Cancer Essay Example
Hannah Hanson
NUTR 121
Cancer Essay
William Li and Angiogenesis- Can we eat to starve cancer?
It is miraculous to me that we can answer, “yes” to the question above. Before this video I hadn’t heard of any advancement in the medical field involving cancer, not to this magnitude. William Li mentioned that cancer needs a blood supply to thrive and become larger, but without this blood supply the tumor would dwindle down eventually into nothing. He also mentioned that we, humans, get several of these tumors but that the majority of them don’t gain the blood supply and oxygen they need to live thus rendering them harmless. Angiogenesis is the development of new blood vessels and when these new blood vessels form, from my understanding, that they attach to the tumor and it now is getting the oxygen, blood supply and nutrients it needs to grow into a deadly cancer. An insufficient amount of blood cells can cause diseases such as stroke, hair loss, coronary heart disease, etc. An excessive amount can cause cancer, arthritis, and obesity, etc. All of these share abnormal angiogenesis as their common denominator as William Li phrases it, he also says that if we can control (which we have or are trying to do) the angiogenesis then we can stop the diseases from forming. Controlling the angiogenesis has gained the name antiangiogenic therapy, and it is completely different from chemotherapy because it selectively aims at the blood vessels feeding the cancers. They’re abnormal, poorly constructed blood cells so they are completely vulnerable and easy to target. This has become the number one goal. Getting back to the ‘can we eat to starve cancer?’ question, William Li brings up that diet contributes to 30-35% of environmentally caused cancers. He asked “what could we add to our diet that is naturally antiangiogenic?” The foods and beverages that we can add to our diet include strawberries, raspberries, green tea, soy, parsley, grapes, tomatoes, and many others. There
NUTR 121
Cancer Essay
William Li and Angiogenesis- Can we eat to starve cancer?
It is miraculous to me that we can answer, “yes” to the question above. Before this video I hadn’t heard of any advancement in the medical field involving cancer, not to this magnitude. William Li mentioned that cancer needs a blood supply to thrive and become larger, but without this blood supply the tumor would dwindle down eventually into nothing. He also mentioned that we, humans, get several of these tumors but that the majority of them don’t gain the blood supply and oxygen they need to live thus rendering them harmless. Angiogenesis is the development of new blood vessels and when these new blood vessels form, from my understanding, that they attach to the tumor and it now is getting the oxygen, blood supply and nutrients it needs to grow into a deadly cancer. An insufficient amount of blood cells can cause diseases such as stroke, hair loss, coronary heart disease, etc. An excessive amount can cause cancer, arthritis, and obesity, etc. All of these share abnormal angiogenesis as their common denominator as William Li phrases it, he also says that if we can control (which we have or are trying to do) the angiogenesis then we can stop the diseases from forming. Controlling the angiogenesis has gained the name antiangiogenic therapy, and it is completely different from chemotherapy because it selectively aims at the blood vessels feeding the cancers. They’re abnormal, poorly constructed blood cells so they are completely vulnerable and easy to target. This has become the number one goal. Getting back to the ‘can we eat to starve cancer?’ question, William Li brings up that diet contributes to 30-35% of environmentally caused cancers. He asked “what could we add to our diet that is naturally antiangiogenic?” The foods and beverages that we can add to our diet include strawberries, raspberries, green tea, soy, parsley, grapes, tomatoes, and many others. There