Mags Gargan
Mags Gargan reports from a public lecture tackling some common cancer myths and the dangers they present to the public
“Your body is a Ferrari car,” says Dr Robert O’Connor. “It is an unique asset, the most valuable thing you will ever have in your lifetime, and like a Ferrari, if it’s kept in good nick you have the best chance of it lasting a long time.”
This is how the Irish Cancer Society’s Head of Research began the lecture ‘Cancer: Debunking the Myths’ at the University of Limerick last week, as part of the charity’s ‘Decoding Cancer’ series of public talks, which aims to dispel some of the myths around cancer and how they impact prevention, early detection, treatment and survivors’ quality of life.
In an age of fake news, ‘alternative facts’, social media saturation and celebrity endorsements, Dr O’Connor warned that we “take a lot of our health advice from people we don’t know and who don’t know us”. “It spreads through social media and main stream media.”
But our bodies are unique and need specialist support, “like a Ferrari mechanic”. He advised those gathered to only listen to “your GP, to dieticians – who are the only people regulatory qualified people to give dietary advice in this country – or consultants”.
Misunderstanding
“Whenever we talk about cancer there is an inordinate amount of fear and a lot of misunderstanding around it and that doesn’t help how we face the challenge in Ireland,” he says.
“There are hundreds of different types of cancer. When someone is diagnosed, their doctor will outline the medical treatments available to them, but we know most patients will seek further information – either online, or through friends and family. Unfortunately, though, most of this advice does not come from a qualified professional who has the knowledge to be able to guide an individual case and such information may in fact do more harm than good.”
So what are the main myths surrounding cancer?
Myth 1: “We live in a toxic environment surrounded by chemicals that are responsible for the cancer rates.”
“Not true,” says Dr O’Connor. “By and large our bodies have a lot of defences against chemicals and the media tends to focus on the negative and sensationalist stuff. There is no advantage in eating organic over non-organic. No evidence of pesticides having a societal or community-level impact in terms of cancer. There is zero truth in things like fluoride in water causing cancer – in fact some of the data suggests the opposite. And if mobile phones were a significant cause of cancer, we would have seen it by now.”
He says mankind has always had cancer and our basic environment is more regulated and healthier than it has ever been in humanity’s existence.
Myth 2: “There is a ‘magic bullet’ cure for cancer.”
“If we talk about cancer as a collection of diseases it makes no sense that there could be one herb or plant that can prevent or cure all cancers. There will never be a single treatment approach,” says Dr O’Connor.
Myth 3: “Pharma has the ‘cure’ for cancer but won’t release it.”
“Again there is no single cure for cancer,” Dr O’Connor says, pointing out that the people working in the pharmaceutical industry have cancer at the same rate as other professionals, so it makes no sense that they would be hiding a cure just to profit financially.
Myth 4: “Tight clothes/underwear cause cancer by restricting lymphathic flow or concentrating toxins.”
“No – not true and very upsetting for cancer patients,” Dr O’Connor says.
Myth 5: “Superfoods prevent or cure cancer.”
“There is no such thing as a superfood,” he says. Unregulated ‘nutritionists’ and celebrities endorse so-called ‘superfoods’ or particular fad diets as an aid to their cancer treatment, when in reality strict dietary regimes can do real damage to a cancer patient’s ability to fight their disease
“All the evidence suggests, from all the population studies, that a mixed diet rich in vegetables has best association with overall health.”
Myth 6: “Certain diets can prevent/treat/cure cancer.”
“Again, a balanced diet is recommended for our overall heath,” Dr O’Connor says. “No diet focussing on a single nutrient or excluding a single nutrient has benefit in cancer, including the Keto diet, Alkaline diet, juicing diet, vitamin supplements, herbs etc.
“Really it comes down to dietary patterns rather than individual elements. Are we eating lots of fats or lots of vegetables? It’s big picture things rather than are we eating enough goji berries or blueberries.
“Cancer patients are vulnerable to recommendations from family and friends and alternative diets can be hugely harmful,” he warns.
Myth 7: “Sugar causes cancer.”
“Carbohydrates are an important part of the energy in our diet, but eating too much of any ‘macro’ or energy nutrient will tend towards obesity and obesity increases the risk of a variety of diseases including certain cancers such as breast cancer,” Dr O’Connor says.
Myth 8: “Stress causes cancer.”
“Immediate short term stress does not cause cancer,” he says, “as cancers take many years to develop. Lifelong stress can impact diet, exercise, lifestyle etc. and that is going to increase our risk of cancer.”
Myth 9: “Cancer is always fatal and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“This is a common fatalistic view and often originates from older people and those who have seen advanced cancers. But more than half of all cancers diagnosed are cured, especially in the early stages,” Dr O’Connor says.
This year, 40,000 people will be diagnosed with cancer. That’s 150 cases per day. The disease touches the lives of so many of us, either directly or through family and friends, that it can seem unstoppable. But there is hope. Dr O’Connor says there are things that we can do to “empower us to prevent cancer as much as possible” and “early detection is vital as it gives us a much better chance of being cured”.
“At the heart of any cancer recovery journey must be a healthy, balanced diet, which will often need to be tailored to that patient’s needs. Research is also pointing towards the importance of a healthy diet and physical activity as a way to reduce your cancer risk,” he says.
“These measures are actually fairly simple and the European Code Against Cancer has outlined 12 ways in which we can reduce our cancer risk, which includes not smoking, limiting our alcohol intake, taking exercise, minding our weight, availing of screening services and interventions like the HPV vaccine, and avoiding too much sun.”
He adds that there are several expert-driven and reliable services available for cancer patients and their family and friends in Ireland, so we don’t have to resort to internet searches, celebrity books or dietary fads.
To speak to a cancer nurse on any aspect of cancer, contact the Irish Cancer Society’s Cancer Nurseline on 1800 200 700, email cancernurseline@irishcancer.ie or drop in to one of the 13 Daffodil Centres (daffodilcentreinfo@irishcancer.ie) in hospitals nationwide.
Daffodil Day’s 30th anniversary
The Irish Cancer Society was founded by Professor Austin Darragh in 1963. Professor Darragh was inspired to start the society after being shocked by a statistic that 100 people in Ireland died each year from curable skin cancer, simply because they did not know when to seek treatment.
Today, the Irish Cancer Society aims to provide the public with information about cancer, provide services and support for patients and advocate for improvements in cancer care and treatment.
The first Irish Daffodil Day was organised by Professor Darragh and Society CEO Tom Hudson in 1988. The day quickly became an annual March tradition, with the daffodil logo being adopted in 2001.
Daffodil Day encompasses a host of different events, including nationwide coffee mornings, community events and volunteers on streets providing the public with the yellow flowers.
The 30th Daffodil Day takes place on March 24. Find out how to support the day on www.cancer.ie