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 April 2007 Back to Table of Contents Back to Archives Main Page Section: Being Well Cancer Control Month April has been designated as national Cancer Control Month. With this in mind you can find the answers below to those many myths you may have heard. This quiz is provided by the American Cancer Society. - GN Top 10 Cancer Myths Quiz Myths and rumors become dangerous if they prevent people from having regular check-ups and tests to find cancer in the earliest, most curable stage. Take our quiz to test your own knowledge about cancer, including everyday moves that lower the risk of cancer. Read each myth below to test yourself. 1. True or false: The risk of a typical person in the U.S. dying of cancer has been going down steadily since the early 1990s. More than half of the people diagnosed with cancer today will be cured. It may seem that the risk is growing because the large baby-boom group is aging and cancer typically affects older people. But when adjusted for age, the cancer death rate is decreasing; the risk of dying of cancer is dropping. 2. True or false: Eating meat cooked on a charcoal grill won’t increase your cancer risk. The answer is you can increase your cancer risk if you overuse your BBQ. Research shows grilling and broiling meat creates cancer-causing substances — especially if they’re well done or burnt. However, this idea is still a theory. It makes sense to limit your exposure to those chemicals, but the best nutrition advice for preventing cancer is to choose a diet consisting mostly of vegetables, fruits, and whole grain products. 3. True or false: You can prevent skin cancer by putting on one application of sunscreen at the start of each day. Applying sunscreen before you step outside each day is a good idea. But, if you are planning to be out in the sun, a single application is not enough; read the instructions on the package and be sure to apply enough and reapply as recommended, especially if swimming or perspiring. 4. True or false: Household bug spray can cause cancer. Available evidence does not suggest a link between household use of pesticides and cancer. But, these products can be dangerous if precautions regarding breathing and direct contact are not followed. Precautions for pesticide use are especially important for agricultural workers who may be exposed at higher levels than people who occasionally spray a bug in their home or garden. 5. True or false: Treating cancer with surgery causes it to spread throughout the body. Specialists in cancer surgery know how to safely take biopsy samples and to remove tumors without causing spread of the cancer. In many cases, surgery is an essential part of the cancer treatment plan. 6. True or false: Living in a polluted city is a greater risk for lung cancer than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Air pollution does contribute to lung cancer risk, but has a greater impact on heart disease, asthma, and chronic bronchitis. Being a smoker, or frequent exposure to second hand smoke is more dangerous than the level of air pollution in U.S. cities. 7. True or false: Some injuries can cause cancer later in life. It’s common for people to pay more attention to an injured part of their body, and some people discover tumors while rubbing a painful area. This doesn’t mean that the injury caused the cancer. In rare cases, longstanding injuries that don’t heal can increase cancer risk, but these account for a small fraction of cancer cases. Longstanding infections, such as certain forms of hepatitis or the bacteria that contribute to stomach ulcers, lead to more cancers than injuries do. 8. Electronic devices, like cell phones, can cause cancer in the people who use them. The kind of radiation emitted by cell phones, microwave ovens, and related appliances does not cause the kinds of DNA changes that are caused by ionizing radiation such as gamma rays and x-rays. The available evidence does not implicate cell phones as a cause of cancer. Keeping your hands free and your eyes on the road while driving is a more significant issue. 9. True or false: There is currently a cure for cancer, but the medical industry won’t tell the public about it because they make too much money treating cancer patients. Think about it. Plenty of doctors and their loved ones die of cancer each year. Why would anyone hide such an important discovery? Think about the speed with which other medical breakthroughs in vaccines and antibiotics have been announced and applied. Remember, cancer is many diseases rather then a single disease, and cures are already available for many forms of cancer. Fewer than half of all people with cancer in the U.S. actually die of the disease. 10. True or false: What someone does as a young adult has little impact on their chances of getting cancer later in life. Most cases of cancer are the consequence of many years of exposure to several risk factors. What you eat, whether you are physically active, whether you are sunburned, and especially, whether you smoke as a young person have a substantial influence on whether you develop cancer later in life. For more information contact the American Cancer Society. For cancer information visit www.cancer.org or call 1-800-ACS-2345. back to top back to table of contents Current Issue | About Forever Young | Where to Find | Advertise | Our Advertisers | Community Calendar | Contest | Clubs | Contact Us | Archives | Home |