There are a few medical issues that strike fear in one’s psyche and one of them is cancer.  Our goal is to provide the facts, as they exist in 2016, to assist you in making good decisions for you and your family members.  I have never been asked, in 35 years of practicing medicine, any questions by family members about the potential of other family members developing cancer. Is it the fear of knowing or not caring?  I think it is the fear of knowing.

• Doctors are uncertain as to why some people develop and other people do not develop cancer. One third of the population of men and women will develop cancer during their lifetime.
• It is not often discussed, but excessive intake of alcohol will increase the risk of developing cancer of the head and neck, bladder, stomach, breast, colon, and liver.
• Eating large amount of lunchmeat, a processed food, is a known cause of colon cancer. The nitrite used as a preservative is carcinogenic.  Excessive intake of red meat is also cancer causing.
• Smoking and secondhand smoke are major causes of lung, breast, and head and neck cancer.

We dedicate this article to members of our family, Ms. Gloria Bell and Tonisha Bell Alston, who succumbed to cancer and left us behind.