Do we scaremonger when it comes to cancer?

KM792 · 12-12-2019 11:48pm #1

When it comes to the odds of being diagnosed with cancer figures drift from 1 i n 4 to as high in 1 i n 2.
There are better treatment options and survival rates nowadays but it is predicted cancer rates will soar due to our lifestyle choices.
Very serious illness for those affected so I'm not downplaying it and people with a genetic predisposition pull the short straw but do we scaremonger in general with cancer?
Every woman is uneasy with cervical cancer at the moment in Ireland with the scandal yet in the past it was a relatively rare cancer.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 12-12-2019 11:49pm

It’s still as rare. That hasn’t changed.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 12-12-2019 11:53pm

I think with the whole explosion of social media we have become aware of cancer stories especially when it effects younger people and children because horrible and all as it is, sad stories sell news, unfortunately.

On the other hand I know more people who gave it or have died from it than ever before. It can be quite scary how common it appears to have become.

My dad died of cancer in 2000 at the age of 58 so I’ve been directly effected by it. It’s a horrible disease.

KM792 · 13-12-2019 12:00am

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

It’s still as rare. That hasn’t changed.

Average 300 women diagnosed annually.The cervical check scandal and HPV vaccine debate have really brought it to the fore.I've even had a conversation with a middle-aged woman who believed it was connected to too much sex and too many sexual partners.

Raconteuse · 13-12-2019 12:04am

Dunno. I think all of the public health campaigns are essential because it's such an insidious ****er of a disease that you might not know you have it until it's too late.

And vigilance and recalls over tiny things - scary but brilliant because this is the way to catch it early (ass covering too of course but no harm).

I think actually a bit of scaremongering is necessary. Anyone could get it. You don't have to be old or from a family with a history or a smoker or heavy drinker or obese (all of the things that could increase the risk) unfortunately. It can strike anyone.

It's the one in whatever stats that should be clarified I think though. Aren't many of those deaths of people who were dying of old age anyway? (Sorry, that reads as very clinical but I think context is important for these figures).

Rodin · 13-12-2019 12:05am

Obesity much more of a danger

buried · 13-12-2019 12:07am

Something will get you in the end. Make your peace with that fact and relax. Can't keep shopping forever.

Harvey Weinstein · 13-12-2019 12:14am

Ireland has the 3rd highest rates of Cancer in the world..so no its not scaremongering.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/cancer-rates-here-are-third-highest-in-the-world-warns-who-37366455.html

SlowBlowin · 13-12-2019 12:15am

Cancer is terrible, once it touches your life it never leaves, either directly or a loved one. In the last 10 years my wife had Lymphoma, my mother breast cancer, and currently my sister is battling Pancreatic/Liver cancer. The shock of cancer and its effects changes/ends lives.

To say I am scared of cancer is an understatement, part of me is convinced I already have it (although I have no logical reason to believe I do). Certainly I am a very different person now cancer came into my life, I sold my business of 20 years to have time to care for my wife (cancer is a full time job for the partner).

What makes me mad is papers like the daily mail, guaranteed in the next 2 weeks they will run a story something like "Doctors herald Liver cancer breakthrough". Its consistent, every few weeks a breakthrough headline, but when you read the artificial, its just some obscure research often old.

To answer the OPs question "do we scaremonger too much" I can say the job a lot of the media do is rubbish/criminal, using cancer to sell papers, and yes they are certainly scaremonger too much. In terms of the average person in the street, far from it, cancer is quite likely to visit you, and when it does it will change your life.

What makes me happy is the fantastic work done by many battling cancer, both paid and unpaid.

Raconteuse · 13-12-2019 12:19am

That's awful SlowBlowin - very sorry to read it.

Yeah I don't have a problem with public health bombardment about it. Increased awareness is only a good thing.

One eyed Jack · 13-12-2019 12:34am

KM792 wrote: »

Very serious illness for those affected so I'm not downplaying it and people with a genetic predisposition pull the short straw but do we scaremonger in general with cancer?

I don’t think you’re downplaying it but yes, I do think the risks of developing many various types of cancers are vastly overstated, and there’s an awful amount of scaremongering goes around which leads to somewhat of a fatigue among the general public, to the point where people just don’t take public awareness campaigns about the various types of cancers seriously any more.

