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Cancer in America Is Way Down, For the Wealthy Anyway (bloomberg.com)
The good news is that cancer in America was beaten back over the 25 years ending 2016, with death rates plummeting, particularly when it comes to the four most common types of the dreaded affliction. From a report: There's a caveat, however. Those gains have been reaped mostly by the well-off. While racial disparities have begun to narrow, the impact of limited access to treatment for the poorest Americans has increased wealth-based inequality, according to the American Cancer Society's annual update on trends and statistics. "Any time you have a disease as serious as cancer, when you have a substantial reduction in deaths, that's a notable achievement," said Len Lichtenfeld, the interim chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. "But there are still a lot of areas for improvement."
Health insurance and access to care can be an issue in some poor and rural portions of the country, where there are higher death rates of colon, cervical and lung cancers, according to Cancer Statistics 2019. While poverty was actually associated with lower rates of cancer mortality prior to the 1980s, that trend has since reversed, due in part to changes in diet and smoking as well as screening and treatment rates, the health organization said.
Health insurance and access to care can be an issue in some poor and rural portions of the country, where there are higher death rates of colon, cervical and lung cancers, according to Cancer Statistics 2019. While poverty was actually associated with lower rates of cancer mortality prior to the 1980s, that trend has since reversed, due in part to changes in diet and smoking as well as screening and treatment rates, the health organization said.
I am shocked that people with money get better services.
Good old equality, American style. A person shouldn't be blackmailed with their own life.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
One group with low rates of cancers are people who work in the nuclear industry or on navy ships. They don't have shocking better healthcare plans than most middleclass folks so it may not just be wealth buying better health care. One guess is that by the nature of the work they are industrious people self selected to have otherwise healthy lifestyles but even studies trying to control for that still find lower cancer rates. Another possibility of course is that low level nuclear radiation is good for you. Since life evolved in a higher radiation level environment than today, it might not be shocking if multi-cellular animals figured out some way to differentially profit from radiation over their single cell parasites. But that's a stretch too. An even more likely hypothesis is apparently nuclear material environments actually are less toxic than others. That too would not be surprising since Nuclear is all about safety and avoiding accidents so hazards are controlled carefully. A final hypothesis remaining is that it's not that bad for you in low doses compared to the variability in life itself.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Growth in cancer doesn't necessarily mean an increase in cancer, it means a decrease in other causes of death. So, a decrease in cancer might indicate increases in other, presumably preventable ways to die. Another way to put it is, that if you remove all the other causes of death you'd still be left with cancer.
I have a friend who works in oncology (he is a surgeon). He basically said that immunotherapy is incredible, and within 5 years he believes that those with enough money will be treated for many types of cancer by customised immunotherapy. They will go in every two weeks and a team will adjust the therapy based on the cancer's response until the cancer is gone. Add to this the work being done on early detection, and cancer could soon become nothing more than a strain on your bank account.
Everyone else will continue to get cut, burn and poison. Having said that, this is how the economy has always progressed, and in 20 years when patents have run out and the treatments have become more mature, we can all look forward to this sort of thing.
Certainly an exciting time to be alive.
Cancer is being detected and treated at earlier stages, so it's possible to have a similarly misleading title that says Cancer in America is Way Up. What the story is really about is that deaths from cancer is falling, particularly for people who can afford better treatment, which often requires time away from work.
Wow, you have got to be kidding me! Canada? Yup, they have it right. Just like my friends Grandma who was told by the very same Canadian health care system: Yes you have cancer, but according to the Canadian government you're too old to start treatments. Here is a bunch of pain pills. Please go home and die, and that is just what she did.
Oh it's the evil insurance companies... wait it's the evil doctors making all the money, uh it's the evil.... Government. In Canada the one stop shop for your medical needs. Can't blame anyone else.
Yes this is a true story. You should see my friend deliver it. You would be a bit bitter too if this is how your Grandma was treated.
Isn't there supposed to be a link between cigarettes and cancer? Stop buying cigarettes and you will be healthier with more money. Win win
And where did the government get this guideline from? Doctors. Face it, your friend's Grandma probably was too old to endure cancer treatment. We all die.
Why do you insist that we only look at the failure implementation of ideas, and not look at successes, especially as the successes are better aligned with the size and wealth of America?
Look at John Doe, who went bankrupt because he bought a Testla. So if you buy a Testla you will go bankrupt.
Well John Doe, had other expenses, and didn't make the salary that would allow him to buy a Testla,
while Jane Doe, has a higher salary and less expenses, so the Testla is a better fit for her, and the saving on gas cost will add to her overall financial health.
The Venezuela model, had an economy based on high Gas and Oil prices, they were doing rather well while Gas and Oil prices were high, They can insult America as much as they want, because they had oil and the country was wealthy enough to fund social services.
America has a more diverse economy, We can and have survived complete sectors collapsing. The American Economy can handle a lot of problems and still remain strong. A Universal Health Care system if wisely implemented wouldn't hurt the US and would probably be a net benefit, as we keep keep workers working. Because if someone gets sick, and remains sick because they cannot afford health care, will not be working and in general improving the economy.
Now we should look at the issues that other countries have and see if they could happen with the US, and see if we can mitigated this problems such as making sure health care systems are competing for your business, and providers are getting paid for performance and make sure they can keep up with demand.
Universal Medical treatment will cause increase demand, because there are people more willing to seek treatment because before they couldn't afford it, but that needs to be recognized and managed, but not just discredited because it is an issue.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
That was probably the best option, irrespective of cost. Treatment for cancer may in some cases provide only a very short increase in lifetime (and in some cases, no increase), while destroying quality of life.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
we had to pass the bill to see what was in it
The bill was available and debated for almost a year.
Obamacare fixed all of this
The way the ACA would have fixed this particular problem is Medicaid expansion. Which Republicans sued over. And are blocking in every state they can.
Why do they lie?
Why do you?
I could care less that cancer rates are down for the wealthy. Who honestly gives a shit when they do so much to prevent the working class from getting good healthcare, jobs, and homes. The fact that cancer rates are down for a mere 1% (if that) of the population is inconsequential.