Overall Health
Posted 4/16/2012
Posted in
I like this report. It is a reminder that, even if we survive cancer, we are at risk (like everyone else in the world) for all kinds of other things. We need to continue to pay attention--diet, exercise, fasten your seat belt, don't smoke--to our overall health. I like it because it reminds us that we may indeed, we hope, be well from cancer. Of course, it is not terrific to be reminded of the range of other problems that may impair us, but it is good to be in the same pool with everyone else.
Here is the beginning and then a link to read more:
You Survived Cancer: Now Pay Attention to Your Overall Health
Half of cancer survivors die of other conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes
TUESDAY, April 3 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer survivors need to pay close attention to other aspects of their health as they age, researchers urge.
A new study finds that nearly half of cancer survivors die of something other than cancer, such as heart disease or diabetes. And the further from the initial cancer diagnosis they get, the more likely it is that their cause of death will be something other than cancer.
The study was to be presented Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting in Chicago.
"After the detection of cancer, clinicians and cancer survivors pay less attention to the prevention and treatment of other diseases and complications," lead researcher Dr. Yi Ning, assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, said in an association news release. "We shouldn't neglect other aspects of health because we are focused on cancer and overlook other chronic conditions."
In following 1,800 cancer survivors over the course of more than 18 years, researchers found that 776 of the patients died: 51 percent eventually died from cancer and 49 percent died from other conditions.
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