Case in point: Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK. Thanks Cancer Research UK for this incredible insight. Next they'll be researching whether smoking causes cancer or indeed whether the Pope is Catholic.
I think research into curing cancer is incredibly valuable and I hope and pray that one day, these brilliant minds will come up with a cure. However, it feels to me like this pointless finding is going to have little impact on people's lives.
Before I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer in November 2013, I was a tee-total pescetarian who had never smoked a cigarette, ate healthily and exercised regularly. The friends I have lost to this vicious disease were (and are) people who lived a normal, moderate life. In fact, many were incredibly committed to a super-healthy lifestyle and it was a bitter pill to swallow that these people, despite their diligence and commitment to their well-being died anyway.
Prior to having cancer I never gave a thought to trying to prevent it. I find it hard to believe that many people do. If they did, would anyone smoke, drink to excess or over-indulge? Cancer is abstract for the uninitiated. So, it seems counter-intuitive to put measures in place to mitigate against something that may never happen. We are all just people. No-one has a perfect lifestyle (even those who pretend they do on social media). So, who is going to look at this news and get themselves to boot camp forthwith to make sure they keep cancer at bay?
The other part of this announcement that I find irksome is that there is an element of implicit blame on cancer sufferers. Nobody deserves cancer, whatever their lifestyle. It's not helpful to those who are going through treatment to feel like something they did resulted in cancer. Cancer is indiscriminate. All of us should look after ourselves and do our best to be healthy, but we are people, not automatons.
At my Church, instead of giving something up for Lent, we are going to take up something good for us instead. This may be prayer, reading the bible, being more compassionate or finding ways to help others. I would suggest that we all consider changes to our lifestyles, not to prevent cancer, but to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. It's pretty obvious really.
Amanda
