"We have a disease-care system, and we have a very profitable disease-care system. And the disease-care system, actually, I mean, if it really was honest with itself, it doesn't want you to die, and it doesn't want you to get well. It just wants you to keep coming back for the care of your chronic disease."
So how great is the risk? From the NY Times article, "It
is the upward trend that is worrisome: The risk of colon cancer for individuals who were born in 1990 was five per million people in that birth group, up from three per million at the same stage of life for those born in 1950."
What's Next? Instead of recommendations that your begin colon cancer screening at age 50, you will likely see that "beginning" age drop in the future to 40 or maybe even 30. And while the industry gives lip service to lifestyle factors in controlling cancer, their #1 recommendation remains: "Make sure you get your regular screenings." Two reasons:
- It generates revenue for the industry (about $50 billion a year in just the USA).
- It identifies new customers who can now start spending money on procedures and drugs.
My question is always this, "If the risk of getting colon cancer during your lifetime dropped from 5% to 0.5%, do you still think there would be a $50 billion business (in just the USA) to screen for it? I think not.
Playing the odds.
If you knew that
your own
odds of getting colon cancer were less than 1%, would you have the procedure? I have chosen to "just say NO" to cancer screenings, because I believe that by eating a WFPB diet for almost fifteen years that I have greatly lowered my risk of cancer.
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While this procedure may be right for millions, I decided that it was not right for me.
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Another inconvenient truth to consider. There are inherent risks in the procedure itself. Apparently, about 1/2 of one percent of the time, there are serious complications (including death) resulting from the procedure. We're talking about 60,000 such cases per year. I am not willing to take that risk.
Want to lower your risk of all chronic disease? Study the works of Campbell, Ornish, Esselstyn, Barnard and John Kelly, MD--then start maximizing the whole, plant-based foods in your diet.
Be well,
J. Morris (Jim) Hicks
CEO, 4Leaf Global, LLC
