Slippery Slopes

Tuesday February 17, 2009

“We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost,”
President Barack Obama

“An ounce of Prevention is worth a pound of cure”
Benjamin Franklin

“There’s a sucker born every minute”
David Hannum*

In an old TV commercial a little cartoon fellow looks at an oversized button. The button is wired to a similarly huge spring-loaded hammer. He looks from button to hammer; hammer to button. It’s obvious what will happen if he presses the button. He presses the button anyway.

Cut to a scientist surveying the glassy wonderland of Victoria Park. He looks from iced-over park to his boots, his boots to the park. It’s obvious what will happen if he steps out. He steps out anyway. On Weldon, he back flops onto the side walk like Shamu at Marine world. On Princess Street the hollow sound of an abused melon echoes off Edith Cavell School.

Preparation, prevention and precaution: that’s the ticket. It was time to get me some hooves; time to get a grip.

As convergence in fireside tales will sometimes have it, in Fredericton we lived next to the wonderful Diane and Ross Hansen. 30 years ago an accident paralysed Ross from the neck down. He was told he would never walk again. To hell with that attitude: he was up and about within 3 years. Like the rest of us though, Ross found a challenge in the evil polish of February. He didn’t complain. He did something about it. He set about designing a detachable shoe tread. 26 prototypes later, the final model, Icers, have become the international standard for winter stability.

Back to Moncton: Niflheim (Icehell) 2008. I finally found some Icers at an orthopedic center between Killam and Connaught - just not in my size. I settled instead for a pair of Marilyn Manson’s garter belts: contraptions of rubber and wire that flew off my green wellies on a hair trigger, on one occasion nearly taking our Martine’s eye out. Oh, they were adequate I suppose: no more flesh-to-glacial asphalt horrors. Nevertheless, I still duck-walked to the lab like Bambi playing goal for the Wildcats. A year later, anticipating Ice hell 2009, Marilyn’s garters were recovered from the wood room. Unfortunately they now resembled those twisted carcasses of spiders one finds behind the furnace. Back to the ortho center then.

Luckily, this year, Icers were available in my size. Locked and loaded, I was ready to rock n roll. Good Lord what a rush: being able to stride across parking lots like a Terminator without morphing into a 200 lb pink halibut. It is spiritually rewarding to accomplish a task that previously caused so much irritation if not injury. As a punk-metal-geezer, iPOD transmissions such as “we’re never giving up” and “I am the antidote” became soundtracks, not just of my passion for cancer bashing, but for the elation of beating Icehell. When I see that wasteland of crystalline nastiness now, I head toward it with a vengeance. Then again, this may just be my midlife crisis.

We have at least 4 layers of philosophy to consider here: determination in overcoming adversity; innovation, invention and ingenuity; the spiritual empowerment of new capability; prevention by simple insurance over high probability loss. It is this last point that we’ll now consider.

Across Canada, thousands of people cram emergency rooms with fractures, sprains and concussions received during Icehell: unnecessary delays for those us that have attached ourselves to the dinette with a power tool or have rushed in with a little one breathless with fever. Let’s compare this situation with preventive management of cancer by proper nutrition.

Is there anything blander than the following statement: “fresh fruit and vegetables prevent cancer?” I doubt it. Let’s try this: “vitamin supplements are completely useless.”

Perhaps a few coffee-spits and elevated brows over the toast rack. But no guff: THREE massive studies, just out, indicate this to be scientifically accurate.

In one study of 35,533 men, and a second of 15,000 doctors, cancer rates were not affected by vitamin supplements. In a third study, 161,000 women were monitored for eight years: no reduction in cancer, heart attacks or strokes; no impact on longevity. The only good news was that the supplements did not increase any risks: sustained and out of context exposure to synthetics are often harmful. Behind the rainbows and flowers on “Grammie Bartleberry’s Ole Timey Country Fresh AntioxidantsTM ” there are synthetic mimics of what you get in an orange, a banana or a peanut. In contrast, regular fresh produce provides minerals, vitamins and antioxidants in the right balance, in the right conformation.

Listen: I’m not saying don’t take them. That may be worse ethically than “Hey! Take these! They work!” You are free to choose. If you like the taste of them, if you like the routine, hey: keep popping. But let science tell you this: vitamin supplements are not even doing you good because you think they are. There were undoubtedly thousands of people in those studies who thought similarly. The final result? Nada. Make your choice, but make an informed one.

“But Dr Shamu” you might ask, “What is the connection between Icers and fresh produce with the misery of Icehell and vitamin supplements?” It’s this: I walk into any drug or grocery store and there they are: shelves and shelves of Grammie Bartleberry’s TM toothless army. In Canada they are a black hole for at least two billion dollars. In contrast, to find a product that would unequivocally prevent a spectrum of injuries, lost time, restricted mobility and inconvenience? Well that’s more like a treasure hunt.

With extra mobility comes increased vitality and spirituality: huge considerations when intersecting with the molecular biology of cancer. Suitably strapped, one can get out and exercise during Icehell: an undeniably preventative measure for cancer and wellbeing. It’s easier to buy things on Main Street, visit restaurants without driving. Economy improves. People benefit, the health care system benefits. I’m not good at math but I’m saying this: do the math. Two thousand million dollars. Here, in one of the most intelligent cities in the world, our contribution might be $761,000. That amount, plus the real and intangible costs of injury might be matched for public education and accessible grippyness for mobile Monctonians, young and old. Fresh produce? Unequivocally, indubitably preventive against cancer. The price of fruit and vegetables in Moncton? I think you’ve already beaten me to it.

Innovation, imagination, enlightenment, prevention and empowerment. This is The Science of Life.

Thank you Ross for your example and gift.

Thank you President Obama for your promise.

Stay Frosty, alert and get a grip.

* The quotation surrounds Circus entrepreneur PT Barnum’s part in exhibiting a “Giant” at a sideshow. Hannum had been sued unsuccessfully by Barnum for exhibiting another version, claiming it to be the original. Specifically the quotation came from Hannum in reference to the crowds that continued to pay to see Barnum’s exhibit even after both it and the original had been proven to be fakes. Alternatively the quotation has been attributed to Mark Twain.

Selected References

Lack of Efficacy of Vitamin Supplements

Gaziano et al. (2009) Vitamins E and C in the Prevention of Prostate and Total Cancer in Men: The Physicians' Health Study II Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of American Medical Association volume 301: 52-62

Lin et al (2009) Vitamins C and E and beta carotene supplementation and cancer risk: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the Nationall Cancer Institute 101(1):14-23.

Lippman et al (2009) Effect of Selenium and Vitamin E on Risk of Prostate Cancer and Other Cancers: The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial. Journal of American Medical Association volume 301:39-51

Neuhouser ML et al. (2009) Multivitamin Use and Risk of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease in the Women's Health Initiative Cohorts. Archives of Internal Medicine volume 169(3):294-304

Association of Healthy Eating with Cancer Prevention and Recurrence Free Survival

Rock CL et al. (2009) Longitudinal Biological Exposure to Carotenoids Is Associated with Breast Cancer-Free Survival in the Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 18(2):486-494.

Engeset et al (2009) Dietary patterns and risk of cancer of various sites in the Norwegian European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort: the Norwegian Women and Cancer study. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 18:69-75.

Wu et al (2009) Fruit and vegetable intakes are associated with lower risk of colorectal adenomas. Journal of Nutrition 139:340-4.

Potential Risks of Elevated Consumption of Synthetic Vitamin Supplements

Heavy multivitamin use may be linked to advanced prostate cancer