I always knew how bad cancer is, but I only just now found out how damn common it is.
Apparently, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women get diagnosed in their lifetimes? That sounds like an impossible number, but apparently it's real somehow. Yikes.
dancingtongue · 80-89, M
Yep. But there is a wide variety of cancers, the mortality rates vary widely, and there are an increasing number of treatment modalities for a lot of them if caught soon enough. Early intervention is the most important factor, which means better access to health care systems more focused on screening and prevention. Good luck with that in the U.S., without universal access to health care and a cottage industry of health care providers focused on how to get as much money as they can out of a piece-meal, fee-for-service system focused on increasing the volume of services you can mark up huge profit margins on.
Wiseacre · F
If ppl ate healthy, exercised more, and managed stress better than overeating, smoking, and drinking, I bet there would be a lot less cancer.
View 6 more replies »
Elessar · 31-35, M
@dancingtongue I live in the country that after 20 years of Berlusconi managed to elect his coalition once again and her ex-minister as PM lol, we're pretty doomed here
SW-User
@Wiseacre True, no doubt. I know you would be a lot healthier, that's for sure.
Byron8by7 · M
I was diagnosed at the age of 65. My brother in law died of cancer at the age of 65. I would imagine most people think it will never happen to them. It's not like it's something you plan on.
dancingtongue · 80-89, M
@Byron8by7 Well, you're right in that most probably try to ignore it, whistling as they walk by the graveyard so to speak. But I remember the reaction of my late wife when she detected a lump in her breast and had it confirmed as cancer. She shrugged and said, "with the history of cancer in my family -- particularly among the women -- I knew it was inevitable. Now that it is here I can finally deal with it". And she did go into full remission from the breast cancer after a mastectomy and prophylactic chemotherapy. Only to die from unrelated lung cancer which she might have been able to prevent if she had stopped smoking earlier, or never started. And as for us men -- the adage is if you live long enough, that prostate is going to get cancerous when it no longer serves that much of a useful purpose.
