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I do worry that discussion of diet and cancer can kind of suggest some responsibility on the part of patients for their disease. This is the problem with holistic approaches involving diet, exercise, stress management etc. We need to keep in mind that causes of and outcome of our cancers are not likely to be within our control in that sense though we can improve our health like anyone else. I know others may disagree!
Replies to "I do worry that discussion of diet and cancer can kind of suggest some responsibility on..."
Agree. No diet is going to "prevent" b.c. The main risk factor is simply getting older. In Shakespeare's time, the average life expectancy was 35! No one knew about b.c because most women didn't survive beyond menopause, worn out by constant pregnancies from about the age of 15- plus the high risk of dying in childbirth. Diet and exercise are important in themselves, but there is a lot of quackery about.
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I agree! Sometimes I think we as human beings don't really want to face the fact that we are mortal. That is, our mortality is simply the outcome of having been born. So we tend to to blame illness and death on all kinds of specifics--as if they weren't universal. I've exercised about an hour a day for decades. I have breast cancer and kidney disease and several other problems. But I exercise because I truly enjoy it and to stay mobile with a disability. I'm able to walk, and enjoy my good mood. But exercise is not some kind of panacea. And it isn't ethical, or moral--it is just a personal habit. Too often we blame ourselves for things that we really have no control over. Thanks windyshores.