Friday, August 1, 2008

What country's health care system has the best survival for prostate cancer? (please link to factual source)

What country's health care system has the best survival for prostate cancer? (please link to factual source)?
Thanks for Britain's CYA Report trying to explain the mitigating circumstances for Britain's Social Medicine's pathetic cancer track record. Kudos for that.
Politics - 3 Answers
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1 :
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS74068+07-Jul-2008+BW20080707 the usa has the most unpopular health care sytem. by far.
2 :
Here ya go: "The highest survival rates were found in the U.S. for breast and prostate cancer, in Japan for colon and rectal cancers in men, and in France for colon and rectal cancers in women,.."
3 :
International Cancer Survival Rates are subject to numerous factors relating to comparisons based on definition and recording. http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/behindtheheadlines/europeancancersurvival/ Quote: Dr Harry Burns, lead clinician for cancer in Scotland - the equivalent of England's newly appointed cancer tsar - said that figures showing higher death rates for Britain than Europe and America were not comparing like with like. The system for registering cancer deaths is much tighter in Britain than elsewhere. A cancer patient who dies of a heart attack will be registered as a cancer death in the UK, while other countries' cancer registries tend to understate their death rates, Dr Burns said. Eurocare II throws up oddities which cast doubt on the validity of the figures. The study, showing five-year survival rates from 1978 to 1989 for 17 countries, suggests Estonia has the best rate for certain cancers, above that of prosperous Germany and France. It also shows that immigrants to Switzerland have a higher survival rate than the resident population - because most return to their home countries in their final months and their deaths are not recorded. Separate evidence from international trials shows that British patients included in the trials do just as well as patients from other countries, casting doubt on the claims that treatment is less good in Britain. Dr Burns said: "Until we have a properly designed study comparing like with like, it is daft and demoralising to say we do badly. There is no evidence that British patients are dying more frequently than they need to. We are underselling ourselves and it doesn't help public confidence." His view was backed yesterday by Dr Peter Boyle, the director of epidemiology and biostatistics at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan. Dr Boyle said international comparisons could not be relied on because the disease might be more advanced at diagnosis in some countries than in others."There may well be differences [in survival] but we can't say whether they are due to treatment, diagnosis or something else. I don't think anyone knows the true position," he said. Dr Boyle said global comparisons of this kind were meaningless: " Is spending money the key thing or is it spending it appropriately? We need to know the outcome of higher spending for individual patients, but that is difficult to assess." The best cancer units in Britain provided care that was the equal of any in the world but the standard varied. There were also regional differences in death rates. Dr Boyle said the best hope lay in the Calman-Hine proposals for spreading "best practice" by concentrating cancer care in specialist units linked to district hospitals. "Calman-Hine was a huge breakthrough that put the patient, not the organisation, first. It has been very successfully implemented in Birmingham and Yorkshire. It should ultimately lead to a better deal for patients," he said.

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Monday, July 28, 2008

Why is SOOO Much More Money Spent on Breast Cancer Rearch than on Prostate Cancer Reserach

Why is SOOO Much More Money Spent on Breast Cancer Rearch than on Prostate Cancer Reserach?
Roughly 27,000 men in the U.S. die from prostate cancer each year. Roughly 40,000 women die from breast cancer each year. Why are women such complete selfish b**tards by complaining that life short-changes them when so much more money is spent to protect our moms and daughters than to help our dads and sons. Women should be ashamed of themselves. About 50 times as much money is spent on breast cancer research than on prostate research. That is SICK!!! I guess women and girls could give a crap about their dads and sons. This issue isn't my #1 priority in life. But, I do believe that people should not be afraid to look in the mirror at themselves and see how they betray other humans.
Women's Health - 3 Answers
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1 :
Here's an idea for you. Bite my fart.
2 :
You sound very bitter about this subject. Is someone near to you going through prostate cancer and having a hard time finding support? There are many successful treatments for prostate cancer. One such method is implanting tiny radioactive 'seeds' into the prostate. They are the size of a grain of rice and they work by bringing radiation right to the prostate. After a certain amount of time they are no longer giving off radiation so they are safe to stay implanted in the prostate. I'm sorry if you are going through a tough time right now. Here are a few links at the bottom. (I agree, and you might see that you're acting rather rude if you 'looked in the mirror'. Blaming all women for this problem? The bulk of breast cancer funding comes for large companies, so I guess you should be cursing CEO, not women. Women had to band together to get attention for breast cancer, and this took some time. So I suppose once all men become as passionate as you about this issue and start taking a stand like women, then maybe they could raise awareness and money. So should I say men are lazy because they haven't taken a stand or raised awareness for prostate cancer? No. Just like you shouldn't blame all women. These two subjects are NOT related. It is not like there is only so much awareness you can have for the 2 types of cancer! This is ridiculous and you know it, you don't need me to point it out to see it! )
3 :
You are correct that it receives less funding, but not 50x more. According to the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, breast cancer research will receive about $870 million this year, as compared to the $485 million for prostate cancer research. The NPCC further notes that the U.S. invests approximately $16,700 to find a cure for each life lost to prostate cancer and more than $21,800 for each life lost to breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, 40,200 people die of breast cancer annually, compared to 28,900 people of prostate cancer. I imagine it must be due in part to the politicizing of both diseases; typically, activism and pressure on Congress for funding is mostly from women's groups and has been for decades. Most men don't get involved in that type of activism on a large scale and aren't as vocal about their illness(es). However, I suspect it may largely also be due to the age factor. For example, in the 39 and under age bracket, 1 in 228 women will develop breast cancer, as compared to 1 in 19,299 of men who will develop prostate cancer in that same bracket. It may be that the sheer mortality rates and the early age at which breast cancer can strike that the purpose of medical research is deemed to about extending life; loosely translated...putting more resources into fighting diseases that strike younger ages to maximize the years of life per dollar spent. However, all this rhetoric notwithstanding, I do understand your frustration. Thanks for posting a thought-provoking post; perhaps it will spur someone out here to become more involved in making funding advances and/or prostate cancer activism.

