Article: Infections eyed as cause of cancer, heart disease.

What if you could take a shot to prevent cancer? Or if a pill could cure heart disease?

Sound far-fetched?

Not really, says a new theory in medicine that is gaining popularity.

Evidence has been accumulating for about a decade that many serious illnesses, even chronic ones like cancer and heart disease, are caused by bacterial or viral infections.

If true, this could be the biggest medical breakthrough since the discovery of penicillin in 1928. Establishing a link between infections and fatal diseases could lead to a day when heart disease is treated with antibiotics or cancer is prevented by a vaccine.

"Acceptance is a slow ...

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