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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-03-27, Page 42page 6 a Society _volunteers not exerts but can help If you choose to viork for the Canadian Cancer Society in their fight against cancer, your friends and acquain- tances are sure to look upon you as an expert on the subject. They will ply you with questions and it is important that you shoulc be in a position 'to reply sensibly. You mustnot make up answers, borrowing medical terms without medical knowledge. What you must do is to speak the simple truth in a matter of fact way with sincerity and un- derstanding. Be serious because cancer is a very serious subject, but do not be mournful. Cancer is not a sentence of death. It is one group of diseases among many. And it is only ignorance and fear which makes men speak of it in a special voice as if it were specially to be feared. You must learn to speak of cancer in the same tone of voice in which you would speak of any other serious disease, truthfully and without fear. And you must behave like this not only because it is truthful but because it is also helpful. Many more people die of cancer which could have been cured, than of cancer for which a cure As members of the education committee -for the Goderich Branch of the Canadian Cancer Society, Joan Hibbert and Lois McGill would like to remind everyone of the seven steps to health: have a medical and dental check-up; watch for any change in your normal state of health; find out about any lump or sore that does not heal; protect yourself against too much . sunlight; do not smoke; have a pap, test; and do a monthly breast,self- examination. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Skin cancer twiceas common here now "Melanoma, a rare and serious type of ,skin• cancer, is twice as common in Canada as it was 15 years ago," says Dr. J. M. Elwood, of Vancouver. To find oui- why this is Office location. The office of the Huron •Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society is located at 7 Albert Street in Clinton' (next'td Clinton town hall). 1- The newly formed Clinton branch of, the Huron Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society will heild a raffle on a rug hooked by Marg Reynolds as their first fund raising project. so, the four western provinces are, co- operating in a study of the disease, thought to be the first of its kind. It is directed by Dr. Elwood, head of the Department, of Epidemiology for the Cancer Control Agency of B.C. and is funded by the National Cancer Institute of Canada, through public donations to .the Canadian Cancer Society. "We plan to obtain information - on .-th.e-- causative factors of melanoma primarily through interviews," says Dr. Elwood. "We want t� identify the in- dividual factors which might explain why some people get melanoma and Some people don't." Home interviews will be conducted with 750 people who develop melanoma within the next two.: years and will range over a variety of questions such as place of birth, occupation, history of illness, diet and use of medical drugs and hormones. Exposure to' sunlight will also be studied. A control group of a similar number of people of the same age and sex, representing the general," population, also will be interviewed. The study will require the assistance of the cancer registries. in the four western provinces and. the date will be analyzed. in Vancouver. The study will include a pathology review of all tumors as well as sur- vival and prognosis, records. This part of the investigation is expected to produce,information on long term outlook for patients. has yet to be found. They die because they delay going-0to see their doctor. They leave it too late. Some delay because they fail to realize that anything serious is the matter with them. But many more delay precisely because they fear they have cancer and they promptly abandon all hope. Tragically and mistakenly they hold to the terrifying belief that cancer is usually, or even inevitably, fatal. And it is not. Many cancers are cured. Many more cancers can be cured if they are detected and treated in the early stages. Those who delay, therefore, need knowledge and reassurance. They need to be told, perhaps by you, that there is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by seeing a doctor at once. If their illness is not even serious then ---their thtt►dg- wilt 'be put at rest. If it is, then early diagnosis and treatment is their best hope. To state a truth like that, however is not always to Convince. You will need to be armed with a basic knowledge of the subject, with facts to support your advice. And first, you must be able to answer the simple question: What is 'can- cer? You must explain that cancer is not one disease but many. But what is common to all cancers is the uncontrolled behaviour of cells of the body. Normally the cells of the body divide for. purpose - to promote growth, to repair damaged