Are we losing the war on cancer?

And if we are, why is it so?

With so much money invested in research that has led to extremely sophisticated diagnostic devices, tests and medications, how is it that cancer continues to be the number 1 killer in the United States (disputing its place with Cardiovascular disease)?

Many argue that the answer is related to lifeystyles that create an environment where cancer cells are more likely to appear, reproduce and kill. Research is showing that increasing levels of stress (emotional, mental, chemical, bacteriological, electromagnetic) are behind a debilitated immune system. 

The immune system and its interaction with other systems in the body

We take the immune system basically as an army that protects us from invaders. However, different from other body systems, which are confined to a precise anatomic location, the immune network penetrates each tissue of the body. It is made of a number of tissues and organs (lymphatic organs), specialized cells (lymphocytes and macrophages or white blood cells) that swim back and forth along the circulatory system during surveillance missions, gathering data to assure the organism's optimal functioning.

This extraordinary system learns and evolves with experience! From the moment we are born, it learns to discriminate which molecular features typify bacteria that are usually not present in mammals. It also recognizes which are the body's idiosyncratic proteins.

Many immune system organs function as gatekeepers. This is the case of the lymph nodes (in the neck, armpit and groin), the tonsils and the Peyer's patches in the intestine. The lymphatic fluid, or lymph, goes through these "customs" points where lymphocytes detain particulate matter and microorganisms and decide if they should be granted admission to the system or not. Another lymphatic organ, the spleen, is in charge of recycling old and dysfunctional cells.

Recent research shows that brain, endocrine glands and immune system cooperate and share functions. The brain produces neuropeptides that are antibacterial precursors; the immune system has perceptual functions, and the endocrine system produces substances that work as neurotransmitters. Initially deemed as exclusive to the nervous system, they have also been found in the bone marrow, where the immune system cells are produced.

The three systems are thus, multifunctional. They form a network that exchanges, stores and passes on information, using peptide molecules as messengers.

Our physiology is largely modulated by emotions. Daniel Siegel would say, that "the mind creates the brain." In his book "The Biology of Belief," Bruce Lipton tells us that our thoughts could change the behavior of the cells. 

Should not be a surprise. Popular wisdom, which results from observations transmitted from generation to generation, has always correlated emotional stress with vulnerability to illness, and science has proven that our thoughts, mood and emotions influence the functioning not only of the nervous, endocrine and immune system but of every little cell in our organism. 

Statistics are alarming. Let's look at this numbers from 2008: