THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER STARTS WITH PREVENTION
- Austen Everett Foundation
- Feb 20, 2019
- 2 min read
When thinking about cancer, most people do their best to avoid such a diagnosis. With cancer, some environmental factors can be avoided. You can drink, smoke, and eat less, avoid lots of sunlight, and live a well balanced life. But what if there are other environmental factors that could be contributing to cancer, especially those in children? What if kids are getting sick from seemingly harmless places, like the fields they exercise on? This was the case for 12 year old goalkeeper, Oliver, who died 36 hours after he was diagnosed with AML Leukemia.
After his death his parents, Simon and Vilma, realized the lack of environmental data collected in cancer research and knew a change was needed. They created Oliver Forever Strong, a pediatric cancer research foundation.
Within the foundation, they partnered with Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College Medical School to launch www.TheReasonWhy.Us an epidemiological lifestyle registry to track the environmental factors that can impact children’s bodies in relation to cancer.
The database, National Registry of Pediatric Cancer Families, asks families to complete a comprehensive family history questionnaire including diet, neonatal practices, medications, infections, sports, leisure and other personal activities.
TheReasonWhy.Us hopes to track environmental factors and supply hospitals such as Texas Children’s with scientific proof, to one day regulate and control carcinogen and endocrine disruptors.
To achieve their goal, they need families who are fighting cancer to sign up for their registry and tell their stories. 50 families have signed so far, with the ambitious goal of 200 families by June.
This registry hits close to home for us at AEF, who lost our founder Austen, from cancer associated with the same environmental factors that took Oliver. Austen and AEF believe there needs to be significant changes to the regulation of artificial turf and additional research on the environmental factors that lead to cancer.
I really appreciated the clarity of this blog post. It is refreshing to read something online that feels informative without being too complicated. You did a great job here.
Posts like this remind me how crucial it is to communicate health topics in a clear and thoughtful way, especially when the subject affects so many people and their families. Many students studying public health, biology, or health communication often face assignments that require analysing similar topics, and it can be challenging to organise those ideas and present them in a structured way. That is why resources such as Native Assignment Help UK can sometimes help learners improve the clarity of their writing and develop stronger academic work when exploring health, prevention, and community support topics. Thanks for sharing this meaningful insight it underscores the importance of prevention, awareness, and education in the ongoing fight against cancer.