If cancer needs carbs (glucose) to grow, why don't doctors change people’s diets when the cancer is first diagnosed?
Cancer cells consume glucose (the end metabolic product of carbohydrates) much more rapidly than do normal cells (which is why they light up on PET scans). One of the body's responses to cancer is to lose one's appetite. Is this a defense mechanism against the cancer - or just a merciful way to die (starving to death is a much more pleasant way to die than having to endure pain and almost every other unpleasant symptom that humans can have - which cancer may cause)?Anyway, in the competition for nutritional resources, the cancer wins - while the rest of one's cells starve, the cancer thrives.Temporal wasting (the sunken-in temples) results from rapid weight loss. The muscles are cannibalized to make glucose for the tumor - the temples are a reliable place to look to assess weight loss.So, contrary to what would seem to be a logical way to limit the growth of cancer, trying to limit carbs mainly starves the rest of the body, but not the cancer.If you are interested in “No Nonsense” answers to serious medical questions, please follow me. (>200 answers on cancer, medicine and human behavior.)
What is the exact definition of cancer?what causes cancer?
Cancer happens when normal cells change so that they grow in an uncontrolled way. The uncontrolled growth causes a tumour to form. If not treated, the tumour can cause problems by invading normal tissues nearby or by causing pressure on other body structures. Nobody knows what causes this to happen. Which means NOBODY KNOWS WHAT CAUSES CANCER. The finest scientific minds in the world whose life's work it is to find out don't yet know, So people telling you cancer is 'caused' by 'toxins', dairy or loud music are simply repeating rumour and hearsay. Cancer is an umbrella term for over 200 different diseases. There are risk factors for different types of cancer, some of which are avoidable; but they are risk factors - something that increases your statistical risk - not causes. For example, smoking is a major risk factor for lung cancer, and a risk factor for some other types of cancer (by no means all. Excessive sun exposure is a risk factor for skin cancers and a diet high in red and processed meat is a major risk factor for colorectal cancers. But people who have not been exposed to these risk factors get cancer too. And many people who are exposed to these risks don't develop cancer Cancer affects the healthy and the unhealthy alike. Nobody knows why, of two people with the same risk factors (or lack of them) one will get cancer and the other won't. The biggest risk factor for most types of cancer is getting older; the majority of people diagnosed with cancer are over 60.
Do everyone have cancer cells that are dormant?
No; it's a popular misconception - every day on this forum someone claims that we are all born with cancer cells that are waiting for something to trigger them - but it's nonsense. Cancer occurs when something happens to NORMAL cells; it's caused by normal cells changing so that they grow in an uncontrolled way. The uncontrolled growth causes a tumour to form. If not treated, the tumour can cause problems by invading normal tissues nearby or by causing pressure on other body structures.
Ap bio essay: regulatory mechanisms of organisms?
The survival of organisms depends on regulatory mechanisms at various levels. Choose THREE from the following examples. Explain of each is regulated. -*- The expression of a gene -*- The activity of an enzyme -*- The cell cycle -*- The internal water balance of a plant -*- The density of a population Any info on the regulation of even one of these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!