The immune system protects us against cancer | Josh Mitteldorf
For decades, we have been treating cancer by hammering away at cancer cells with radiation and chemical poisons. Fearful that even one surviving cell can seed a recurrence, we routinely apply the maximum tolerable dose, with side-effects ranging from nausea and hair loss to permanent impairment of the immune system. Is there a better approach?
Cancer is an aging-related disease. There are very different views on how aging impacts on cancer development in humans. A dominant view believes that somatic cells accumulate mutations during aging until the point where mutations cause cells to be changed into cancer cells that then clonally expand into populations of cancer cells. The premise of this theory is that [...]
Okay, part of my argument for getting regular sunlight is that the sun stimulates our bodies to create pre-vitamin-D compound that our bodies store and use as-needed, and any excess created in this way is broken down by the same sunlight; the sun gives us exactly as much vitamin D as we need, no more (toxicity can have severe consequences), no less (so can deficiency). (I might point out here that no chart designed to speak to an entire nation or world of people can tell me exactly how much I need, let alone deliver exactly that amount.) Vitamin D is looking more and more like it plays a huge role in the effective function of the immune system. It's looking more and more like the immune system plays a huge role in our bodies' ability to fight cancer (among other things, like bird flu :D ). Summer's comin', people (much as I know some parts of the country are feelin' like it's not, and much as it's actually not in the southern hemisphere... :D ), time for gettin' that Vitamin D fix. :)
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