Man Cancer - COMMENTARY

We've done cancer stories especially this month. We've done stories on how PearlieMae allowed her cancer to so advance that it spread to her bones and back. What we haven't done stories on is the unusual cancer conditions. We haven't because there isn't a real concern for their affect. That are many types of the disease and for PearlieMae the big "C" was considered the deadliest of the deadly. PearlieMae considered cancer the disease of death. Once you were so pronounced it was just a matter of time and nothing could dissuade her from that. While hospitalized it was discovered that her cancer was treatable, while she would not be healed her condition could have been arrested. For her mentally and emotionally it was too late. And it was.

Now comes this CBS story that isn't inconsistent with our speculation and suggestions that cancers are a result of several factors, in our opinion, most predominantly location and diet. A man whose wife succumbs to breast cancer develops breast cancer. If we believe that there are methods we all can and should use to prevent and retard the development and spread of the disease. Which we do believe. Then we also believe that cancer can spread in families more so than as PearlieMae believed that you'd get if you go for treatment. That doctors don't know how to cure you so that say you have cancer so they can get you to die.

Information should breed assurance and not fear, in our opinion. Man cancer is not something as men we should be afraid, not something that we should be very very afraid. We don't wish to down play either the disease or the condition. Indeed we believe that in the current condition with the lack of health care and the reluctance within the African-American community to seek immediate care the future looks bleak. Not because of the reluctance which with education and health care can be eroded or reverse. We think a more progressive and beneficial approach, though wholly optimistic, would be a change toward prevention than treatment. The future of treatment is overwhelming expensive.

We came to this story with the news that not all hospitals in our jurisdiction provided an expensive IV treatment for strokes. The research determined that while effective the treatment is only useful in a small (less than 10%) of the affected population. To even be effective with that subset individuals have to be treated quickly which for the African-American and Hispanic population is not their behavior. Rather than having hospital invest in more expensive treatment that is less likely to substantially reduce the number stroke deaths. That's our goal to reduce deaths and encourage treatment.

In our research for the success of expensive IV treatment we discovered how Vitamin D was more effective in the prevention in what the federal government would consider mega-doses. When we say more effective we mean that the population would be larger than without the side effects than in the subset of the more expensive treatment. We will list, in the future, which hospitals are prepared with the more expensive IV treatment for the smart and quick to receive treatment individually. We encourage everyone to become part of that population. PearlieMae was blessed enough to have friends who rushed her to the emergency room when she was not so inclined.

Even more frightening is the public service announcement (PSA) created, we assume, by the US government showing a family moving into a new home and the Realtor telling the father figure that he won't be around to enjoy the new home with the family. The PSA ends with the tag to go the website http://ahrg.gov to to find the test that men should have and the father didn't have. Talk about fear tactics - late at night it'll scare you to death - just in time for Halloween. See it with the lights on!

We did and went to the "Get Preventive Tests" page and other than a BMI, Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and a full battery of cancer tests that you and your doctor should discuss there are no "secret" or special tests that you need as implied by the ad. So if you see it and couldn't find it we just thought we'd let you know!