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"Drugs" and/or other treatments do more than alleviate the symptoms.
This blew me away. If you think it's simply a "quality of life issue," you are tragically mistaken. IT'S CANCER. From cancer.org:
Certainly there are worse cancers you can have, but I'm amazed anyone would take such a ho-hum attitude about it. Hopefully I'm just misundestanding you, but it's your life, whatever, I'm just amazed.
I think it's a sensible, rather than ho-hum, attitude. Which is better, 15-20 years of having the cancer slowly growing, or 15-20 years of worry, shots, treatment, chemotherapy, worry and expense for a "maybe" extension of life?
And to be really blunt about it, which is better, cancer or dying of old age and dementia in a nursing home?
Cancer is not the worse thing that could happen to a person. If something like rhematoid arthritis runs in a family, a fairly quick death like cancer may be considered a blessing.
You have to die of something, sometime. Sometimes we get to make a choice.
"Drugs" and/or other treatments do more than alleviate the symptoms.
This blew me away. If you think it's simply a "quality of life issue," you are tragically mistaken. IT'S CANCER. From cancer.org:
Certainly there are worse cancers you can have, but I'm amazed anyone would take such a ho-hum attitude about it. Hopefully I'm just misundestanding you, but it's your life, whatever, I'm just amazed.
The drugs I'm referring to are the Flomax and Proscar-type treatments, and unless someone has both a high PSA and enlarged prostate symptoms, doctors are happy to just keep prescribing the drugs. My own doctor would have been happy to do that with me had I not insisted on a biopsy because I had both the symptoms and my PSA had jumped over two years ago. The biopsy was negative. My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer but he just did watchful waiting because that's where he was. I didn't mean to offend you.
Some interesting points made by all. The rates of new diagnoses and deaths is very similar for both breast and prostate cancer in the US. I'm not sure that there is more research being done for breast cancer than there is for prostate cancer. I know when I worked in a hospital that there were similar numbers of clinical trials for both, so I would suspect that there are similar volumes of research. I think people believe that there is more breast cancer research being done than for other cancers simply because of the media attention that breast cancer events attract, but I'm not sure that that impression is born out in fact.
a perfect example of how absurd it is is the NFL this month. The entire month is devoted to breast cancer with players wearing pink wristbands, shoes, gloves and the league refuses to do any kind of prostate cancer cancer awareness even though the game is played by men, coached by men, scouted by men, and managed by men.
but then again the league doesn't really care about breast cancer, they're just trying to widen their demographic. Still it's rediculous and very much a cottage industry today. It's kind of like patriotism and "support the troops", nobody wants to be out-patriotised today.
of course AIDS funding and reasearch was way out of control in commesurate to it's effect on people in relation to other diseases. So we've seen it before.
I don't have a problem with the NFL doing something for breast cancer but a whole month when they don't promote prostate cancer awareness to the same degree?
I'm sure the PC crowd will crow but that's how I feel.
Perhaps you are just a fan of the wrong sport. Tennis's John McEnro led a prostate awareness campaign in 2009. Golf's Arnold Palmer has a foundation for prostate cnacer research. MLB has a Home Run Challenge during June to raise funds for prostate cancer research. NASCAR and the NHL have both been involved in promoting prostate awareness and free screenings. Prostate Awareness month is September. Did you miss it? October is Hockey fights Cancer awareness month and the NHL and NHLPA chose ZERO as their charity.
I think it's a sensible, rather than ho-hum, attitude. Which is better, 15-20 years of having the cancer slowly growing, or 15-20 years of worry, shots, treatment, chemotherapy, worry and expense for a "maybe" extension of life?
Which is better, being nonchalant about having cancer and dying of it or taking care of it and not?
Shall we continue with the silly oversimplifications/exaggerations or stop now?
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And to be really blunt about it, which is better, cancer or dying of old age and dementia in a nursing home?
And these are the only 2 choices because......
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Cancer is not the worse thing that could happen to a person.
And-? Based on that logic, women shouldn't take any precautions against rape because there are worse things that can happen to a woman.
