Tuesday, February 4, 2014

World Cancer Day

Just eleven months ago my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and ten days later, she passed away.  Mom had already been living with a blood cancer, leukemia for a number of years.  Human beings can be affected by over 200 different known cancers.  Today is World Cancer Day and it was established to encourage more awareness along with prevention, detection, and treatment.
 
So where do we start?  In terms of early detection, regular checkups are vital.  Also, get to know your body and be aware of unusual changes.  Learn about the most common cancers too and what you can do to prevent them. 
 
Don't be afraid to ask questions too.  If your doctor gives you information that you don't understand, say so.  Also, feel free to see out additional sources of information too.  For 100 years your American Cancer Society has been leading the way and you will find all kinds of information on their website.  Just go to http://www.cancer.org/
 
The biggest focus of World Cancer Day is to reduce death and illness caused by cancer significantly by the year 2020.  It is not likely that there will ever be a single cure for cancer, as cancer is an umbrella term for many diseases involving unregulated cell growth.  Take a moment today though to think about friends and loved ones that you have lost to various forms of cancer, and then vow to do something about it!

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