Pink ribbons and yellow daffodils

Dare me to say the worst word in the English language? It starts with the letter C. Here goes ... Cancer.

All the money that has ever been raised by the sale of pink ribbon items, along with all those flowers on yellow daffodil day, have gone a long way in terms of research and education. However the cure is sadly, still just a distant flicker of light, like a tiny candle in a far off window.

And we all hope and pray that we never hear the word coming from our doctor's lips to our own ears to describe any sickness we may have been suffering. It is indeed, the most vile of words because it means certain death for millions of people of all ages and all cultures every year, despite enormous advances in detection methods and treatments.

Now, I don't want to get all morbid on you. I am well aware that there are also millions of people who survive the disease every year too. Christina Applegate, Lance Armstrong, Cheryl Crow, Kylie Minogue and many more have lived to tell their famous tale of courage and joy. Patrick Swayze is currently in mid-battle with pancreatic cancer and he says he is winning! I hope he is right!

There are many different types which can occur in different parts of the body and just how it starts in seemingly strong and healthy young people, remains a bit of a mystery. We do know this - some lifestyle factors do tend to encourage myodysplasia, which is the medical term used to describe the way cells change and grow strangely compared to healthy cells.

Let's examine just what happens inside your organs when cancer strikes.

Every organ in your body has specialised cells and a specialised function. Lungs take in oxygen and empty our blood of carbon dioxide. We call this 'breathing'. Stomachs and intestines extract nutrients and energy from food, while helping with excreting waste. We call this 'digesting'. And so on.

This all is incredibly hard work, and your cells get tired and eventually die. New cells that are made in your bone marrow or in the organs themselves replace the old ones. In basic terms, this 'born, divide, work, die' process is happening every second in your entire body. Physiologists tell us that, in fact, every seven years, you have an entirely new body!

Sometimes the process goes wrong. This is when myodysplasia occurs.

Sometimes during the cell regeneration process, the number of new cells is more than the number of old cells and this surplus causes lots of problems. One problem is that these new and 'bad' surplus cells can compete for oxygen, nutrients and space with the normal cells around them, making you feel very tired and very ill.

This could be the beginning of a tumour. This tumour growth could stay and grow uncontrollably or break apart and drift to other parts of the body. But not every tumour is cancerous and not every cancer consists of tumours. Alternatively, millions of cancer cells could float around in your blood stream. One example of this is leukaemia.

So far, so nasty.

Consider the following cancer facts:

The most common cancer for women is breast cancer and the most common type of cancer for men is prostate cancer.

The most common type of cancer for both men and women is colon-rectal cancer.

However, if you put all the types of cancer together you will find that a hefty one out of every three is lung cancer.

In Australia one in every three people will at some stage of their lives get skin cancer.

Men can also get breast cancer.

Young children are susceptible to certain types of cancers.

Cancer tends to run in families.

Smoking is a major cause of bladder cancer.

You cannot 'catch' cancer and you cannot get it from a bad bruise, bump, broken bone or infection.

Migraine headaches are rarely a sign of a brain tumour.

But there is good news...

Cancer is treatable - if detected early and if the tumour is intact and removable, it can mean reasonably simple surgery. Other treatments include chemotherapy where injections of chemicals are given to the patient to kill off cancer cells. Radiotherapy uses radiation waves to home in on cancer cells and kill them off.

Let's go one step further ... Cancer is actually preventable! Doctors have been telling us for decades not to smoke, as it causes many different types of cancers, most notably, lung cancer. However, simply living a healthy and active lifestyle and avoiding pollution can help prevent a range of cancers. It sounds simple enough but human nature being what it is means it gets rather complicated.

Consider these foods and lifestyle factors that can keep cancer cells from occurring:

Foods that are bright red, orange, purple or yellow contain enzymes that can kill mutated cells!

Vitamin E maintains the integrity of the cell membrane and is responsible for healthy cell formation.

Wearing sun block is the number one factor in melanoma prevention.

Tea is rich in antioxidants and keeps stressed cells functioning normally. Dark chocolate, red wine and fresh fruits and vegetables do the same, to almost the same degree.

Eating broccoli, the 'wonder food' is directly linked to some tumours not forming in the early stages.

A diet rich in fibre and water and exercise guarantees digestive health and therefore has huge impact on whether or not colon cancer forms.

Excessive alcohol not only makes you look like an idiot, it increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus.

Let's win this fight against this dreaded disease! And if you suspect a lump or are very ill, or have a dark blemish on your skin that has changed, see your doctor for tests. Sending you all my pink and yellow warm wishes!