More Funding for cancer research is needed

                Many of us are still feeling the effect of last year sequestration.  The automatic budget cut known as sequester that threaten hundreds of thousand jobs cuts, and cut vital services for children, seniors, people with mental illness and our men and woman in uniform(“The Sequester”).  Among those funding cuts that are on the chopping block, funding for cancer research is one of them.

                The  National Cancer Act of 1971 was signed into law by the president Richard Nixon in 1971 and since then,  there has been a tremendous advancement in treatment and understanding of cancer. Despite the huge lifesaving benefits, with more than 13 million cancer survivors alive today,  our elected officials in Washington seem to careless because they are so busy with their political shown down that ultimately leads to the sequester begins March 1. According to National Institutes of Health, director Francis Collins, MD, the funding for the cancer research has remained flat for more than a decade, but 2013 is considered “darkest ever”  for the agency due to the budget sequestration.  The National Institutes of Health is not the only ones, the sequestration also threatens the technology and science communities as well according to “all thing research 2013” event (“Funding for Cancer Search”).

                2014 seems to be a better year for cancer research funding.  At least, there seems to be some lights at the end of the tunnel.  The Senate has agreed recently to pass a bill that is sponsored by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor(R-VA) called “The Gabriella Miler Kids First Research Act” which then signed into law by the president Obama on Thursday April 3^rd, 2014 wherein the funding of 126 million is directed into pediatric disease research at the National Institutes of Health (Goldberg, Korff,2014). 

                The passage of the bill seems to be a very small victory compares with the actual cut the National Institutes Health suffered but obviously, the research community would welcome any any additional resources it can get. At least, our politicians put aside their political differences and come to some agreements on  for the a good cause.

                The lack of the funding in cancel research as a result of sequestration clearly is a major setback for the for the research community and the longer it lasts, the more damages it will cause. “It is like a slow growing cancer,” said Steven Warrent, Vice Chanceller for research at University of Kansas(Stein).

                 We’ve seen the benefit, we know the effect  and for now , the only cure is clearly more funding is needed for cancer  research.

References:

Funding for Cancer Search. American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Retrieved from http://www.acscan.org/research

Federally Funded Cancer Research. American Society of Clinical Oncology. Retrieved from http://www.asco.org/advocacy/federally-funded-cancer-research

Goldberg,J.,Korff,J. (2014) Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act signed into Law .Retrieved from

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/04/gabriella-miller-kids-first-research-act-to-be-signed-into-law-101786.html

Stein, Sam. Sequestration Cuts To Research ‘Like a Slowly Growing Cancer’. Retrieved from

http://www.scienceworksforus.org/in-the-news/sequestration-cuts-to-research-like-a-slowly-growing-cancer

The Sequester. The White House. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/sequester

Tara Packer-Pope

Tara Parker-Pope has been a professional reporter and is one of the most popular journalists of The New York Times for twenty years. She is a native Arizona, has graduated at University of Texas and lived in different places such as Okinawa, Japan, Taiwan, Texas and Ohio. Currently, she resides with her daughter and several pets in Buck County, Pennsylvania.

Prior to be a reporter for the New York Times, Tara was a health columnist for the Wall Street Journal and also a correspondent in the paper’s London Bureau.  As experienced her childhood in various places and as a type of exercise-lover, she desires to write daily health blog which has made a lot of influences on people’s everyday decision in long term health and happiness. Tara earned Second Century Award for Excellence in Heath Care from the Columbia University of Nursing, as well as Meida Award from the North America Menopause Society for her “Women’s Health Initiative” report.

As the author of the “Well” blog for the New York Times, her blog is characterized as a best blog finalist at the Online New Associations Journalism and the American Health Care journalist Awards in 2009.

Besides working for the New York Times, Parker-Pope is also a member of the Houston Chronicle and the Austin American Statesman.  A lot of her health and wellness articles can be found in OMagazine, Reader’s Digest, More Magazing, and Lady Home Journaland American Legion Magazine. Regularly, she has appeared on Today Show, CNN, CBS Sunday morning, Dataline, Charlie Rose and Good Morning America as a heath reporter.

Among many of her written books, “For Better: How the Surprising Science of Happy Couples Can Heal Your Marriage Success,” has been getting a lot of attention from readers because of its study about marriage. In 2010, Parker-Pope won the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s media award for the article “Kept From a Dying Partner’s Bedside”. A few months later, President Obama cited this outstanding story as “influence in his decision to issue new rule for hospitals in their treatment of same-sex couples”(Tara Packer-Pope).

Furthermore, Tara got a News and Documentary Emmy Award for new approaches in art, lifestyle and culture in 2013. Other journalists, in the USA and across the world cite”Parker-Pope as a serious columnist and valuable point of reference on the social topics on which she writes.”

References:

Tara Parker-Pope.(2014) Your Public Media. Retrieved from http://www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/profile/featured/tara-parker-pope

Tara Parker-Pope.(2013). Wikipedia. Retrieved from

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Parker-Pope

Tara Parker-Pope. (2013).Well. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/author/tara-parker-pope/page/3/

Breast Cancer in Men

            Breast Cancer is not only a female disease since it is found in men as well. Although the risk factor is just one percentage of all breast cancer cases, there has been 2,360 new cases in the U.S. diagnosed among men.  About 430 men are expected to die from breast cancer this year (“What are the key statistics about breast cancer”, 2014). At puberty, the female hormones in the ovaries cause the ducts to grow; meanwhile, another kind of male hormone secreted in the testes will suppress the growth of the breast ducts. Thus, this type of cancer is less common in men. Like other cells of the body, this cell will undergo a dramatic change and become abnormal in appearance and behavior.

