Perez 1

Aaron Perez Ms. Devaney Capstone 20 November 2012 On the Road to End Cancer In the great land of the United States of America, the country known for prosperity, freedom, and the American dream. I wonder, why is it that people from other countries automatically inferred that USA is best country in the world? In reality, there are a lot of things out of control and one of them is diseases. According to Era-net.com, the definition of disease is a disorder or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body. In a survey collected by World Health Organization (WHO), The United States of Americas top ten diseases include heart disease, obesity and depression but recently, cancer has made its way on top of the charts in 2011. Cancer is now the leading causing of deaths in America. A common misconception about Cancer is that its just disease but the truth is that there are over 200 different types of cancer for children and adults. This is why cancer has taken so many peoples lives because new types of cancer are discovered constantly making it difficult for scientist to find a cure. Cancer is probably the single most feared disease in America for various reasons. One reason is that in cancer there are no specific symptoms that tell you whether or not you have the disease. Every cancer has specific symptoms and since there are over 200, it is difficult to figure

Perez 2

out what cancer it is. This is why patients find out to late when they have cancer because doctors dont know how to cure due to the fact of not knowing what type of cancer it is. Cancer is a group of cells that spread fast and destroy white blood cells. White blood cells are part of the immune system which purpose is to help detect if there is any disease or virus in the body and tries to stop the spread of that disease. These cancer cells are supposed die at one point but they stay feeing on the bodys healthy cells. Cancer cells grow and divide so rapidly that causes them to clump together and form tumors. Basically a tumor is a group of cancer cells stuck together. A tumor is able destroy any normal cells around the tumor and can damage the bodys healthy tissue. A tumor is a very catastrophic because the lump can stop the red blood cells from flowing correctly in body causing death (What is a tumor). The abstract thing about cancer is that only certain people the disease. Unlike the common cold, cancer is not contagious. Cancer usually affects older people more often than children. A recent study shows that not being active and healthy can cause cancer. Theres really no way to avoid cancer from happening, it just happens. Cancer doesnt have a vaccine of medicine to stop it from spreading around the body but they are to treatments to stop the spreading of cancer cells. Cancer is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. The treatment actually depends on the type of cancer someone has and the stage of the tumor. The stage of the tumor means for example, if the tumor is really big, it is spreading fast. The stage of the tumor is how much the cancer spread within the body. The oldest form of cancer treatments is surgery (Types of Treatment).

Perez 3

On average, three out of five people with cancer will have an operation in order to remove cancer cells. In todays society, there is modern technology that doesnt involve the opening up body parts. A renowned treatment of cancer is radiation. Radiation therapy uses high energy waves with similarities of an X-ray, but actually damages and destroys cancer cells. It is very painful procedure and part of radiation is losing hair which is one of the toughest, emotional, and challenging parts of radiation. Though its painful, it causes tumors to reduce in size and if successful, it can make the tumors go away completely. (Radiation Therapy) Chemotherapy is extremely painful. Its a process that lasts up to months. A catheter is paced under the skin into a large blood vessel of the upper chest and what it does is puts medicine through the tube to kill cancer cells (Understanding Chemotherapy). Though both radiation and chemotherapy can help control the spreading of cancer and actually sometimes cure it, there are a lot of side effects a human body will face during these processes. Both radiation and chemotherapy destroy healthy cells as way. This can cause anemia, appetite changes, bleeding problems, constipation, diarrhea, hair loos, and even memory changes. For radiation, a common effect is red and irritated skin in the area that is treated. Pain medicine is often prescribed by doctors to drink to reduce the pain. (Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects) There is nothing more inspirational and motivational than a person fighting for their life and being a survivor of a horrible disease such as cancer. Loosing hope is the worst thing to do during these crucial times. The patient diagnosed with cancer is in need emotional support in order to motivate the patients that everything will be okay. Someday, there will be a cure for this disease, but in the meantime, its best to keep hoping for the best.

Perez 4

Death of people with cancer can vary for example, death happens due to genetics, but in reality there is a correlation between rate of death of people with cancer and social economic status. Socio- economic status is the economic and sociological status combines and it describes the person in many ways. Social status is lower class, middle class, or upper class, and economic status has to do with money. People who work and receive low income cannot afford treatment for cancer. As of right now, medicine is at an all-time high. An appointment for a doctor can cost up to $50 but in the cancer world, everything is more expensive. Imagine if an average person can barely afford treatment to go to the doctor due to a common cold, imagine the cost with treatment for cancer. Not being able to pay for cancer treatment can lead to death. Cancer started rapidly increasing in 2007 which explains how cancer caused 13% of all human deaths worldwide, killing almost 7.9 million people (Bray). This is due because it is said that America is one of the fattest countries in the world. According to Dr. Lita Lee form Beyond Health News, states that there is a high correlation with people who have cancer and eat microwaved foods. This is shocking because in our society, a lot of people eat microwave foods because its convenient and cheap. A large percentage of people rely on these types of foods. This is one reason why people diagnosed with cancer have increased. A statistic by Jonathan Lopak states The total cost of cancer can range more than $2000 to more to $7000 per patient each year, thats the cost for a patient diagnosed with cancer that has a form of healthcare. In reality, private healthcare is really expensive and healthcare provided by the federal government does not cover all the cost. But even with healthcare, cancer treatment is really expensive. According to an article called Fighting Back Against Cancer, almost a third of patients that have healthcare cost totaling 10% of all their family income, one