We’re able to treat many different types of cancers now that were once thought to be terminal, and recurrence and remission rates are much more improved than they were in previous decades as a result of continued research and the development of better treatments.

Two instances which come to mind for me immediately when I think of the scaremongering effect around cancer were the death of Jade Goody after she developed cervical cancer, and Angelina Jolie’s fear of developing cancer that she thought it was a good idea to have a double mastectomy. Both those stories had an effect on raising the public’s fears of developing cancer - the number of women having smear tests in the UK rose exponentially, and the numbers of women who chose to have mastectomies after Angelina Jolie’s experience has also increased.

Mrs OBumble · 13-12-2019 12:39am

KM792 wrote: »

Average 300 women diagnosed annually.The cervical check scandal and HPV vaccine debate have really brought it to the fore.I've even had a conversation with a middle-aged woman who believed it was connected to too much sex and too many sexual partners.

She is correct.

This is one of many articles about the subject: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25987056

Not being a slut doesn't remove the risk, because all it takes to get the HPV virus is having sex with one person who has it. But limiting sexual partners (especially while young), and choosing to only have sex with other people who've done the same does reduce the chances you'll get it.

The sexual revolution (sic) has done a lot to harm women's health.

K.Flyer · 13-12-2019 12:46am

buried wrote: »

Something will get you in the end. Make your peace with that fact and relax. Can't keep shopping forever.

I don't agree with this one bit.
With huge advancements in treatments it is prudent to have regular checks so as to catch things early, therefore greatly increasing survival chances.
I would go one step further and advocate that people should consider having an Brain MRI scan, maybe every couple of years.
I say that because our son had an MRI for something unrelated and they discovered he had a form of Brain Cancer. It has been dealt with. But if it hadn't been discovered early his survival prognosis would have been very very low by the time symptoms would have presented themselves.

fineso.mom · 13-12-2019 12:49am

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

She is correct.

This is one of many articles about the subject: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25987056

Not being a slut doesn't remove the risk, because all it takes to get the HPV virus is having sex with one person who has it. But limiting sexual partners (especially while young), and choosing to only have sex with other people who've done the same does reduce the chances you'll get it.

The sexual revolution (sic) has done a lot to harm women's health.

"not being a slut".... Wow

buried · 13-12-2019 12:55am

K.Flyer wrote: »

I don't agree with this one bit.

Do or don't agree, it doesn't matter. You can't survive forever. Nobody can. Death comes for us all in the end. Nobody wants to hear it but that is a problem in itself. All you can do is make peace with that fact, then you can truly live.

cj maxx · 13-12-2019 1:00am

Social media is awash with everything from cancer cures to MS cures. Like everything theres some truth there but separating the wheat from the chaff.
Goes too for vaccines. But no, I don't see scare mongering about cancer

Raconteuse · 13-12-2019 1:10am

buried wrote: »

Do or don't agree, it doesn't matter. You can't survive forever. Nobody can. Death comes for us all in the end. Nobody wants to hear it but that is a problem in itself. All you can do is make peace with that fact, then you can truly live.

Who's saying (and doesn't want to hear) that death doesn't come for us and that we can survive forever?! :pac:

Obviously! Don't think anyone is saying otherwise. Wanting to put off death until as late as possible though is perfectly logical. A person would have to be some eejit to say to themselves "Ah well, guess my number is up" and do nothing about it if they found out at a young age that they had a serious disease but which there was a chance they'd survive with treatment.

And obviously lifestyle makes a difference to your life expectancy.

Yes we will all die but the date of our death is not predestined.

SlowBlowin · 13-12-2019 1:12am

One eyed Jack wrote: »

We’re able to treat many different types of cancers now that were once thought to be terminal, and recurrence and remission rates are much more improved than they were in previous decades as a result of continued research and the development of better treatments.

You are absolutely correct on this, but I think something needs to be clarified.

A lot of cancer treatments today are crippling in themselves, almost medieval in the way they work. I have spoken to several people, who I befriended in hospital sitting in chemo with my wife, who just could not face another round of chemo and just faded away.

