of nitrate and fluorides
A group of Indian, Pakistani and American scientists has recommended an immediate blanket field testing of hand pumps across the divided region, “This would be the first step towards identifying the risks to the contaminants,” the experts from New Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Pakistan’s Quaid-i-Azam University and Columbia University have said in a report based on their study of groundwater in Indian and Pakistani sides of divided Punjab (India’s Cancer Capitol.)
The report added the solution could be as simple as identifying safe wells, facilitating their switching and sharing besides large-scale water treatment and pipe water delivery.
Long-term exposure to arsenic can cause cancer, skin lesions, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It can also harm cognitive development and increase deaths among young adults.
Arsenic contamination in groundwater had so far been found to be particularly limited to West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and some surrounding areas in the Indo-Gangetic plains and Bangladesh’s Ganges-Brahmaputra basins.
The study, which is one of the first large-scale studies conducted in the Indus basin region, has now found high arsenic levels particularly in the floodplains of the Ravi river covering Tarn Taran, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur districts on the Indian side of Punjab.
About 30,000 handpumps were tested as part of the study, which was published this month in leading international peer-reviewed scientific journal Elsevier’s Science of the Total Environment. The study found as many as 25% of the 13,000 wells tested contained higher levels of arsenic on the Indian side of divided Punjab alone. It found nitrate levels were three to five times the WHO standards in most wells. Arsenic levels were recorded almost 20 to 50 times higher than the WHO limits of 10 parts per billion in many wells.
“Arsenic and fluoride contamination is from natural sources. But our suspicion is that the nitrate contamination is from agriculture and pesticides,” said TERI’s assistant professor Chander Kumar Singh, highlighting a key challenge in Punjab that is known as India’s food bowl.
Most of the samples used in the study were examined with water testing kits before further analysis at the University of Columbia.
In the report, the scientists have quoted the residents saying the people in the region suffer from diseases associated with water contamination like skin lesions and cancers. “We know that cancer incidence in Punjab is high but we have not linked our findings with the public health aspect. However, our impression, while speaking to locals, was that they were suffering health impacts associated with water contamination,” said Singh.
Exposure to high levels of nitrate is linked to methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder, gastric cancer, goiter, birth malformations etc.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC546104/
Cancer Risk and Diet in India
https://www.scgcorp.com/pdf/scg_written_11.pdf
Government survey shows cancer cases in the state exceed national average Punjab,
cancer capital of India
There are at least 90 cancer patients for every 100,000 population in Punjab.
Cancer incidence in the state is higher than the national average of 80 per 100,000 population, reveals a survey by the Punjab government. Though several studies in the past decade had showed that Punjab has higher incidence of cancer than the rest of the country, this is for the first time the state government conducted a comprehensive door-to-door survey to quantify the problem.
The survey, which also aimed at carrying out mass awareness campaign and early detection of cancer based on warning signs and symptoms, screened about 265,000 people in the Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions. It found that about 24,000 of them were suffering from cancer. Worse, more than thrice the number—84,453—were suspected to be suffering from the deadly disease.
A Review on Statistics of Cancer in India
https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/305404936_A_
Review_on_Statistics_of_Cancer_in_India
The study underscores that the Malwa region, already infamed as the cancer belt, has the highest number of cancer patients—107 in 100,000 population. Four districts that topped the cancer incidence list are from this region. With 136 cancer cases per 100,000 population, Muktsar district fares the worst. It is closely followed by Mansa, Bathinda and Ferozepur districts. Tarn Taran district in the Majha region has the least number of cancer patients—
41 per 100,000 people.
Thiruvananthapuram has been termed as the country’s breast cancer capital, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezQc8b01Mms
with cases at a record high of 40 per lakh of population. The revelation was made during the Kerala Chapter of Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) Conference here last week. It noted that 50 per cent of breast cancer is occurring in the age group of under 50 years. Nine lakh women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and
it is the second most common malignancy next to cervical cancer.
Speaking to IANS on Sunday, S.Pradeep, President of the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of the IRIA, said the figures do look alarming as the national average of incidence of breast cancer is 20 per lakh population, while the Kerala average was 14, but in the state capital stood at 40. “A few reasons could be attributed for this and one is that these figures are taken from the registry of the Regional Cancer Centre in the capital city,” said Pradeep. Manoj T. Pillai, IRIA’s State Secretary, said breast cancer was the most common malignancy affecting one million women worldwide and it constitutes about 21 per cent of 519,000 yearly deaths. “Breast cancer can be detected at an early stage and treated. Radiology has a great role to play but the common people are still ignorant about it.”
The major government hospitals have to be equipped enough to handle such large number of cancer patients.” Commenting on the state of affairs in the Malwa region, Thakur says multiple risk factors are at the root of the problem. “Chemical toxicity is high in this region. We have found high levels of arsenic and uranium. Pesticide use is also very high. In addition, common causes like alcohol consumption and high incidence of smoking among migrant labourers increase cancer risk in Malwa,” he adds.
Various surveys showed that one in every five adult in the State would be suffering from one or the other form cancer in the next five years and it was high time Keralites realised this health threat from within and chalked out meaningful ways to address the problem, former Agriculture Minister, Mullakkara Ratnakaran, MLA, has said.
Kerala is fast turning into the ‘cancer capital’ of the country, he added.
Mr. Ratnakaran was releasing the Malayalam book, Nattellu, written by the renowned Spine Surgeon, Suresh S. Pillai, on spinal disorders and remedial measures, brought out by the Kerala Language Institute, at a function held at Mavelikkara on Monday.
Mr. Ratnakaran said a total deviation from their traditional agrarian lifestyle and food habits was what led the modern generation to this state of affairs, making the State home for all types of diseases.
Lifestyle diseases, home remedies
Lifestyle diseases like back pain, hypertension, diabetes, etc, were on the rise in Kerala too. Earlier, Keralites mainly depended on home remedies for various minor ailments. However, the modern generation are ignorant of any such home remedy, he said.
Mr. Ratnakaran said a multi-crop culture prevailed in the State which was the hotspot of a diverse eco system and the people followed a healthy lifestyle rooted in the native agrarian culture and tradition.
Mr. Ratnakaran said the book by Dr. Suresh S.Pillai was a handbook on the spinal disorders that clears various doubts of the common people. He said it was a praiseworthy initiative on the part of a leading spine surgeon to come out with such an authentic book with the support of the Kerala Language Institute.
The MLA released the book by handing over the first copy to Muraleedharan Thazhakkara who presents the ‘Vayalum Veedum’ programme of All India Radio. K.R.Muraleedharan, Mavelikkara municipal chairman presided. Dr Sonia Suresh, introduced the book and Prof P.K. Janardhana Kurup, organizing committee chairman, welcomed the gathering.
A study by Delhi non-profit Centre for Science and Environment in 2004 had found high residue of pesticides in the blood of certain farmers from Bathinda and Ropar districts (see ‘Residue of a revolution’).
Transformation of Punjab’s Malwa Region from Cotton Belt to Cancer Belt
http://isca.in/IJSS/Archive/
v5/i9/7.ISCA-IRJSS-2016-137.pdf
Why India’s Punjab State Has the Country’s Highest Cancer …
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/
asian-america/why–indias-punjab-state-has-countrys…
An Indian farmer walks near agricultural fields on the outskirts of Amritsar, India. In this region, there are ninety cancer patients per 100,000 people compared to the national average of eighty.
India has one of the highest cancer rates in the world | A …
https://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2007/04/26/india-has-one-
of-the-highest-cancer–rates…
Apr 26, 2007 · Some wrong info here. India has much lower rate compared to western countries. Secondly, the studies have shown lower rates of cancer by choosing diets low in meat. I just don’t get what’s Odzer’s problem. There is coarse grain on one side and refined wheat and rice on another they are not same. And we are talking about cancer not diabetes.
It is estimated that many tumors start around the age of 20. However, detection of cancer is normally around the age of 50 or later. Thus, it takes cancer decades to incubate. Why does it take so long? Recent studies indicate that in any given type of cancer, hundreds of different genes must be modified to change a normal cell into a cancer cell. Although cancers are characterized by the dysregulation of cell signaling pathways at multiple steps, most current anticancer therapies involve the modulation of a single target. Chemotherapy has gotten incredibly specific, but the ineffectiveness, lack of safety, and high cost of these monotargeted therapies has led to real disappointment, and drug companies are now trying to develop chemo drugs that take a multitargeted approach.
Many plant-based products, however, accomplish multitargeting naturally and are inexpensive and safe compared to drugs. However, because drug companies are not usually able to secure intellectual property rights to plants, the development of plant-based anticancer therapies has not been prioritized. They may work (and work better for all we know), and they may be safer, or even fully risk free.
If we were going to choose one plant-based product to start testing, we might choose curcumin, the pigment in the spice turmeric (the reason curry powder looks yellow). Before we start throwing money at research, we might want to ask some basic questions, like “Do populations that eat a lot of turmeric have lower cancer rates?” The incidence of cancer does appear to be significantly lower in regions where turmeric is heavily consumed. Population-based data indicate that some extremely common cancers in the Western world are much less prevalent in regions where turmeric is widely consumed in the diet.
