Reviewed by medical experts • For informational purposes only
What causes cancer? Tobacco, alcohol, infections, obesity, pollution, age and genes - and the myths to drop.
Cancer begins when a cell's DNA is damaged in ways that let it grow without obeying the body's stop signals. No single habit or food "causes" cancer by itself - risk builds from exposures, biology and chance over years. But the major drivers are well known, and several are avoidable.
Cancer is not contagious, not caused by stress alone, not caused by a single food, and not a punishment. Tight clothing, mobile phones (evidence so far), and underarm deodorants are not established causes. Keeping the myths out matters: they distract from the real drivers above.
Classical Ayurveda described abnormal growths (granthi, arbuda) as arising from aggravated doshas acting on tissues weakened by wrong diet, wrong routine and suppressed urges - the same "long exposure plus susceptible tissue" logic, in older vocabulary. It is an interpretive frame, not a mechanism.
Tobacco in any form, alcohol, infections like HPV and hepatitis, obesity and pollution drive most cancers; age and genes set the baseline - which is why prevention and screening are real medicine.
Written By
Dr. Daksh
BDS
Reviewed By
Dr. Varun Gupta
MD Pharmacology, MBBS
Last updated on
27 Sep 2022 • 06:23 PM (IST)
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