Cancer

Cancer is not a disease you catch; you bring it on yourself—usually unknowingly, but not always.

For example, anyone who chews betel nut probably knows that it can cause oral cancer. Anybody who smokes probably knows that they risk lung cancer. These are clear-cut examples.

But what of someone who lives a clean life—no chewing or smoking—and still develops cancer?

Then you have to look at other causative factors such as junk food, sugar, canned meat, or any diet beverage. Diet plays a huge role into whether someone will develop cancer or not.

Acid/alkaline

Cancer thrives in an acid environment, but does not thrive if your body is alkaline. In fact, if your body is consistently alkaline, you may prevent cancer from germinating in the cells.

Trouble is, most of the foods we love and eat are acid-forming. That is meats, breads, soft drinks, burgers, pizza, sandwiches, pastries, candy, and crunchy snacks.

The good news is that there are alkaline-forming foods and other alkaline preventatives.

Most green vegetables are alkaline. Two good examples are celery and lettuce. But does anyone actually eat celery and lettuce? Compared to pizza, no.

Another good example is lemon or lime juice. Although they are acidic when you first cut open a lemon or lime, their action in the body is alkalizing. In other words, if you drink water with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, this is very healthy. But does anybody actually drink fresh lemon water? Probably not.

Another suggestion (one I often write about) is baking soda. This is the cheapest and most effective cancer preventative there is. A one-pound box will cost you a dollar. Then you dissolve ½ teaspoon of baking soda into a glass of water.

If you do this once, or even twice, a day, you cut your risk of cancer significantly. But does anybody actually do this?

Sad news

There’s a guy I know who works for one of the local companies on Saipan. I met him seven years ago and would see him every few months. Every time I saw the guy he had a betel nut in his cheek.

I would tease him, “Are you chewing betel nut, young man?” He would nod ruefully, almost embarrassed. But there was always a twinkle in his eye.

“I am going to buy you some bubble gum,” I said. “You may rot your teeth out, but you won’t die from chewing bubble gum.”

Not long ago I visited the company where the guy worked. One of his co-workers informed me that the guy had Stage 4 oral cancer and was in the Philippines receiving medical care.

His weight had plummeted from 200 to 120 lbs. Not good.

I felt awful. This man—who is still with us, thank God—was always a cheery and helpful guy, but always with a betel nut in his gob.

If I were king (not a bad idea) I would ban betel nut. But that would only lead to a black market in the stuff and the people who chew would still get their nasty fix. Plus betel nut grows wild here, so how do you ban a tree? Can’t be done.

Why do people kill themselves?

It’s not by accident; anybody who chews knows that they are rolling the dice with their health. The same is true for those who smoke cigarettes. It is especially true for people who use ice. All of the substances put you on the fast-track to the bone yard.

Some years ago I met with one of the officers of the Commonwealth Cancer Association. In fact, I met with the board on several occasions and also talked with a group of cancer survivors. I told them about the benefits of drinking water with baking soda.

When talking with one of the officials, I brought up the subject of betel nut, and how it can kill those who chew it.

He looked away for a minute and then replied, thoughtfully, “It’s a cultural thing…”

At the time I thought, “Fooey,” but didn’t say it.

It may be a cultural practice among lemmings to throw themselves off a cliff, but human beings are supposed to be able to think about what they do, before they do it.

Fortunately the CCA is now beginning to see the dangers of chewing betel nut and are taking some bold and necessary steps to get the word out.

In a way, the official was right: chewing betel nut is cultural. It happens within families, at social gatherings, and everywhere, mostly among the native island people. Doesn’t matter if they are Chamorro or Chuukese, they still chew.

Not long after Typhoon Soudelor smashed our property, a CUC crew came out to restore our electricity. Two pickup trucks pulled up to our house and some guys from Palau got out. They all were chewing betel nut.

“Are you chewing betel nut, young man?” I asked them all. They all nodded sheepishly, as if to say, “Yeah, we know it’s bad, but what are we gonna do?”

I think what the CCA, and other civic groups, need to do now, is to focus their prevention efforts on the young. They need to have well-spoken individuals (such as dentists, MD’s, or cancer survivors) go into the classrooms to explain how chewing betel nut can kill them all.

Our youth is the future of our community. To warn them away from chewing betel nut is not only smart, it can potentially save many lives.

Yes, there are many other bad habits, but there’s a direct link between chewing betel nut and oral cancer. What makes this especially lamentable is that it is 100 percent preventable.

Is there a real solution on the horizon? Unfortunately, no.

You cannot make people within a culture abandon a habit, even if it’s suicidal. It’s too ingrained. The best you can do is to advise young people to not start in the first place.

If they don’t start chewing betel nut, then they just made their lives longer and better.