Given that it used to be (and still is in some places) that most people died in childhood, and lots others in young adulthood, of things we don't even think about any more, it follows that more of us are going to get the diseases that haven't got cures or preventives yet. Esp. since a lot of cancer happens in hold age when systems are breaking down...

My mother died in her 20s of complications of scarlet fever. A couple decades later, there was no scarlet fever, only strep - here, take these pills and go home. Had she lived into her 30s, 40s and beyond, there were also sorts of other possibilities...

I have a big brown envelope taped right above/beside my back door with will, prepaid body-disposal info, other needed stuff, labled IN CASE OF DEATH. Kinda freaks out new visitors ("Are you feeling okay?"), but it's just a matter of being *organized*, esp. after having cleaned up after a few deaths...

I think the now-discredited Castenada had a good line in one of his books (first one, I think), about death being a friend that walks behind you all your life, reminding you of what's important...

I didn't know that Castenada was discredited?!? Yes, Don Juan told him that death follows us at all times and that should inform all of our decisions in life. And you're right, as more of us lived past childhood, it makes sense that cancer will be one of the diseases that can take us down. thanks.

We're all dead, it's just a matter of degree. Some people are far more dead than others. The fact is, that life is just the process of dying. Don't worry about what will happen after the clock strikes 11, just enjoy the sound.

You pose interesting questions about the causes of cancer at the end of this post. The question about vaccines was especially of interest. A prominent physician in the 1970's during the beginning of mass innoculation, who refused to vaccinate his young patients, asked this question: "Are we trading measles and mumps for cancer?" I certainly don't know, but your post is very intriguing nonetheless.

I hope we find answers in our lifetime. Thanks for this post

Interesting questions.

>>>Will we get cancer?

If we live long enough, probably. We are dumping substances that our bodies have never seen before into the environment at a rate that is overwhelming our bodies' detoxification mechanisms.

There's a lot you can do, proactively, however, that don't require you to live in a cave and eat tree bark, to delay its arrival.

>>> Why does one, clean living person get it and another, not so clean living, not?

A lot of it has to do with how good each person's detoxification equipment was to begin with. My blog last week referred to this with regard to autism. You can test to see how well your body is excreting poisons. If you're not a good detoxifier you can take steps to minimize your exposure. You can't change your genes, but you can change your environment. Something as simple as taking supplemental NAC can help the body cook up more glutathione, which is a key player in the body's ability to clean out poison. Little things can make a big difference.

The word, cancer, itself, needs to be examined.

The visceral, emotional response most of us have to this word has gotten out of hand. The other C-word that has been demonized by the media in order to sell drugs is cholesterol. Cholesterol levels are pretty low on the list of risk factors for heart disease, but I digress.

I often tell clients who have cancer that it is no longer a death sentence, but a life sentence. It's a call to action. A major mentoring figure in my life once said, "Worrying is praying for what you don't want." He was an interesting character. A biochemist who was also an ordained presbyterian minister, so his students always got equal amounts of philosophy with our science.

The science behind this is simply that worry raises stress hormones, which, if left unchecked, will, ultimately, weaken the immune system.

Your concerns express a common theme in our collective conciousness. If we focus on what we can do, we control our response to a threat. The threat is still there, but it no longer seems as intimidating. There's a lot of really good science out there, but you have to get away from mainstream media, which is, regretably, controlled by those with the most dollars, to find it.

There is no, "One size fits all", plan, for prevention. Food, supplementation, exercise, management of the emotional/spiritual self, need to be custom fit. Find coaches who understand that.

Leaving our bodies, eventually, does seem to be the plan. Learn to enjoy the ride. I often recommend Dale Carnegie's book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Many clients have found it helpful.