Since WW1 we have experienced a massive increase in the frequency and death toll of cancer. Breast Cancer was rare, and now impacts 1 woman in 8. There have been similar increases in colon, prostatic, and melanoma. The obvious question is WHY, and WHAT can we do?
As a Dermatologist, and after 45+ years of research, I offer you my personal insights. Read on.
Something changed about the turn of the century. I think that change was our attitude to tanning. In the late 1800s, a tan was a mark of low status. That changed with the epidemic of rickets, when observant moms saw that tanned workers didn’t die in labour. They encouraged tanning, and we started to love it. Tanning directly increases our bodies production of Vitamin D, which is the sunshine vitamin.
I believe that the unforeseen consequences of our change in attitude is the Cancer Epidemic. 40% of folks inherit genes that turn off the immune system when exposed to high levels of UV; the turned off immune system is prevented from recognizing the change as it develops in a single cell. The failure of recognition leads to interpretation of the malignant cell as being normal and the body feels it.
WHO is impacted? – Anyone with a family history of cancer, particularly if their parents or grandparents had cancer.
PROTECT YOURSELF – You need extra protection particularly when planning time of extensive sun exposure (SUNSCREENS are NOT an effective cancer prevention strategy).
KNOWN EFFECTIVE PREVENTION STRATEGIES ARE:
1. Topical Vitamin C Cream
2. Niacinamide – 1000mg daily or Topical Niacinamide Cream
3. Personal Belief – Retinyl Palmitate
HOW DID I COME TO THIS CONCLUSION?:
To understand, we need to look in some detail at the work of Streilein. Here is a guy whose work has not been appreciated. I will highlight what I feel is key.
Streilein was studying the effect of sun on mice. His interest was immunology. What he saw was that when mice were exposed to Ultraviolet Light (UV), that 60% of mice reacted in a predictable way, but 40% of mice turned off their immune system. Weird results. So, he tested normal folks, and found the same things – 40% of people reacted to UV by turning off their immune system. He understandably called this sun induced immunosuppression. He then tested a group of skin cancer patients, and found that 93% also turned off their immune system in the sun. Testing patients with melanoma showed that 100% of them turning off their immune system. Now we see something VERY IMPORTANT.
Let’s look at immunology to help us understand. One big job of the immune system is to look around every day to every cell in your body and do a health check. If there is something amiss, your immune system identifies what it is (bacteria, virus, cancer cell), and then directs an attack to destroy the invader. IF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM DOESN’T WORK, IT DOESN’T SEE THAT THE CHANGE IN THIS CELL IS CANCER, determines "it's normal”, and allows it to grow. Following Streilein’s observations, what makes the immune system NOT function is UV EXPOSURE. The suppression of the immune system lasts days to weeks, but in 50% of folks, they become permanently unable to recognize that cell as cancer forever.
Streilein discovered this trait is inherited. I have said that family history is the most important determinant of skin cancer, and he has taught us why. It occurs in all races, and he has identified an exact genetic locus.
To summarize:
40% of us turn off our immune system when we have sufficient exposure to sun. When this happens, our bodies do not recognize that a change in a cell is a cancer, and our immune system fails to destroy it. This is an inherited characteristic.
Many students of cancer believe that during our lives, it is normal to develop cancer at the cell level. It is the job of the immune system to detect the cancer and destroy it.
So, how do these two key points apply to the cancer epidemic? Here is a real life example:
You and your partner are planning your honeymoon. The destination you choose is Hawaii. You fly there and arrive on the day your new wife develops a single cancer cell. She is one of the 40% who inherited the trait that turns off the immune system with sufficient exposure to sun (her grandfather had loads of skin cancers when he was older). Since her immune system has been shut off, her system does not detect the change, and her body believes the change is all for the good. Her body promotes this change. When the cancer appears, it is resistant to treatment because chemo destroys your cancer cells, but her immune system works hard to protect this new "good" cancer cell.
So, the epidemic of cancer is very much impacted by SUN and your IMMUNE SYSTEM. This is why sunscreen alone will not protect you.
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