Tag Archives: Research

Cancer Survivors and an Aging Population

Posted on by
2

More people are living with cancer – and living longer – than ever before. There are currently nearly 14 million cancer survivors in the United States and this number is expected to increase to nearly 18 million by 2022, less than 10 years from now. Is our healthcare system ready for this?young people with children

A new study by Janet de Moor from NCI’s Office of Cancer Survivorship and colleagues addresses the challenges that will be facing our nation over the coming years. The study was highlighted in this week’s issue of Cancer Research Update.

According to the authors, by the year 2020 two-thirds of all cancer survivors will be aged 65 or over. This population will be facing the challenges of aging as well as the challenges of being cancer survivors. The needs of cancer survivors vary widely according to their initial diagnosis, treatments they received, and their other health concerns and issues. The authors note that compared to people who have never had cancer, cancer survivors tend to have poorer health and functioning overall. Continue reading →

Today Begins National Public Health Week

Posted on by
Reply

Picture 85Since 1995, the American Public Health Association has designated the first full week of April as National Public Health Week, a time to appreciate the issues that impact our overall well-being as a nation.

This year’s theme is “Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money,” and AICR applauds its focus on prevention as a key strategy to make diseases like cancer more rare, and less costly — whether those costs are measured in dollars or in human lives.

The National Institutes of Health has crunched the numbers, based on 2008 data. How much does cancer cost the nation financially each year?

Total cost: $201.5 billion

Direct medical costs (total of all health expenditures): $77.4 billion

Indirect mortality costs (cost of lost productivity due to premature death): $124 billion

Continue reading →

Focus Friday: The 50 Percent Solution

Posted on by
Reply

Picture 83This is the final Friday of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

If you forget everything else we’ve talked about this month regarding colorectal cancer, please remember this one number:

50. Five-Oh.

As in, 50 percent. As in, take the number of colorectal cancers that occur in the United States each year — about 143,500 — and cut it in half.

That’s how many cases we could prevent, just by making healthier everyday choices.

  • Move more, every day, in every way.
  • Eat more fiber-rich foods like vegetables, whole grains, fruits and beans — and make less room for red meat.
  • While you’re at it, skip cold cuts, bacon, sausage, hot dogs and other processed meats.
  • The more you follow this advice, the easier it’ll be for you to lose the excess body fat that, we now know, makes colorectal cancer more likely.

Fifty percent. One in two.

That’s nearly 72,000 lives that could be spared this debilitating and too-frequently deadly cancer.

All of us at AICR dearly hope you follow the National Cancer Institute’s advice on screening for colorectal cancer. Catching the disease in its early stages can and does save lives.

But we also hope you emerge from National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month with a new awareness that preventing this disease takes place outside of your doctor’s office. It happens every day, hundreds of times, with every small, unremarkable but vitally important choice you make about what to eat and how to live.