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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1984-03-28, Page 40HOPE page 16 The office of the Huron County Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society is located at 20 Isaac Street, Clinton. Cancer facts for men _T -else Care -of My Body t. _.___ _ _ _ Who Me? I'm As Health As a Horse. Yes. You. Even if your lifestyle is a healthy one, things can go wrong. Scorning regular medical check-ups or failing to seek advice about even small irregularities in your body, does not prove you're a Super- man: it could be fatal. It needn't be so. Many types of cancer can be prevented, and you should also be able to recognize the ear- ly warning signs that cancer may be pre- sent. In most cases, if the disease is detected in its early .stages, it can be cured. It really as up to your -_ ..._ .._ _.__ .•..___ . LL WHAT IS CANCER? Cancer is not one disease. It's a general term for a group of diseases in which some cells of the body go out of control, growing and increasing in number. When cells grow out of control and form a mass, this is called a tumor. Not all tumors however, are cancerous; most are "benign" and do not threaten life. Another important characteristic of cancer cells is that they can spread to other parts of the body. Following are descriptions of common cancers for men, how to spot a potential pro- blem and, in some cases, how to avoid the risk of developing a cancer, altogether. LUNG CANCER: This has the dubious distinction of being the league leader in cancer deaths for men. If trends continue, it will soon lead off for women too. Often the firstsign is a . chronic cough, which may cause blood to appear in the sputum. Increasing amounts of mucus may develop. Fever, and occasionally Chest pains, may be experienced also. Success in treating lung cancer depends on the'type of tumor and the stage at which it is first detected. However, lung cancer is not easily treated. Prevention should be the goal. What You Can Do: In nine out of ten cases of lung cancer, cigarette smoking is the cause. If you smoke, the remedy is simple: quit. Now! It's never too late. Research has shown that after two or three years, most of the damage to the ex -smoker's lungs has been _.repaired.- .aturally.;._. after 10 to _ 15 years, your lungs will be as good as new. >„i -- cidentally, the cigarette smoker who has the habit of inhaling is unlikely to decrease his risk by switching to cigars or a pipe; the in- haling habit is too strong. Lung cancer has, also been associated with other factors in the workplace. Employees exposed to asbestos, chrome salts, nickel refining, coal tar products and radio -active uranium have been found to havean above average risk of developing the disease, especially so if they are smokers. . COLORECTAL CANCER: The -term "colorectal" -refers to -two -WAS..; of the large intestine. The colon is the lower 5 to 6 feet of intestine, sometimes called the large bowel. The rectum is the last 5 to 6 in- ches at the end of the colon, leading to the outside of the body. What You Can Do: The causes of this type of cancer have not all been determined. But a balanced, low-fat diet is a recommended sensible precaution. Eating adequate amounts of green and yellow vegetables each day, especially cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli or brussel sprouts, and lots of foods containing Vitamin C and E may help pro- tect you against cancer in this area. - Many signs of colorectal cancer are similar to those caused by other intestinal conditions. For example, bleeding from the rectum, persistent indigestion, a change in bowel habits • (persistent constipation or diarrhea), vague, dull, or annoying ab- dominal pains may or may not be due to cancer. Therefore, it's common senseto report any of these signs promptly to your doctor. If you are over 50, you should have an annual digital exam, where the doctor carefully examines your rectum with a glov- ed finger. PROSTATE CANCER: More than half the men over age 50 in ` 'North America develop a growth in the pro -- state gland. Fortunately, in most cases, it is a benign growth and not cancer. The first in- dication of something wrong may be a pain in your lower back. You may feel pain while. Ontario Foundati�n... • from page 15 ings on Ontario's treatment and research facilities. The commission produced just eight recommendations 'brut their effects were_ _furreaching--and� 12years later-, they pr vded a basis,, fora system of cancer `control developed under -the Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation. In short, the commission recommended that the provincial government buy radium and establish a plant to produce radon the radioactive gas given off by radium, which was an effective agent in cancer treatment. The commission called for research laboratories, -the creation of a cancer --iii- stitute and the establishment of cancer clinics in Ontario. It also called for the education of the public in ways to prevent cancer. The government listened: soon they reached a 10 -year agreement with the hospitals throughout the province under which they would . provide supplies of radium and help them to establish cancer clinics. MODERN CANCER TREATMENT BEGINS In the six years from 1939 to 1945, 41,992 Canadians died fightingthe Second World War. In those same six years, 80,000 Cana- dians died of cancer. While the nation was spending $19 billion to fight that world war, it was spending only $5 million to battle ....cancel:.._______ As Dr. Gordon Richards, head of the Foundation, told an audience at Queen's University after the war, "...had we carried