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Writer's pictureEmre İnceoğlu

CARCINOGENS CANCER and CHEMOTHERAPY

Carcinogens are products that tend to cause cancer in the human body by mutating the cell's DNA. Today, nearly every product that we use is carcinogenic. For example, our phones, the chemicals we use in cleaning, and the processed foods we eat. Most of them either emit radiation or contain chemicals that are harmful to humans. Because these products are everywhere in our daily lives, cancer is at its all-time highest. But how do these products even cause cancer, and how is it treated?

Our cells can be affected by outside factors. For example, if a chemist works with strong chemicals such as arsenic and benzene without taking the necessary precautions, they would be at serious risk of developing cancer because these chemicals would mess up the cells’ protein production process and cause the cells to divide uncontrollably, thereby causing cancer. To give another example, in 1945, the USA used nuclear warheads on Japan which caused cancer rates to increase devastatingly due to radiation that was emitted from nukes. Another shocking carcinogen is processed meat. Products like ham, salami, bacon, etc. can cause cancer due to their preservation methods.

So how does cancer affect the body? Cancer cells take up the necessary space and consume the nutrients required for healthy cells, leading to healthy cells dying and organ failure. With organ failure, the body starts to shut down, causing systems to stop working, which results in death. Before all of this happens, cancer shows symptoms such as heavy fever, fatigue, unusual swells and lumps, unexplained weight loss, and pain or aching. Because it spreads quickly and unnoticeably it is highly fatal.

Cancer is one of the hardest diseases to cure even though it is a common one. The reason for that is that cancer cells develop a mechanism that prevents the immune system from noticing them as normal cells which prevents them from facing a defense from the body. That's why chemotherapy is required while dealing with cancer. Chemotherapy uses chemicals to kill fast-growing and dividing cancer cells which also can kill healthy and necessary cells. That's why people who are on chemo have a weaker immune system.

Overall, cancer is one of the biggest and most important current health issues. Even though there are some treatments for cancer, a complete cure has not yet been found which is concerning looking at the overall deaths caused by cancer.

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