First, I want to mention how much I hate cancer. I mean don’t we all? But in this case, I mean the actual word cancer. While it is a word that I will use over and over again, cancer has largely been overused by scientists, media, and society. Cancer is a buzzword whose original meaning has been all but lost.
So why hasn’t a cure for cancer been discovered? Well this is partly because cancer is not a singular disease, but actually several very different diseases. I would even go so far to say that cancer actually encompasses several million separate diseases, as it has become increasingly evident that cancer is a very individualized disease. For this reason is why we haven’t seen a universal treatment; one type of chemotherapy drugs may not work on two different people, with seemingly exact forms of cancer.
Additionally, cancer is not like other diseases. Cancer is not like a viral or a bacterial infection which invades our body and does havoc (of course there are examples in which these type of foreign little buggies can lead to cancer, but that's another story). Viruses and bacteria are foreign organisms, which our body can overcome, or can be killed with the use of antibiotic and antiviral drugs that usually have relatively limited toxicity on our bodies. Cancer is a disease of your body in response to our own bodies turning against us. It is our body going absolutely nuts and it is exceptionally difficult to fight a part of yourself without seriously damaging the rest of you. Creating a drug that kills cancer will ultimately kill the rest of the tissues as well. Cancers might be exaggerated growth but it is made up of the same components of the rest of the body. So this is an extreme difficulty to overcome.
These issues make finding a cure extremely difficult. However, the research world is making leaps and bounds in treatment and prevention of the disease. They are turning toward more individualized treatment, and god-willing, in a few years, maybe a cure will be on the horizon. Any support for the researcher of the world will be greatly appreciated.
4 comments:
Good points. I'm glad you are approaching this with an awareness of the "end user" of the output given to the public by both scientists and media. I think I am more confused by all the output than I am disillusioned. Absorbing all the information thrown at us by both scientists and media -- on top of worrying about what we might have missed in the last news report -- is overwhelming to the non-scientist such as myself. I have a great respect for the scientific method and understand the patience needed by all through a process which can consume more than one generation of scientist on a single study. I would think that scientists, working in this method as they must, would naturally have a difficult time communicating with the media who has the task of satisfying an audience that is looking for the 30 minute cure to any of life's challenges. I would like to see some good ideas for improved communication between good science and the masses. Even if we take our health into our own hands and study all we can, we need to have sources that are known to be the latest and greatest information. Otherwise I for one feel that I am drowning in never ending opinions rather than the best science has to offer at any given time. Your blog is a good step in that direction. Keep it real!
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you completely, but a huge problem with the nature of good information to the general public, lies in the fact that they want things handed to them in quick sound-bites, and are very angry when it doesn't happen that quickly. I feel all of us need to, at the very least, realize that there are no quick fixes, none that truly will be lasting. It would be in our best interest to realize that things take time and that fad diets, quick cures and what not will only lead to more pain in the long run. It would be nice as a start to see media provide more stories to scientific discoveries from the scientists themselves. Begin showing the positive aspects of science to the masses and things are being done. This would definitely be a start.
Absolutely. My communication skills lacking, you have said what I tried to say. I invite all scientists such as yourself to begin a dialog with the non-scientific community. We are beginning to see some of this with the success of channels such as Discovery Health and shows such as Oprah, It is becoming apparent that the interest among non-scientists in their own health is growing. To ask a specific question: Is there a good resource for weeding though the cancer prevention measures we hear about on the news. For instance, we are hearing a lot about the lead in toys lately. Is there some place we can go to validate such news stories? Thanks>
That is a very good question. I have provided in other posts some good websites to go to that might provide an idea about what is out there. As while this is a new blog, I will begin to provide more places that one could look to validate findings of what is suggested by news stories and the like. For the story involving lead paint, this is more of a news story than strictly a science based, so on the news story, there is no simple way to validate it. However, if someone wants to learn about why having lead based paint on toys is so awful, they can look at numerous websites, such as the National Safety Council for information about lead poisoning. Also a simple google of lead poisoning could provide some important information. As I continue to blog, I will do my best to provide further sites for people to validate and increase their information base. Thanks for the comment.
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