Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Stand Up To Cancer (with behavioral changes?)


At the mall the other day one of the mall TV screens was playing an add for a "Stand Up To Cancer" charity, featuring a determined Reece Witherspoon writing her name on the wall in support. And while I respect any charities and their efforts to research a cure for cancer, I checked out the site and what seems strangely absent to me is: what BEHAVIORAL changes are needed to combat cancer? Research is great, and of course screening and checks, but ultimately wouldn't the best way to stand up to cancer be through PREVENTION?

As evidenced by all the posts here so far, I'm a strong proponent in changing DIET as a means of improving health and avoiding disease, but the Stand Up site didn't really have anything on diet that I could find (or even behavioral changes, for instance.) I flipped through a number of pages on the site, because, frankly, I'd like to know what lifestyle changes could mean a lower cancer risk.

Additionally, I think about sites like abortionbreastcancer.com and the list of scientific studies linking abortion to breast cancer, and yet material like this is starkly absent from sites like Stand Up. Why? Are all of these studies just summarily dismissed as anecdotal? Or is it just the "wrong" science that doesn't belong to be heard?

I wish organizations like Stand Up the best, but I think it would be so much more impactful if sites like this focused on diet, nutrition and behavior - in other words, preventative measures to avoid cancer.

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