Pacific Family Health Journal with Dr Rodney Itaki
Cancer in Papua New Guinea: Prevention is still the best cure!
Cancer results from cells that are growing out of control. There are many forms of cancer but for simplicity we can divide cancer into 2 forms: (1) blood cancers or cancer of the blood cells, for example leukemia and (2) tissue cancers, for example mouth cancer or cervical cancer. So how does cancer start and what can cause cancer?
Simple answer to the question is: DNA damage leads to cancer. DNA is the genetic material in every human cell that codes for everything about a person. A baby gets half of the DNA from the mother and the other half comes from the father. Therefore, anything that damages our DNA will lead to development of cancer in the body. So what things can damage DNA?
Everything around us can damage DNA. Anything we eat or drink can damage DNA. Chemicals can damage DNA. Some infections, especially viral infections can damage DNA. Certain frequency waves can damage DNA. Some medicines can damage DNA. Some social drugs can damage DNA – alcohol, smoking and betel nut chewing. So we can see that if we are aware of what things around us that can damage DNA (that can lead to cancer development) we can prevent cancer by controlling our environment and our habits.
In Papua New Guinea the common forms of cancer are mouth cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer, and cervical cancer. We already know that smoking is the single most important factor leading to cancer in the world. PNG is no exception where smoking is rampant among both the old and young. We also know that betel nut chewing leads to mouth cancer. Betel nut chewing is uncontrolled and unregulated. Children are starting to chew betel nut at very young ages.
Early detection is another way cancer can be controlled and if treated at an early stage, people can be cured of cancer. Even in the best cancer centers in the world, advanced cancer is very difficult to treat and most patients do not survive for more than 5 years after receiving treatment. The key in cancer control is stopping social habits that are high risk (e.g. smoking, betel nut chewing) and early detection.
While every effort is being made to establish cancer treatment facilities in PNG for treating cancer patients, equal effort (or much more) should be done to identify and remove cancer causing things in our environment, encourage healthy habits and help people stop bad habits and establish early cancer detection programs in health facilities.
Cancer treatment facilities in PNG are still far off and prevention is therefore the best cure!
Dr Rodney Itaki, MBBS, BMedSci
Read Pacific Family Health Journal with Dr Rodney Itaki every wednesday on PNGBUZZ.COM
Visit Dr Itaki’s blog here https://pacificfamilyhealth.wordpress.com
Your blog is a treasure trove of valuable insights and thought-provoking commentary Your dedication to your craft is evident in every word you write Keep up the fantastic work!
My brother suggested I mmight like thyis blog.
He wwas totally right. This post actually made my day.
Yoou cann’t imagikne justt hoow muh tim I hhad spent ffor this information! Thanks!
Touche. Souynd arguments. Keep uup the amqzing spirit.
I’m curious to find ouut what blog platrform you haave been utilizing?
I’m exleriencing sokme small security issues with my latest blog
andd I would lik to find something more safe. Do youu have
aany suggestions?
Wonderfhl blog! I foun itt while surfing around on Yahoo News.
Do youu have any tips onn hoow to get listed iin Yahoo News?
I’ve ben tryijng for a while but I nevrr seem tto
get there! Manyy thanks
webové stránky jsou opravdu pozoruhodné pro lidi zkušenosti, dobře,
Tak Hej der til alle, det indhold, der findes på denne
Muito obrigado!}
It contains fastidious material.|I think the admin of this website is actually working hard in favor of his site,
) Vou voltar a visitá-lo uma vez que o marquei no livro. O dinheiro e a liberdade são a melhor forma de mudar, que sejas rico e continues a orientar os outros.
for the reason that here every material is quality based
|Tato stránka má rozhodně všechny informace, které jsem o tomto tématu chtěl a nevěděl jsem, koho se zeptat.|Dobrý den! Tohle je můj 1. komentář tady, takže jsem chtěl jen dát rychlý
že spousta z něj se objevuje na internetu bez mého souhlasu.
fortsæt det gode arbejde stipendiater. Med at have så meget indhold og artikler gør du det
råb ud og sig, at jeg virkelig nyder at læse gennem dine blogindlæg.
grupo do facebook? Há muitas pessoas que eu acho que iriam realmente
O conteúdo existente nesta página é realmente notável para a experiência das pessoas,
It’s a shame you don’t have a donste button! I’d certaonly donate
too this superb blog! I gues forr now i’ll settlpe for book-marking and
adding your RSS feed tto myy Googl account. I look fforward to brdand neew updates andd will
tlk abojt this site wwith my Facebook group. Talk soon!
apreciariam o seu conteúdo. Por favor, me avise.
Tak skal du have!|Olá, creio que este é um excelente blogue. Tropecei nele;
det. Denne side har bestemt alle de oplysninger, jeg ønskede om dette emne, og vidste ikke, hvem jeg skulle spørge. Dette er min 1. kommentar her, så jeg ville bare give en hurtig
Tak Hej der til alle, det indhold, der findes på denne
také jsem si vás poznamenal, abych se podíval na nové věci na vašem blogu.|Hej! Vadilo by vám, kdybych sdílel váš blog s mým facebookem.
Znáte nějaké metody, které by pomohly omezit krádeže obsahu? Rozhodně bych ocenil
e dizer que gosto muito de ler os vossos blogues.
Esta página tem definitivamente toda a informação que eu queria sobre este assunto e não sabia a quem perguntar. Este é o meu primeiro comentário aqui, então eu só queria dar um rápido
Znáte nějaké metody, které by pomohly omezit krádeže obsahu? Rozhodně bych ocenil
Evedryone lovves hat you gys arre usuwlly up too.
This typee of clevr woirk andd coverage!
Keep uup tthe fantastic wors guys I’ve incorlorated
yoou guys too ouur blogroll.
Have you ever thoughnt abou creating an e-book or guest
authoring on otherr sites? I havce a blo bsed upon oon the saje subjects you discuss annd would llove to have youu share some stories/information.
I kbow mmy visitoirs wokuld value yourr work. If yyou are evcen reotely interested, feel free too send
me aan email.
buď vytvořil sám, nebo zadal externí firmě, ale vypadá to.
With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My site has a lot of unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know any techniques to help reduce content from being ripped off? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Have you ever considered writing an e-book or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog based on the same topics you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
díky tomuto nádhernému čtení! Rozhodně se mi líbil každý kousek z toho a já
gruppe? Der er mange mennesker, som jeg tror virkelig ville
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.
missav.fr เว็บhttps://mantekas.lt/produktas/auksto-slegio-galios-teleskopas-4-sekciju-68-m-24-pedu-pasiekiamumas-highline/ ออนไลน์ ญี่ปุ่น ซับไทย อัปเดตใหม่ทุกวัน ยินดีต้อนรับสู่ missav เว็บดูหนัง AV ออนไลน์ที่ดีที่สุดในปี 2025!