Chemo works by killing fast dividing cells, cancer and healthy. New cells are grown from new stem cells in your bone marrow (when it gets healthy again). When you recover you are a somewhat different person, in my wife's case:

Different colour hair red/grey to dark brown.
Straight to curly.
Appalling short term memory.
Life memories missing (but she got to watch two and a half me again as she could never remember seeing it - it was her favorite show).
Lung problems (direct side effect of chemo drugs)
No strength in hands/numb feeling in fingers (direct side effect of chemo drugs)
.....
.....

This is quite normal post chemo, the memory issues are often called "chemo brain", the other symptoms are to be expected, as is the increased risk of further cancer.

So I think this should be taken into account when saying we can treat a particular cancer. Its like taking your brand new BMW in for a engine fix and it comes back with damaged bodywork, half the power, crap MPG, and all the computer/radio settings were lost. You wouldn't think it was the same car and would probably not be happy with the fix. Well thats what a lot of cancer "treatments" offers by way of a fix. Chemo is not a great fix for cancer, its pretty much all we have got.

BDI · 13-12-2019 1:16am

fineso.mom wrote: »

"not being a slut".... Wow

While I don’t agree with the terminology or the attitude, I do think feminism has done more harm than good to women’s health and general lifestyle.

You may argue they have jobs now and can afford to buy the make up ad men tell them they need but I’m going to let people think about it and go to bed, if they have a bed. Hopefully they work and have a bed. Can’t afford to not work these days.

Raconteuse · 13-12-2019 1:21am

Not everything detrimental to women is due to feminism.

The sexual revolution was embraced by men and women.

A wave of feminism actually emerged in protest because "free love" was a handy excuse for sexual assault.

Extreme promiscuity contains potential dangers indeed though, for men and women.

Strumms · 13-12-2019 1:35am

I don’t think we scaremonger. Every single one of us has been touched by this disease in some way. It’s a condition that probably billions are spent worldwide trying to combat and understand per year but realistically we are no closer to an actual overall ‘cure’, I’ve lost two people this year... an Uncle in his 70’s who while a drinker and overweight but was for years in fact all his adult life a professional golfer so active and a friend in his 40’s who to look at was the absolute picture of health....

Leading an unhealthy existence can contribute we know, genes we know, it’s a massive killer but the actual understanding of this killer is tiny it seems, what causes it we know ‘some’ of but it seems to be a mystery.

LirW · 13-12-2019 1:39am

BDI wrote: »

While I don’t agree with the terminology or the attitude, I do think feminism has done more harm than good to women’s health and general lifestyle.

You may argue they have jobs now and can afford to buy the make up ad men tell them they need but I’m going to let people think about it and go to bed, if they have a bed. Hopefully they work and have a bed. Can’t afford to not work these days.

The general population has a poor understanding how HPV works.
80% of adults in Ireland have or had HPV at some point in their lives. It goes without symptoms for many and clears itself up but can linger in the body for a long time and symptoms might show years after contracting it.
You can't protect yourself from it with condoms, it's spreads via skin contact, not fluids.
Basically, if you have been sexually active, it's very likely you had or have it without knowing.
Regular STD screenings don't even test for HPV because it's so common. Also there's no treatment for the virus itself, just the issues it causes.
The only way to not get it ever is to abstain from sex and protect yourself from the worst strains by getting the vaccine.
And it's not a modern world disease, all throughout history going back as far as ancient there have been reports of symptoms that were identical with HPV-linked problems.

Edit: HPV doesn't equal cancer, the few risk-associated strains cause an infection leading to cell changes (that's what a smear is looking for) which over time can get worse and turn into cancer.

lozenges · 13-12-2019 1:45am

fineso.mom wrote: »

"not being a slut".... Wow

Indeed. Almost everyone who has been sexually active at any point has had HPV (~80%). It's not about 'being a slut'.

Grab All Association · 13-12-2019 2:16am

Eamon Ryan and John Gormely condemned us all to cancer when they changed the motor tax system back in 2008. Encouraged people in urban areas to buy diesels with cheap motor tax in urban areas. Those with 1.4ltr Golfs and 1.0yaris/fiestas to buy cheap Korean ****e suv diesels or 1.6ltr Passats/Avensis for local miles!