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Originally Posted by cyrano
The drugs I'm referring to are the Flomax and Proscar-type treatments, and unless someone has both a high PSA and enlarged prostate symptoms, doctors are happy to just keep prescribing the drugs. My own doctor would have been happy to do that with me had I not insisted on a biopsy because I had both the symptoms and my PSA had jumped over two years ago. The biopsy was negative. My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer but he just did watchful waiting because that's where he was. I didn't mean to offend you.
You didn't but thx.
I know prostate cancer isn't nearly the danger that pancreatic or some other cancers are, but I would err on the side of caution. But again, that's me.
How come so much research goes into breast cancer but not prostate cancer? Or is it just me? It's pretty common to hear about raising awareness about breast cancer and looking for the cure on the radio or on TV. What about prostate cancer? About 217,000 new cases of prostate cancer have occurred in men this year, and over 32,000 have died. Is it me, or is there a whole lot of more research and awareness going into breast cancer more so than to prostate cancer? Why does it seem that breast cancer is taken more seriously than prostate cancer?
I sense some sexism going on here.
It is blatant sexism. If anything, the NFL should be doing a prostate cancer awareness month. The fact they're doing just the opposite is just a symptom of the overarching misandry in our society. Men are disposable and women are to be protected. That's the overall mentality at the root of things.
I just don't understand (as has been pointed out repeatedly on Joey2000's thread about breast cancer awareness month) why we can't just have some kind of general "cancer awareness emphasis", rather than focusing so exclusively on breast cancer. It truly isn't a male/ female thing IMHO. I have lost female friends now to stomach cancer, uterine cancer and pancreatic cancer. My best friend battled bladder cancer as well this past year. Thankfully, hers was likely caught in time.
I'm truly at a loss about what they want us to be aware of regarding breast cancer in particular. It would be the rare woman, I think, in this day and age who doesn't know that it is recommended to get regular mammograms etc., etc. I think we also know that breast cancer often kills and that early detection is important. What else are we supposed to be aware of? I'm not being facetious when I say I just don't get it.... If it's just about the fund-raising, I again say, maybe it should be fund-raising for cancer research in general, not just one particular cancer.
(I hesitate to post this kind of thing because I don't want to offend anyone who is battling breast cancer or has lost someone to breast cancer. Not trying to negate the devastation of breast cancer here at all....just sayin'...)
I think we also know that breast cancer often kills and that early detection is important. What else are we supposed to be aware of? I'm not being facetious when I say I just don't get it....
But when organizations like Susan G Komen were founded, people didn't automatically know this. Women were dying at relatively young ages because there wasn't the research and awareness of the disease. Heck, even until recently the male body was assumed the default, and there wasn't the awareness that heart disease and stroke symptoms are different in women than in men.
I do think that breast cancer isn't as much of a death sentence as it was 30 years ago, but women support the cause and apparently get a sense of camaraderie and sisterhood from it. No one is stopping men or anyone else from advocating for prostate cancer or other disease awareness.
But when organizations like Susan G Komen were founded, people didn't automatically know this.
Point well taken on that, I suppose. However, I still think that right now we've reached an "oversaturation" point, if you will, with the issue, and consequently, people may start just ignoring the overload of publicity about it. Last night my husband brought home some baked potato chips in a pink bag.
It is blatant sexism. If anything, the NFL should be doing a prostate cancer awareness month. The fact they're doing just the opposite is just a symptom of the overarching misandry in our society. Men are disposable and women are to be protected. That's the overall mentality at the root of things.
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Originally Posted by kaykay
I just don't understand (as has been pointed out repeatedly on Joey2000's thread about breast cancer awareness month) why we can't just have some kind of general "cancer awareness emphasis", rather than focusing so exclusively on breast cancer. It truly isn't a male/ female thing IMHO.
Somebody gets it. Thx to both
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"Drugs" and/or other treatments do more than alleviate the symptoms. 
If it's just about the fund-raising, I again say, maybe it should be fund-raising for cancer research in general, not just one particular cancer.
Somebody gets it. Thx to both