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Thursday, July 24, 2008

ONLY for people that have been directly effected by prostate cancer

ONLY for people that have been directly effected by prostate cancer?
My father is 72 and CAN NOT have SURGERY, the dr. said it is not an option. He wants to know about people who have been through radiation treatments, what was their experience like. Of course if you've had family members effected by this that would be helpful as well
Cancer - 3 Answers
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1 :
My dad has prostate cancer when he was in his Late 50's. He had radiation capsoles injected into his prostate and over time slowly gave out doses of radiation. He only had that done once and it put his cancer into remission. Don't know if the cancer would have come back. My dad passed away 5 years ago from Primary Pulmanary Hypertension. I hope this info helps you. Good Luck.
2 :
My husband's papa had prostate cancer...and normally by the time they are diagnosed surgery is not an option. Cancer is a very sad, vicious and painful experience for all involved. Radiation treatments are never a good thing...but they can prolong the loved ones time with us. You will see that the treatments seem to make the loved one get sicker at first...then they will have days when they dont feel so bad...but the thing with cancer is that you never know from day to day. I just want to say that you have to keep your head held high...sometimes it can be a very long and bumpy road...unfortunately in our situation it was not. He was diagnosed and did not live much longer after. Your father has to be a fighter...dont let him give up!!!
3 :
Radiation has a cumulative effect; at first you don't feel anything, then a coupole of weeks into the treatments you start to get diarrhea and you can only eat peanut butter and lots of Imodium until the treatments end and then for a month or tow after that you still have to be careful and avoid fruit, etc. Please get this book for your father, it will help him a great deal and make him much more comfortable: Amazon.com When Michael Milken was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 1993, he wasted no time switching from his daily egg-and-bacon-sandwich breakfasts to a low-fat, vegetarian diet. He also founded CaP CURE, the Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate. Through research supported by CaP CURE, Milken learned that cutting down on fat was not enough--that soy protein could be an important missing ingredient in his diet. He duly incorporated all of the cancer-fighting ingredients into his diet, but he missed the joy of eating. Enter Beth Ginsberg, Culinary Institute of America (CIA) graduate and natural foods chef. When Milken hired her in 1995, she turned his medicinal soy drinks into tasty, healthy fruit smoothies, his tofu-spread sandwiches into Vegetable Reubens--with tempeh bacon! It became clear that a healthy, cancer-fighting diet need not mean an end to culinary pleasure. In the beautifully photographed The Taste for Living Cookbook, Ginsberg collects more than 75 of Milken's favorite dishes, from Tofu Dog Casserole with a Pretzel Crust to Greek Spinach Pie in a Phyllo Nest to Devil's "Fool" Cake with Cocoa Frosting. Colorful icons next to each recipe let you know how long a dish will take to prepare--many are under an hour from kitchen to table. Nutritional details are given at the end of each recipe, and Ginsberg notes when a substitution can be made (say, low-fat turkey in place of tempeh in a sandwich). Proceeds from the sales of The Taste for Living Cookbook will go to further CaP CURE's research--resulting, one hopes, in even more delicious, healthful meals from chef Ginsberg. --Rebecca A. Staffel

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