Doc Alan
15th July 2011, 23:52
Macmillan Cancer Support are now estimating 2 out of 5 people in the UK will get cancer at some point in their lives. It causes over a quarter of deaths and is second only to heart and circulatory disease ( one third of deaths ). The outlook for most cancers is improving, although the UK does not do as well as other similar countries. Screening, earlier diagnosis, and better treatment ( more " targetted " to individuals ) all help to improve chances of cure, or at least long term survival.
The reasons for the increase are mainly the ageing population, continued smoking and dietary factors with obesity. Lung, breast, and large bowel cancers are the main culprits.
There are geographical variations in cancer, more due to the environment than genetic factors. In the Philippines, as in UK, cancer follows heart and circulatory diseases in mortality. There's no requirement for causes of death to be medically determined before death registration, so national statistics are not so accurate. Cancer survival rates are worse than the UK because screening and early diagnosis are not so well developed. All too often, filipinos seek medical help too late and can't afford treatment. In the UK 10 % of GDP ( Gross Domestic Product ) is spent on health, whereas in the Philippines it's less than 1 %. The types of cancer are a little different in the Philippines - after lung, breast, and bowel cancer come liver ( because of hepatitis viruses and alcohol ), and others, like cervical cancer, are commoner.
Because cancer is of so many different types, it's unlikely there will be " a cure ". But here's the good news :xxgrinning--00xx3: - There are vaccines against Human Papilloma Virus ( HPV ) for cervical cancer, and Hepatitis B virus for liver cancer. Screening and early detection is improving for several cancers like cervix, breast and bowel. New cancer drugs are constantly appearing which attack specific cancer mutations rather than also killing " good " cells. They're outrageously expensive but at least the UK government has set aside a fund to pay for them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14140424
The reasons for the increase are mainly the ageing population, continued smoking and dietary factors with obesity. Lung, breast, and large bowel cancers are the main culprits.
There are geographical variations in cancer, more due to the environment than genetic factors. In the Philippines, as in UK, cancer follows heart and circulatory diseases in mortality. There's no requirement for causes of death to be medically determined before death registration, so national statistics are not so accurate. Cancer survival rates are worse than the UK because screening and early diagnosis are not so well developed. All too often, filipinos seek medical help too late and can't afford treatment. In the UK 10 % of GDP ( Gross Domestic Product ) is spent on health, whereas in the Philippines it's less than 1 %. The types of cancer are a little different in the Philippines - after lung, breast, and bowel cancer come liver ( because of hepatitis viruses and alcohol ), and others, like cervical cancer, are commoner.
Because cancer is of so many different types, it's unlikely there will be " a cure ". But here's the good news :xxgrinning--00xx3: - There are vaccines against Human Papilloma Virus ( HPV ) for cervical cancer, and Hepatitis B virus for liver cancer. Screening and early detection is improving for several cancers like cervix, breast and bowel. New cancer drugs are constantly appearing which attack specific cancer mutations rather than also killing " good " cells. They're outrageously expensive but at least the UK government has set aside a fund to pay for them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14140424