Avoiding Cancer One Day at a Time
Book Review of a Practical Guide To Cancer Prevention
Aug 19, 2008
The effect lifestyle has on cancer risk is frequently belittled with arguments like "My uncle smoked cigarettes and lived until 98" and "Everything causes cancer these days." We would like to believe that our risk of getting this ugly disease is determined by our genes alone - or perhaps by fate. In reality up to 90% of cancers are caused by environmental factors.
Even textbooks about oncology and cancer rarely touch the subject of cancer prevention. It is hard to learn more about it without browsing medical journals. Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time (Beaver's Pond Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1592981595) is a book that attempts to change this. The authors Lynne Eldridge, MD and David Borgeson, an epidemiologist, challenge the belief that we cannot effectively reduce our risk of cancer.
The result is well-written and structured, far from boring. It features a pleasant graphical design and plenty of lists, graphs and tables to improve readability without undermining its scientific credibility. The book begins with a cancer prevention quiz and the appendices include a "worksheet" for lifestyle improvements.
Contents
The book comes off as thoroughly researched, conclusive and up to date. The authors go through all areas of cancer prevention, including less obvious ones such as how the amount of sleep and food preparation and storage affect our cancer risk. Everything is supported by statistics or studies. The authors do not recommend a fanatic approach to risks.
There is a wealth of information about different subjects, including infectious diseases, occupational hazards and some medications, even common antibiotics, as a cancer risk. The book is about primary cancer prevention (how to prevent cancer in the first place), but there is also a short chapter about secondary prevention (how to detect cancer as early as possible).
The book takes a practical and down-to-earth approach. It not only explains which things are bad for us, but also gives concrete examples how to avoid them, such as safer alternatives to carcinogenic (cancer-promoting) chemicals used in cleaning products and houseplants that remove harmful substances from indoor air.
There are many good tips for eating healthier, losing weight (obesity is also a cancer risk) and for teaching children about healthy lifestyle. The focus is on getting anticancer nutrients from normal food. The use of supplements in cancer prevention is only discussed briefly, primarily in the context of what should be avoided.
One chapter is dedicated to anticancer recipes - not just sprouts and spinach but healthy and tasty home cooking, such as salmon with teriyaki shiitake. Some of the recipes do not seem especially healthy, but incorporate more fruit, vegetables and/or berries than "normal" versions.
Shortcomings
The book feels a bit too U.S. centered. For example, out of the hundreds of Internet addresses in the book most are only useful to U.S. residents, and there were no metric conversions of Imperial units. This was slightly disappointing, but by no means renders the book useless to a reader outside of the States.
The role of vitamin D was not discussed in great detail, even though it is currently considered one of the most important factors in cancer prevention. The reviewer also found the short snippet about cannabis misleading and outdated, suggesting carcinogenicity not supported by recent studies.
There could have perhaps been more information about cancer in general and specific cancers. It is not the scope of the book, but it could have been included as an introductory chapter or perhaps among the appendices.
Conclusion
The book thoroughly impressed the medical writer who wrote this review. Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time can be recommended to just about every adult, from grandmas to physicians. It illustrates in an inspiring and convincing fashion that even minor changes in lifestyle can lead to major reductions in cancer risk. Enjoying life and living healthily are not mutually exclusive.