parts, to replace worn out cells. But sometimes the control of this process breaks down. The cells multiply needlessly. They invade adjacent tissues. They emigrate around the body'. They multiply in distant organs. And this abnormal behaviour is cancer. Some cancers ,can be prevented. Some can be cured. Many can be. controlled. It is therefore quite ..wrong to believe that cancer is inevitably fatal. It is not. And if it can be detected and treated before it .travels round the body, then there is a greater chance' of cure. That is why it is so important to see a doctor at once. Delay can mean needless death. To speak the truth about cancer, therefore, is to contribute not only to knowledge but to life. In t Jn part in the Cancer Society's program, that is the measure of the responsibility which you have accepted. And if you succeed in getting the message across — the sooner the better — then you are bound to be asked: How do people know if they have a cancer? Will it, for instance, hurt? The answer here is that pain comes late in most forms of cancer. You have to look for other symptoms and there is no such thing as a specific symptom whrch always means cancer. The warning signs of cancer care also be those of trivial complaints. And that is your dilemma. THE SEVEN STEPS TO HEALTH Volunteer workers in cancer -used 'to be taught to emphasize that any persistent departure from normal health should' be 'examined by a doctor And that is ex- cellent advice. Then to recite a list of seven warning signs, explaining that the seven are. most likely not to signify cancer but that they do call . for immediate medical advice. The seven signs listed such symptoms as hoarseness, bleeding, lumps and a persistent cough. But the recital of them to unprepared listeners contributed to their fear and en- couraged• delay rather than prompting action. So instead volunteer workers were taught a new appeal - 'a list of seven safeguards ex- plaining what preventive measures healthy people could take to reduce the probability of cancer. But this recitation too often fell on 'deaf ears, a victim of the indifference of the healthy. Somehow a bridge had to be built between the hope of early diagnosis and treatment and the even greater .hope of prevention. And between them,doctors and volunter workers have produced such a bridge which they have. called the Seven Steps to Health. In them you will detect some mention both of, the symptoms of cancer and the means of prevention. The recital of this list is the trickiest part .of your exercise. You have moved from the scientific ..to the clinical, from cells to people. It is therefore essential to be neither flippant nor This informative publication is brought to you with the kind co-operation of the following LAKEPORT STEEL` 0 ' INDUSTRIES LTD. GODERICH —HANOV-ER-S-TE L&-i-PE-SU'PPLY __..._ RR 3 HANOVER ODERICH ELECTRIC 189 South St., Goderich 524-9512 ominous. Just be sen- sible. Let the content of your message be its own - messenger. Once you have recited the Seven Steps to Health and repeated the advice - when in, doubt - see a doctor - you can turn to treatment for cancer. But this is medical territory exclusively and it is folly to venture too far into it. Instead, content youi'self with explaining that there are essentially three methods of treating cancer - surgery, radiotherapy and drugs. The first two seek to cure • Surgery_ removes abnormal cells;` radiotherapy (X-rays, Cobalt, Radium', Linear Accelerator, Betatron, Cesium, etc.) destroys them. Both methods work, Some cases should be treated only with surgery; some only by radiotherapy; some by both. Between them the surgeon and the radiotherapist cure people of cancer every day. Both methods work best when the cells are still in the part of thea body. where they first appeared and have not -migrated elsewhere, which is another strong argument for getting to a doctor quickly. . Drugs are used more to relieve suffering and to lengthenlife than to cure. They relieve the symp- toms. There' is no one drug effective against wonder all cancer, no miracle cure, because cancer is not one disease but many. But there are many drugs which ease the patient and arrest the cancer. And every day physicians report in- creasing success in this application of chemotherapy (drugs) to cancer. The future may indeed belong to it and to immunotherapy (im- munizing against cancer) in which the results so far are wholly encouraging. It will not belong to the cranks and- the quacks. Cancer has its charlatans like every other field of medicine. They claim high rates of cure without offering sufficient evidence to corroborate those claims. Be cautious in discussing them. Advise those who seek your advice to see a doctor of proven professional ability. You can exercise your freedom of mind .in exorcising myths, -In response to the ragbag of folklore, you can point out that cancer is not in- • Turn to page 7 . RIECK PHARMACY 14 THE SQUARE GODERICH S24-7241