Perez 5

out of nine patients cost exceed 20% of family income.People with healthcare are in medical debt though they have healthcare. Healthcare does not cover all the expenses; it only covers a percentage of the total cost. This statistic is very frightening because most likely the patient needs money to pay rent and other essential and not having that money can cause a lot of damage to the family members and the patient. It only leaves 80% of income for other life essentials. A recent survey by Fighting Back Against Cancer has declared that as of right now, 1.5 million people have been diagnosed with cancer. Hypothetically speaking, it can be inferred that those people are in debt seeing how most of the money that is earned will be used for cancer treatments. In the United States of America, there was an economic depression in 2008 is often compared as the Great Depression. Unemployment rates were at an all-time high, the economy was in bad shape, and inflation was a big problem. This statistic really explains the reality were money actually saves a person life, but not having that money, means not having the treatment needed to survive and that can lead to death and during the 2008 depression, cancer deaths were extremely high due to no healthcare and bad economy. It can be implied that people in the low class of society of the United States of America suffer from lack of healthcare. Not having healthcare goes hand and hand with not having a job. In other words, if a person diagnosed with cancer does not have a job, they cannot afford healthcare meaning they cannot afford cancer treatment. In a survey done under the article Fighting Back against Cancer, it surveyed 72 million people, 41% elderly adults are in medical debt. We live in a society where United States of America is known for having strong policies such as Medicare and AARP to take care of the old people. Even thought the older people are provided with Social security and Medicare benefits, 41 % are in debt. Another

Perez 6

statistic by Les Cristie from the Census Bureau declares that the number of people who lacked healthcare climbed to 49.9% in 2009 Census, 49.9%? Thats half of the United States of Americas population, meaning roughly 155,795,958 people without healthcare. Healthcare is a huge issue in The United States. On one side, the Democrats want to propose the Universal Healthcare Act to cover all citizens. On the other side, the Republicans are more conservative and disagree on the reality of the tax penalty. But now that Obama has been reelected for the 2012 election, the solution he proposes for people who dont have healthcare is known as Obamacare. Obamacare will give healthcare to all the citizens of the United States of America but nearly 6 million Americans will face tax penalty under presidents plan. People dont want that because they dont want to use their money but yet people are complaining about not having healthcare. During the Bush presidential era cancer death rates decreased on average 1.6% per year from 2004 to 2008 stated by The Annual Report: Rate of Cancer deaths Continues to fall. Bush did not have a healthcare plan yet the rates of cancer decreased. Even before Bush Era, death rates began to decrease since 1990 but when Obama took presidency, the cancer rates began to significantly increase. If Bush didnt not have a healthcare plan and the death rates of cancer decreased, why is it that Obama wants to have a healthcare plan to decrease the deaths of people with cancer? As previously stated before, cancer usually happens with the older generation so if Obamas healthcare plan on covers people till the age of 26 meaning it does not cover the mature people with cancer which is why people are in debt and die at high rates. Before healthcare because an issue, the death rates of people with cancer has been dramatically decreasing.

Perez 7

I believe that there is correlation between death with people with cancer and social economic status because the social economic status describes what class the patients are in and the economic status. Depending on what class and economic status they are in, it can decide whether the patient can or cannot afford proper healthcare and treatment needed to cure the cancer. After all the research I have done, I have concluded that the social economic status affects the well being of a patient with cancer. In reality, it is most likely that you have met someone who had or has cancer without even knowing. Cancer is a horrible disease thats affects the patient and the patients family members. Every day, 20,000 people die of cancer around the globe. It has been said by many health professionals that one of the leading causes of death is cancer. As of right now there is no cure for cancer but spreading awareness is as important as a cure. We need to let people know that someday there will be a cure for cancer but till that day comes, we must stand together because as a world united, we can defeat cancer.

Perez 8

Works Cited "Annual Report: Rate of Cancer Deaths Continues to Fall." Annual Report: Rate of Cancer Deaths Continues to Fall. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/News/annualreport-rate-of-cancer-deaths-continues-tofall>. "Low Socioeconomic Status Increases Risk Of Death After Cancer Diagnosis." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 June 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080623092544.htm>. Million, NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Number of People Who Lacked Health Insurance Last Year Climbed to 49.9. "Number of People without Health Insurance in U.S. Climbs." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 13 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2012 http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/13/news/economy/census_bureau_health_insurance/ index.htm "More Cancer Patients Can't Afford Care." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-4778543.html>. "National Cancer Institute." Types of Treatment -. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/treatment/types-of-treatment>.

Perez 9

"Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21296855>. Strachan, Maxwell. "Health Care Tax Penalty To Hit Nearly 6 Million Uninsured People." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/health-care-tax-penalty_n_1898005.html>. "What Is a Tumor?" Cancer Social Network, Directory and Educational Hub. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.knowcancer.com/blog/what-is-a-tumor/>.