14 DAY TRIAL // A new research shows that children living in big mansions in less populated regions - such as rural areas - or in richest parts of a country are more likely to develop infant cancer such as leukemia, bone and organ tumors etc.
Most cases of childhood cancer are caused by a cell mutation occurring while still an embryo, before birth, which is aggravated by an infection during infancy. The infection leads to further development of various types of cancer, as it affects the immune system of the child. "Much attention has been given to interactions between exposure to infections and immune responses," the lead research said.
The researchers from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) that carried out the research said that viruses that lead to cancer in rich people living in the countryside come from urban environments. As compared to children living in crowded places, who are exposed daily to all kinds of viruses and bacteria and develop a stronger immune system, the wealthy people that live in the cleaner environment of the countryside are more sensitive when the viruses attack their body and health.
Or, viruses could be brought from urban and crowded regions into richer areas of the country or to countryside by an influx of city dwellers.
"If you're wealthy you tend to live in a big house with more land and have contact with fewer people. It's theoretically believable that if there is a viral component you have less chance of coming across that virus. But if you are from a low socioeconomic group and live cheek by jowl then you come into contact with a lot more people and either your immune system is changed a lot early on or you are less vulnerable to the population mixing theory," explains Alex Elliot, COMARE chairman.