- Cancer has attacked people since ancient times
- Cancer is fostered not only by environmental pollution
- Sometimes the cancer "did not" appear
- Cancer has always been, but not always recognized
Many people believe that cancer is a problem of modern civilization and in the past people did not die from cancer. In fact, this is actually one of the medical myths - malignant tumors have accompanied mankind since the dawn of time and have been responsible for some deaths in the most distant times. So why do some people believe that people once did not die of cancer?
Cancer has been listed as one of the greatest human he alth problems for a long time. You can often hear about campaigns in various media, the aim of which is both to increase patients' awareness of the potential symptoms of lung cancer or breast cancer and other cancers, but also to promote behaviors that may reduce the risk of a serious disease.
One thing can definitely be admitted - cancer was once not mentioned as often as it has been in recent years. For this reason, there are people who are absolutely convinced that cancer is a disease of "our" times and that in the past people did not die of cancer. To some extent, such thinking seems justified, but in practice it has little to do with the truth.
Cancer has attacked people since ancient times
More has been said about cancer in recent years, but when it was spoken less often, it attacked various people anyway. For example, cancer was mentioned by Hippocrates, who lived before our era, and changes in the nature of cancer were also found in the ancient Egyptians.
Some people may be hard to convince using information about Egyptian manuscripts that date back to around 1500 B.C. and are considered one of the first reports of breast cancer cases - in such cases, mention may be made of mummies that were found to have had bone cancer before death.
Interestingly, cancer is not really just an affliction of the human race. Changes of this kind were also detected in the found remains of Neanderthals and prehistoric animals.
Cancer is fostered not only by environmental pollution
Repeatedly underlinedis that exposure to various substances, such as cigarette smoke and airborne pollutants, can increase the risk of cancer.
People who are convinced that in the past people did not die of cancer can argue in support of their beliefs that since in the distant past a man was not exposed to pollution, he simply could not get cancer in the world. In the end, it turns out that just as the risk of cancer in the old days could have been lower, it definitely did not go down to zero.
It should be remembered that some natural factors can also promote carcinogenesis - that is, the process of neoplastic formation. One of them, which is associated with the occurrence of cancer, and which no one can fully protect himself from, is ultraviolet radiation - and there has long been attention to the relationship between exposure to sunlight and skin cancer.
In prehistory, natural toxins, radioactive agents, and various microorganisms living in the environment could have favored cancer. Pathogens that may be associated with cancer include both bacteria (e.g. E. coli) and viruses (e.g. HPV).
Sometimes the cancer "did not" appear
Most neoplastic diseases are found in the group of older patients - ultimately it is noticeable that the older a person gets, the greater the risk of cancer. Of course, this applies not to all neoplastic diseases (some of them, after all, occur mainly in childhood), but in general the above-mentioned relationship definitely exists.
It is worth mentioning here that in ancient times people did not live as long as they do now. Nowadays, the fact that someone lives to be 70 or 80 years old does not surprise anyone. Once upon a time it was surprising that a man lived to the age of 30.
People may have had cancer less often because they simply did not develop cancer in their lifetime - it takes some time for the mutations that cause the first cancer cells to appear in the human body to develop.
Cancer has always been, but not always recognized
It has already been mentioned that the manifestations of neoplastic diseases have already been found in Neanderthals. However, this was done relatively recently. It is very likely that at that time people were unaware of any disease.
Nowadays, some neoplastic diseases are diagnosed at a very late, significant stage, when the prognosis is difficult to be considered favorable. Causesuch a state of affairs is, inter alia, the fact that some cancers do not give any symptoms for a long time.
In a situation where the patient complains of some ailments, it is possible to carry out various tests, even imaging, such as :
- computed tomography,
- scintigraphy
- or magnetic resonance imaging.
Back then, when no one even dreamed about the current, and food was obtained with the use of a spear, it was simply impossible to find cancer. Ultimately, some people suffering from cancer could die, and the causes of death for his immediate surroundings could remain a mystery that could not be solved.
Neoplastic diseases have been, are and most likely will occur in humans. Today, medicine has a great knowledge of both their causes, symptoms and treatment options. However, research is still underway on how to detect them even faster, and those that will improve the effects of their treatment than at present.
The only thing left is to count on the fact that just as people have always died of cancer, in the future deaths from this cause will be less and less.
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