By Dr Pankaj Kumar
Have you ever come across people asking their friend or a family member suffering from cancer to reduce the intake of sugar or that microwaving food in plastic containers and aluminium foils releases harmful cancer-causing substances? Well, often such queries arising out of myths and misconceptions end up causing more stress for patients than what they are already experiencing. Certain ideas about how cancer starts or spreads can seem to make sense especially when those ideas are rooted in age-old theories. But wrong ideas about cancer can lead to needless worry and even hinder its prevention and treatment decisions.
Myths tend to develop around the prevalent conditions and hence it is no surprise that people often misunderstand cancer. One always needs to keep in mind that cancer is not a death sentence. Instead of wondering whether cancer is contagious and can spread from one person to another or whether my family members can get infected, people must focus on its treatment as any wrong information about cancer may hinder its treatment.
The world observes cancer day on February 4 every year. The objective is to bring awareness regarding the disease. If figures are to be believed, every year nearly 15 lakh people are diagnosed with cancer to an extent that one in every nine people gets diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Even though the figures might sound glaring, what one needs to understand is that instead of fearing the disease one must learn to deal with it.
Some of the myths and misconceptions that doctors often have to clarify:
- Does cancer spread from one person to another?
- Does cancer spread after getting a biopsy?
- Can cancer be painless?
- Does chemotherapy always have bad side effects?
- Are all the breast lumps cancers?
- Is breast cancer seen only in females and not in men?
- Does cancer affect only elderly people and young people and children cannot have cancer?
- Does cancer affect only those who have done bad to others?
- Should cancer treatment not be administered to elderly patients?
- Should cancer not be treated as all patients will ultimately die due to this disease?
At times, the medical fraternity ignores the questions arising out of these myths and misconceptions. But queries unanswered are more dangerous than the disease. These myths not only derail the treatment plans but also places a huge psychological and emotional stress on cancer patients. As we all are aware that the main causes of cancer are consumption of tobacco in any form –cigarette or gutka and consumption of alcohol. It is necessary for the patients and their relatives to know that a few changes in one’s lifestyle and food habits can work wonders.
If one can keep themselves away from these addictions, their impact can be minimalized. Also, regular and healthy eating habits and maintaining a healthy weight are crucial to avoiding cancer to a large extent. Hence high-calorie food and intake of fats must be reduced. We must always remember that we must eat to live and not live to eat.
Maintaining a healthy weight and being physically active can reduce the risk of various types of cancer like cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, colon, uterus, and kidney. Also, practicing safe sex can help reduce the chances of sexually transmitted infections like HIV or HPV. Getting vaccine shots against hepatitis B and human papillomavirus (HPV) can prevent several cancers including liver, cervical, anal, oral, and oropharyngeal cancers.
It is important to understand that cancer can happen to anyone at any age even after taking all precautions. What is important is that we recognize the symptoms early and on time only then it can be cured.
Dr Pankaj Kumar Garg is Professor and Head of the Department of Surgical Oncology, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences and Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital, Dehradun.