on our fight in the actual war in the same haphazard and ineffectual manner as we have done and continue °to do in the fight against cancer, we should most certainly have lost that war." On June 13, 1943, The Act to establish the Otnario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation had been passed in the Ontario Legislature but it was not until the war was over that the Foundation really set about its work: :__ — When the new directors looked over the Foundation's resources in 1946, they found the cupboard almost bare. They decided to launch a three-year ,fund-raising drive and, in its first year, the drive brought in one million dollars to conduct, as the legislation called for, "a program of diagnosis, treat- ment and research in cancer." With money in the, bank, the Foundation hatched a novel plan' for the operation of cancer clinics in hospitals across the pro- vince. Clinics were not a new idea: over the previous decade, seven regional treatment centres had been established in hospitals and communities across Ontario. Three of these clinics were called institutes of radiotherapy even though facilities and equipment in most were ;rudimentary. The Foundation's -idea would upgrade the clinics to separate facilities and combine in them all the services needed to fight cancer - diagnosis, treatment by radiation and research. The Foundation's first clinic was a pilot project and a new experiment in medical organization. Opened in Kingston in March 1947, a. new wing of the Kingston General Hospital, it was named the Ontario Cancer Foundation Kingston Clinic and was equip- ped and" staffed' by the Foundation. It became the model for six other clinics, which exist today in Hamilton, London, Ot- tawa, Thunder Bay, Toronto, and Windsor. Later, parts of this model were incorporated in the design of the Ontario Cancer Institute Turn to page 17 • in Toronto. From the 1940s, the Foundation took responsibility for all the aspects of cancer control set out in the Act except the recor- ding, reporting and statistical bookkeeping of cancer records. That task was left vo'the Provincial Ikpartrreat of -Health untilthis function was transferred to the Foundation in 1970. The Foundation always had close ties with the Ontario Division of the Cana- dian Cancer Society which carried out public education programs. As well, it was linked through its own professional training programs to the universities -throughout the _province._.. _ _ ONTARIO CONTRIBUTES TO CANCER RESEARCH At its inception, the Foundation asked the University of Toronto, Queen's University and the University of Western Ontario to br- ing to its attention research projects with a bearing on cancer. Later, these universities were invited to apply for assistance and, in 1945, the first research grants were awarded by the Foundation. Out of a total of $448,300 paid that year to research workers, one grant went to Pro- fessor E.F. Burton of the University of Toronto to advance his work using the world's first electron microscope, which he had built at the university. This microscope allowed researchers to get their first look at genes and to explore suspected connections between viruses and cancer. _Another -grant. went to -Dr: -Raymond --G: __.-.- Parker and Marian C. Chapman of Con- naught Medical Research Laboratories of. the University of Toronto for a study of the propagation of mouse tumors in eggs and in tissue culture. While he was working on this project, Dr. Parker developed the tissue culture later used by Dr. Jonas Salk when he developed the famous Salk vaccine, which made a major contribution to the conquest of poliomyelitis. Another of the first grants went to Dr. Ar- thur W. Ham, Associate Professor of Anatomy a.theyUniversity of Toronto who later became the listing fished Head -of the Division of Biological Research at the On- tario Cancer Institute. Dr. Ham was study- ing the effects of hormones on cancer in mice. Professor Charles H. Best and other research workers received one of the first grants for a study of physiological and phar- macological substances on the growth of tumors. Dr. Best, of course, was the co - discoverer, with Dr. Frederick Banting, of insulin. In addition, one of the recipients of this early research funding was Dr. Ivan H. Smith of the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Smith went on to become the director of the Ontario Cancer Foundation London Clinic and treated the first cancer patient with a cobalt -60 beam therapy unit, the "cobalt bomb". The productivity of this first group of Foundation grants would be repeated over and over through the years. Grants from the Foundation supported critical research into the concept of staging, which was the key, to the modern management of Hodgkin's disease - a form of cancer now coming in- creasingly under control. These grants also aided research into the use of nitrogen mustard, the first cn'einotherapy agent and the testing of vinca alkaloids, which con- tributed so much to the development of chemotherapy. Turn to page 17 • This information is brought to you with the kind co-operation of the following: N ht% /won , (f xposifor Phone 527-0240 Seaforth, Ont. Ken Smith Pools Ltd. EGMONDVILLE, ONTARIO (SEAFORTH) NOK 1GO KEN SMITH Shop: 527-0411 Res: 527-0469 1D BANK TORONTODOMINION the bank where people make the difference Main St., Seaforth, Ontario KEATING'S PHARMACY 527-1990 MAIN ST., SEAFORTH SEAFORTH CREAMERY (1981) INC. P 0,8ox 277 Sealorlh . Ont NOK 1 WO . ELM (MOVE DAIRY SPREAD BUTTER & MARGARINE Telex 069-55128 Tel 527:0610 DAVID SCHENCK AUTO BODY 38 BIRCH STREET, P.O. BOX 548 SEAFORTH, ONTARIO NOK 1WO 527-0526