DNA and Cancer: Understanding The Relationship

From the office of Dr. Laurence Magne, author of www.cancer-free-for-life.com

The term cancer actually describes over 200 types of illnesses, all with similar characteristics. Every portion of our body is comprised of cells and every cell is made up of 23 pairs of chromosomes. Those chromosomes are made up of DNA strains.

Embedded in that DNA are the instructions for the way each cell is to behave, how long it is supposed to function, and when it is supposed to divide. Generally speaking, a cell divides about 75 times before it dies. Nearly all of the cells in our bodies die and are replaced before dying.

For one of the cancer conditions to develop requires something happening to those instructions and the cell no longer behaves the way it was originally intended to. Basically, the cell doesn’t age and die the way it normally would. When it divides, then, it produces more cells that don’t age and die the way they normally would.

When a cell is damaged and divides to create more damaged cells, they soon become a mass known as a tumor. There are different types of tumors and, when cancer is suspected, a biopsy will often be conducted to determine which type of tumor is being dealt with.

The damage done to the DNA in a cell usually occurs due to contact with a carcinogen. Three types of carcinogens exist, each behaving in different ways and causing different mutations in DNA instructions.

Physical carcinogens can come from radiation, such as x-rays or sunlight, or from fibers, such as asbestos and many byproducts of cigarette smoke. These types of carcinogens tend to either punch holes in the DNA or clump it together with other DNA strains.

Chemical carcinogens can actually bind “form molecules” to DNA strains which cause the instructions to be “misread” by the cell. Chemical carcinogens can be found in many places, such as car exhaust and tobacco.

Finally, biological carcinogens are either viruses or bacteria that interfere with the cell and its instructions. The human papillomaviruses are viral carcinogens and Helicobacter pylori is a bacterial carcinogen.

Damaged DNA can also be passed genetically from parent to child, which is why it’s a good idea to find out if there is a historical predominance of cancer in your family.

The trend in Western science is moving towards developing drugs that can counteract the cancer causing damage done to DNA. With the completion of the Human Genome Project, scientists are working to discover all of the damaged genes which can cause cancer.

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To discover what causes disease and cancer, visit www.cancer-free-for-life.com to purchase a copy of Dr Magne's book: "Cancer Free For Life", an investigation into disease, cancer and your power to heal your body.