New book debunks popular myths on how to prevent cancer

Sep 7 2013

Award-winning science journalist George Johnson debunks popular assumptions about how to prevent cancer. With his new book, THE CANCER CHRONICLES: Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery (published by Knopf), Johnson cites scientific evidence that

• Eating meat does NOT CAUSE cancer
• Eating lots of fruits and vegetables does NOT PREVENT cancer
• Ordinary exposure to pesticides and other chemicals in the environment is UNLIKELY to cause cancer
• Nuclear radiation causes MUCH LESS cancer than we fear
• People who are tall or old tend to get MORE cancer
• And yes, smoking and obesity DO INCREASE cancer risk substantially

AtlanticWire pulls further from Johnson's research with Ten Tough Truths About Cancer to make you wonder how much doctors can actually predict about the disease.

The New York Times Book Review calls Johnson's book "illuminating, forceful and, in its own quiet way, profound. . .He busts myths and clarifies realities about what seems to cause, or to help prevent, cancer. . .Johnson is an excellent explainer, but unlike some of our most esteemed explainers, he can really write. . .His language is direct, his tone conversational, whether he's sketching big ideas or his wife's latest surgery."  Read the feature in the New York Post and the terrific NPR.org review.