           Most men go undiagnosed, which is often detected at an advanced stage since men refuse to believe they might get breast cancer and tend to ignore the signs of symptoms. A lump with a pea sized on the chest area is one of the most common signs. In addition, redness and rash on the nipple or nipple discharge can be noticeable as a warning sign of breast cancer.  

           “Breast cancer is not always pink,” according to “When men get Breast Cancer” article in the New York Times magazine. The types of this cancer in men are the same as in women, and the survival rate is the same in both genders if it is found at an early stage. Some of the factors are considered as a contribution to breast cancer in man such as the high level of estrogen, the gene mutation, chronic liver disorder, obesity or radiation early in life. Even though ductal cancer can be related to family history of breast cancer, a lot of cases happen without any inheritance trails (“What is breast cancer in men”,2014).

        Dr. Oliver Bogler, a cancer biologist has shared his thought on the magazine after he was diagnosed with breast cancer, “I was surprised to learn how little awareness there was for men.” He added, “Breast cancer is skewed toward women, but it’s not just a woman’s cancer” (“When Men get Breast Cancer”, 2014).  Men will be unlikely to get this type of cancer, yet there should be more awareness raised among men who may not realize a lump on their chest which is one of many signs of this type of cancer. In addition, the tendency of men to have breast examination is rare, which has contributed to a higher mortality rate for men after being diagnosed with the disease often at the progressed stage. Should the men have Breast check as a part of a Physical exam?

References:

Breast Cancer in Men.(2014). American Cancer Society. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancerinmen/detailedguide/breast-cancer-in-men-what-is-breast-cancer-in-men

Komen,S. Do men get breast cancer? Retrieved from http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedfiles/content_binaries/806-320a.pdf

Male Breast Cancer(2014). MedicineNet. Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/male_breast_cancer/article.htm#male_breast_cancer_facts

Parker-Pope,T.(2014). When Men get Breast Cancer. Well. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/when-men-get-breast-cancer/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&_r=0
What are the key statistics about breast cancer in men?(2014). Retrieved from  

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancerinmen/detailedguide/breast-cancer-in-men-key-statistics

Nowadays, a number of women around the world have been struggling in battle against breast cancer at different stages of disease. Dangerously, most cases occur in females without any risk factors and threat life.  According to statistics from breastcanccer.org website, about an eighth U.S. women (just under 12%) will develop this invasive disease over the course of her lifetime(“Breast Cancer,2014). In 2013, about 39,620 women in the U.S. were expected to die from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989(“Us Breast Cancer Statistics”,2013). Those above number are terrible and solutions for declining them are really urgent.

 Although any women could have mutated genes leading to breast cancer, there are genetic differences that are associated with the risk for this kind of cancer between white and black women(“Breast Cancer”,2014). In fact that black women are less likely than white women to get breast cancer, yet compared with white women, black women have the higher mortality rates from disease. According to the article Black Women and Breast Cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Black women and in 2010; besides, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also reported that the breast cancer death rate for women aged 45--64 years was 60% higher for Black women than white women (56.8 and 35.6 deaths per 100,000, respectively)(“Breast Cancer Death Rate”,2010). Through medical diagnose, African American women are less likely to be diagnosed with smaller tumors (less than 2 cm) and more likely to be diagnosed with larger tumors (greater than 5cm). A tumor is a mass of abnormal tissue. There are two types of breast cancer tumors: those that are non-cancerous, or ‘benign’, and those that are cancerous, which are ‘malignant’(“Breast Cancer Statistics for African American Women”,2013)

Breast cancer tends to appear in Black women at a younger age and in more advanced forms. Indeed, younger women generally do not consider themselves to be at risk for breast cancer. In fact, Black women are two times more likely to develop triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease which has fewer effective treatment options. Triple-negative breast cancers tend to grow and spread more quickly than most other types of breast cancer(“Type of Breast Cancer”,2014).

The most obvious factors of this disease are associated with a lack of health care coverage and socioeconomic status. Social Economic factors, in particular, appear to play a major role in influencing the prevalence of behavioral risk factors of African women than White women (for example, tobacco smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, and excessive alcohol intake, and health status), as well as in following cancer diagnostic recommendations.

The most widely used method and best available tool for detecting breast cancer is still screening mammography. However, based on many surveys for detecting breast cancer, the level of accuracy of each method has been always a controversial issue. Even though the definition of “breast awareness” has been still vague, it is essential for women to beware of signs of breast cancer through methods of examination

References:

Breast Cancer. (2014).Heath Guide. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/breast-cancer/risk-factors.html

Breast Cancer Statistics for African American Women.(2013). Retrieved from http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics

Breast Cancer Death Rates. (2010). Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5929a5.htm

Surviving Breast Cancer through Early Detection and Diagnosis. Black Women and Breast Cancer. Retrieved from http://www.blackwomenshealth.org/issues-and-resources/black-women-and-breast-cancer/

Type of Breast Cancer.(2014). American Cancer Society. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-breast-cancer-types