Trends have shown that the coverage media is giving to the disease focuses more on treatments and not on prevention. As with any disease, prevention is the key and avoiding the disease or preventing one from contracting it outweighs the need for treatment. Media should bring more light into the need for measures such as the administration of the HPV vaccines which greatly decreases the risk of getting the disease in later life. A survey of several newspapers showed that over a two-year period, more than 200 stories have been published regarding the disease with only 18% of those total articles focusing on prevention. The amounts of preventive measures abound yet not many know enough. The disease is preventable as with most forms of disease with enough knowledge and effort it can be avoided; if people would just take time to learn the ways of how to prevent the disease then we wouldn’t have to present the numbers of fatalities and disfigured women from the whole country as much. Scientists have come up with many forms of treatments for the disease but scientists warn that their ability to provide cures can never outweigh the importance of prevention. The stories are quite sad and people feel that the life changing disease is out to get them, what they don’t know is that there are several methods of reducing risk and getting regular screenings is one of them so any changes can be diagnosed and prescribed proper treatment. Media sees the sad story as more sellable than the ones regarding high-risk people who are doing great because they are eating and living healthy. A healthy person is not much of a story but somebody who is suffering from the disease has a higher market affecting readership.
April 29, 2008
Prevention not a Cure
April 25, 2008
MicroRNA and Cancer
MicroRNA has been found to have regulatory in many cancer-related processes in the human body that researchers in Israel are capitalizing on as a sure way of detecting squamous and non-squamous cells that are sure sign of lung cancer. This is vital for current available treatments for non-squamous cancers are deadly to squamous cancer sufferers and vice versa. On the other hand, Italian researchers have devised a way by which oncologists can check for three genetic markers as determining factor of the best approach treatment is to take. This allows better diagnosis with treatment customized to individual patients giving the oncologist the best possible chances of success and the patient recovery. To determine the advancement of the disease greatly enhances our ability to treat and provide the best possible medical solutions for a particular disease. This for m of diagnosis is being tested out for other forms of cancer which can greatly increase survivability rates of sufferers. It may also aid scientists in providing better prevention drugs or through genetic analyses be able to say who is susceptible of what thus giving patients time to adjust their lifestyles to avoid contracting that form of the disease.
April 21, 2008
HPV Virus Linked to Lung Cancer
Research submitted to the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference have conclusive proof that may warrant more study that the human HPV virus has a role in the formation of lung cancer. Smoking is still the main contributory factor for contracting lung cancer but the presence of the HPV virus in the lungs of women who have lung cancer may establish a link between the two diseases. HPV or the Human Papilloma Virus is a cause of cervical cancer and the discovery was quite a surprise for it shows that the virus present in the cervix that caused it to form there was present in the lungs of all test subjects. HPV is now being looked at as a co-carcinogen or cancer causing agent and future studies may prove a link should it really be there.
April 13, 2008
Summer – Sunburn Season Galore
Ouch, that sunburn sure is painful isn’t it. Then you didn’t carry enough protection for you or your family for sunburn is a bad case of UV exposure which can lead to skin cancer. Yep, that cheaper bottle of sunscreen may not have provided enough protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays. So cheaper, isn’t always better for the buck you save today may multiply thousands of times when somebody in the family does develop the dreaded disease. Use lip balms that are rated to have UV blocking ingredients and sunscreen that has the highest SPF ratings that you could find. Some of the biggest names in cosmetics have products that are not only tested to comply with the most stringent control methods but they also have versions that are for sensitive skin such as kids. There are also spray type ones that allow kids to be protected in no time, just send them on a spin like on a horizontal barbecue and they’re off. An ounce of prevention is always cheaper than a ton of care.
April 9, 2008
Cancer Prevention begins in the supermarket
Researchers have found that kids who are educated on proper diet and nutrition from an early age are more likely to be conscious about their health in later life. Parents are advised to get their children involved in chores such as shopping at the grocery and explaining to them the pro’s and con’s of the various food choices that are available. These children have these lessons built into them allowing them to be healthy and active. They are also recommended to partake in most activities such as exercise and other physical activities so they tend to open their eyes to the active lifestyle to avoid obesity. Obesity is a growing threat to the health of many developed countries and has become so much of a threat that drastic measures such as the banning of junk foods form schools and other government facilities have been put in place.
April 1, 2008
High Fiber Intake lowers Cancer risk
Vegetables and the fiber they contain have long been seen as a good source of phyto-chemicals and compounds that have cancer prevention properties. Colored cabbages are considered to be the best sources of such cancer-fighting compounds and should be eaten abundantly. Eating them raw increases the amount of cancer-fighting agents as opposed to cooked dishes. This is one study that shows naturally occurring compounds present in foodstuff that need no further synthesis as a potent cancer-risk lowering measure. So eat your green leafy vegetables. Other vegetables have shown potency in the fight to prevent cancer rather than treat it which involves costly and painful procedures. High-fiber diets have also shown promise in lowering the occurrence of colorectal cancers which gives credence to the old folk’s saying that all natural is best.