Endicott article 3 /
3-15-06
Question: A lot of people I know have developed cancer
lately; why does it feel like so many people die from cancer?
There are some days when it
seems like everyone we know either has cancer or knows someone who has cancer. The word “cancer” packs a lot of punch with
all of us; news of someone’s cancer diagnosis can spread amazingly fast. That can be a good thing, because it rallies
support to that person and that family, but it can also give us an inflated
idea of how many people actually have to deal with a life-threatening
cancer. For the first time in 70 years
of record keeping at the National Cancer Institute, the number of Americans who
died from cancer was less than the year before, and a continuing decline is
predicted. So even though our
population is growing in numbers, and growing older, we are less likely to die
from cancer than we were a few years ago.
I don’t want to
underestimate the impact that cancer has on us.
But it helps us to know that some things work to whittle away at this
illness. The most useful thing we can do
is to stay away from cigarette smoke – quit, don’t start, don’t
let secondhand smoke be in your house or workplace. Talk to your family doctor about cancer
screening, eat lots of fruits and vegetables and pamper yourself with 45
minutes of exercise three times a week!
Thyra Endicott MD
Department of Radiation
Oncology,
Diplomate,
Member, South Bay
Independent Physicians Medical Group, Inc.