Electric Light And Cancer
As explained in chapter 5, there is a strong link between the hormone melatonin and cancer. Melatonin
protects genetic material from mutation, according to Russell Reiter, professor of cellular and structural
biology at the University of Texas. “Night light suppresses the body's production of melatonin and thus
can increase the risk of cancer-related mutations,” he told a gathering in London. Scott Davis, chairman of
the department of epidemiology at the University of Washington, stated that “while the link between light
at night and cancer may seem like a stretch on the surface, there is an underlying biological basis for it.”
Both Davis and Stevens have been studying how night lighting affects the production of female
hormones, which, in turn, can affect the risk of breast cancer. “We have found a relationship between
light at night and night-shift work to breast cancer risk,” Davis said. “The studies indicate that night work
disrupts the activity of melatonin, which leads to excessive production of hormones in women.”
The message here is to get about 8 hours of regular sleep, starting before 10 p.m. (without any
artificial lighting around you). In addition, get regular exposure of sunlight (without the use of sunglasses
and sun lotions). Both constitute some of the most effective ways to treat and prevent cancer.
Exercise And Cancer
There have been controversial opinions about whether exercise is either beneficial or harmful for
cancer patients. New research clears up any such doubts and points to the benefits of exercise as a means
of fighting cancer, according to a new report issued by John’s Hopkins University. As far as cancer
patients undergoing chemotherapy are concerned, exercise is one of the best ways to combat treatment-
related fatigue. “It’s not recommended that you begin an intense, new exercise regimen while undergoing
chemotherapy, but if you exercised before your cancer diagnosis, try and maintain some level of activity,”
says Deborah Armstrong, M.D., Associate Professor of Oncology, Gynecology, and Obstetrics at Johns
Hopkins, “If you haven’t been exercising, try low-level exercise, such as walking or swimming.”
The benefits of exercise are not limited to helping treatment-related fatigue, but they are actively
contributing to curing cancer. Several groundbreaking studies attest to that. This hardly comes at a
surprise since cancer cells are typically oxygen-deprived, and exercise is a direct way to deliver extra
oxygen to cells throughout the body and to improve the immune response. Researchers also believe that
exercise can regulate production of certain hormones that, unregulated, may spur tumor growth.
Exercise should not be strenuous, however. Exercising for half an hour each day or several hours a
week may all that is needed to significantly increase cell-oxygenation (also refer to chapter 6 for proper
guidance).
In one study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers followed
2,987 women with breast cancer. Women who, for example, walked more than one hour a week after their
cancer diagnosis were less likely to die of their breast cancer. In another study of 573 women with colon
cancer, women who followed a moderate exercise program for more than six hours a week after their
colon cancer diagnosis were 61% less likely to die of cancer-specific causes than women who exercised
less than one hour a week. In all cases, exercise was found to be protective regardless of the patient’s age,
stage of cancer, or weight. A third study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, confirmed the
above findings after examining the effects of exercise on 832 men and women with stage III colon cancer.