You need to be doing big mileage e.g journeys like Dublin to Thurles, Dublin to Cork daily to ever justify owning a diesel. Or at least towing a tractor. They are not economical travelling the likes of Holycross/Littleton to Thurles for shopping in Dunnes Stores. Greens have probably done more environmental damage than any other party in the past. Remember Hybrid technology was around at this point, as where turbocharged engines.

Try think back 10-20 years ago. Was there that many people developing cancer? in my area from my birth in the late 1980s to 2010, just 1 person in my estate died of cancer. Post 2009, out of 24 houses. 9 have died and 3 neighbours are currently diagnosed and undergoing treatment for cancer.

Taking my housing estate out of the picture for a moment. I would hear about someone I knew diagnosed/dying of cancer maybe every two years or more. Now it’s every few weeks. Families with no history of cancer getting diagnosed. My brother for example was diagnosed with a type of cancer that no one on both sides ever had.

The only thing that has changed in our environment here is the cars. Everyone had petrol Micras, petrol Golfs Polos, Puntos, Astra’s Vectras, Mondeos Etc in the 2000s.

It’s all now Passats, Audi’s, Hyundai’s and Avensis.

Strumms · 13-12-2019 2:17am

Here is a stat which I just stumbled upon...

“The World Health Organization (WHO) note that, worldwide, nearly 1 in 6 deaths are down to cancer.”

Scary.

lozenges · 13-12-2019 2:28am

More deaths occur in Ireland due to heart disease than cancer. But you don't get the same fear around cardiac issues.

Rubberchikken · 13-12-2019 2:49am

educating people about it is good. but the amount of money directed to it at, i feel, the expense of mental health, is something im not happy with.

moonage · 13-12-2019 5:30am

SlowBlowin wrote: »

Chemo is not a great fix for cancer, its pretty much all we have got.

Recently there has been a lot of interest in repurposing certain drugs for cancer i.e. using them "off-label". These are cheap, common, low toxicity drugs for other conditions that have anti-cancer properties. They are out of patent so drug companies have no incentives to do clinical trials on them.

If I ever got cancer it's one of the main avenues I'd be going down. There is a private oncology clinic in London that offers this treatment.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/wellbeing/healthadvice/11424747/The-professor-who-cured-his-cancer-with-a-cocktail-of-everyday-pills-and-20-years-on-remains-disease-free.html

_Brian · 13-12-2019 6:51am

Because we are living longer overall that is allowing more and more people to develop cancers, this is doing allot to change the statistics.

Obesity is a recent epidemic and while bad in itself it contributes to people getting many cancers too.

I’m fine with the notion of getting cancer when I’m 85, I’m approaching 50 now and have lost close Relatives and friends to cancer so it feels very real.

Gynoid · 13-12-2019 7:11am

lozenges wrote: »

More deaths occur in Ireland due to heart disease than cancer. But you don't get the same fear around cardiac issues.

Yes 1 in 4 die from heart disease. And then there are the horrible life limiting results of strokes.
Everything is terrifying. Thats the fact. I have had 2 good friends die this past year in their 50s and other aquaintances too in their 50 -60s in recent times. The awareness comes in cycles, depending on how many one knows or hears about. If it is a lot there is a feeling of dread, of existential insecurity ( which, philosophically speaking, is the truth of the matter, we all hang every moment by our fingernails over a void, a precipice, never certain of the next heartbeat,

cheerful thought for the day!) and if the stories or experiences are few then I live like a happy cheerful feckless goose who rarely thinks about the grave.

Wanderer78 · 13-12-2019 7:17am

KM792 wrote:

When it comes to the odds of being diagnosed with cancer figures drift from 1 i n 4 to as high in 1 i n 2. There are better treatment options and survival rates nowadays but it is predicted cancer rates will soar due to our lifestyle choices. Very serious illness for those affected so I'm not downplaying it and people with a genetic predisposition pull the short straw but do we scaremonger in general with cancer? Every woman is uneasy with cervical cancer at the moment in Ireland with the scandal yet in the past it was a relatively rare cancer.

No

Do we scaremonger when it comes to cancer?

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