Friday, February 4, 2011

4 February 2011 is World Cancer Day: Returning to Hippocrates

Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world. World Health Organization estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention.
Each year on 4 February, World Health Organization supports International Union Against Cancer to promote ways to ease the global burden of cancer.
Cancer kills more people than AIDS, Malaria, and TB combined and without immediate, significant improvements - preventable/curable cancers will continue to kill millions of people worldwide. 
You can make difference! 



Respiratory Decade is encouraging you to sign the Declaration elaborated by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) which is the largest cancer fighting organization:
Help us reach our goal of 1,000,000 fans - your support will help us advocate for a cancer free world at the first United Nations Summit on Non Communicable Diseases in September 2011.



In the 1912 edition of his classic textbook of medicine, William Osler stated that "primary tumors of the lung are rare." Lung cancer is now the most common cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States and is the leading cause of cancer death overall in the world, with over 1,000,000 deaths occurring yearly.
Smoking was suspected as causing lung cancer as early as the late 1920s, when physicians began seeing increasing numbers of patients with this heretofore rare disease and noted that nearly all were cigarette smokers.
In the Lung Health Study elegantly was demonstrated that risk for lung cancer decreases with smoking cessation, where the efficacy of smoking cessation interventions in decreasing lung cancer deaths was demonstrated in a prospective, controlled trial.



Another cause of lung cancer, which is also can be prevented, is asbestos!
In 1955 there was published scientific work demonstrating a highly persuasive association between heavy asbestos exposure and lung cancer.
Unfortunately, similar to tobacco, there was a very long delay between the documentation of the etiologic effect of asbestos in lung carcinogenesis and implementation of policies to protect the public. Problem of asbestos persists!

We will be happy if after some time, after considerable reduction and final elimination of tobacco products from the marketplace and elimination of asbestos from industry, next generations will return to the phrase of famous American surgeon Professor Johnston: "Hippocrates never heard of lung cancer"!

We can prevent lung cancer and 
raise quality of life for lung cancer patients!


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