For example, “overall cancer rates are much lower in India than in western countries.” U.S. men get 23 times more prostate cancer than men in India. Americans get between 8 and 14 times the rate of melanoma, 10 to 11 times more colorectal cancer, 9 times more endometrial cancer, 7 to 17 times more lung cancer, 7 to 8 times more bladder cancer, 5 times more breast cancer, and 9 to 12 times more kidney cancer. This is not mere 5, 10, or 20 percent more, but 5, 10, or 20 times more. Hundreds of percent more breast cancer, thousands of percent more prostate cancer—differences even greater than some of those found in the China Study.
The researchers in this study, highlighted in my video Back to Our Roots: Curry and Cancer, conclude: “Because Indians account for one-sixth of the world’s population, and have some of the highest spice consumption in the world, epidemiological studies in this country have great potential for improving our understanding of the relationship between diet and cancer. The lower rates of cancer may, of course, not be due to higher spice intake. Several dietary factors may contribute to the low overall rate of cancer in India. Among them are a “relatively low intake of meat and a mostly plant-based diet, in addition to the high intake of spices.” Forty percent of Indians are vegetarians, and even the ones that do eat meat don’t eat a lot. And it’s not only what they don’t eat, but what they do. India is one of the largest producers and consumers of fresh fruits and vegetables, and Indians eat a lot of pulses (legumes), such as beans, chickpeas, and lentils. They also eat a wide variety of spices in addition to turmeric that constitute, by weight, the most antioxidant-packed class of foods in the world.
Population studies can’t prove a correlation between dietary turmeric and decreased cancer risk, but they can certainly inspire a bunch of research. So far, curcumin has been tested against a variety of human cancers, including colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast, prostate, multiple myeloma, lung cancer, and head and neck cancer, for both prevention and treatment. For more information on turmeric and curcumin, check out Carcinogen Blocking Effects of Turmeric Curcumin and Turmeric Curcumin Reprogramming Cancer Cell Death.
I’m working on another dozen or so videos on this amazing spice. This is what I have so far:
Who Shouldn’t Consume Curcumin or Turmeric?
Boosting the Bioavailability of Curcumin
Turmeric Curcumin and Osteoarthritis
Turmeric Curcumin and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Spicing Up DNA Protection
Which Spices Fight Inflammation?
Amla, dried Indian gooseberry powder, is another promising dietary addition:
Amla Versus Cancer Cell Growth
Amla Versus Cancer Cell Invasion
Amla Versus Diabetes
I add amla to my Pink Juice with Green Foam recipe. Not all natural products from India are safe, though. See, for example, my video Some Ayurvedic Medicine Worse than Lead Paint Exposure.
More on the antioxidant concentration in spices in general in Antioxidants in a Pinch. Why do antioxidants matter? See Food Antioxidants and Cancer and Food Antioxidants, Stroke, and Heart Disease.
Which fruits and vegetables might be best? See #1 Anticancer Vegetable and Best Fruits for Cancer Prevention.
-Michael Greger, M.D.
https://vegsource.com/michael-
greger-md/why-are-cancer-rates-so-low-in-india.html
https://indianexpress.com/
article/india/india-news-
india/cancer-fast-spreading-
its-roots-in-punjab-report-2816449/
https://nutritionfacts.org/
2015/05/05/why-are-cancer-rates-so-low-in-india/
https://timesofindia.
indiatimes.com/india/Cancer-
survival-rate-in-India-among-
the-lowest-in-the-world/articleshow/45399391.cms
It’s a nasty job to clean up after a sick cat!!!
There wouldn’t be any problems in this world if people didn’t elect to live in a filthy world:
dirty, filthy, foul, nasty, squalid mean conspicuously unclean or impure. dirty emphasizes the presence of dirt more than an emotional reaction to it. A dirty littered street filthy carries a strong suggestion of offensiveness and typically of gradually accumulated dirt that begrimes and besmears. A stained greasy floor, utterly filthy foul implies extreme offensiveness and an accumulation of what is rotten or stinking. A foul-smelling open sewer nasty applies
to what is actually foul or is repugnant to one expecting freshness, cleanliness, or sweetness.
Gulf of Mexico coastal residents are civilian casualties
of a chemical and biological warfare. We have most of the same toxins in our blood and we share the same symptoms experienced by soldiers who survived and died after exposure to debilitating and deadly chemicals in the European trenches of WWI. While the rest of the world has been deliberately kept in the dark, the Gulf of Mexico has become a chemical and biological battleground. Our shorelines and coastal areas are now the front lines of this deadly war that will bring an onslaught of casualties during the next decade and beyond.
We are all entrenched in a war for our survival and the survival of our
families for generations to come.