcinogenic. Epstein believes that the human immune system simply cannot handle all the new carcinogens and stresses in the environment, and cancer represents this breakdown of the immune system. He is also a critic of some conventional cancer therapies like radiation and chemotherapy, claiming that the therapies themselves are highly carcinogenic and are often responsible for recurrent cancer. Epstein points out that despite the "war on cancer" by mainstream medicine, mortality rates have not been significantly improved by its methods, and more research needs to be dedicated to preventative and alternative measures instead of pharmaceuticals and invasive treatments.