Preventative Medicine an Answer to Guam’s Cancer Query

According to Guam’s public health office of epidemiology research, by population, Guam has above average cancer rates in the United States. 

It is also found that there are also ethnic differences in cancer deaths among residents of Guam.This means that if you are of a particular race, you can die of a certain cancer that is known to be attacking a particular ethnic group. For example, those who have cancer of the mouth and pharynx, nasopharynx, lung and bronchus, colon-rectum-anus, breast, and prostate cancer have been found to be Chamorro. Those who had cervical cancer or pancreatic cancer were found to be Asian. Those with leukemia, were mostly white. 

It’s no surprise that there are ethnic disparities in cancer mortality simply because Guam is a multi-ethnic melting pot of different cultures. What is surprising is that Guam does have above average mortal cancer rates, which suggests that the lifestyle, diet, medical care, and preventative screening on Guam have something to do with these high rates in relation to population density.

Despite the need for better medical services, Guam does not have sufficient finances and specialists to care for Guam’s cancer patients. So where do we begin? To my opinion, preventative medicine could be the answer. It’s cheaper and as they all say “An ounce of prevention is way better than a pound of cure” and its true.

Let’s note that even with modern technology and new medical equipment that help doctors diagnose cancer, not all cancer patients who go through cancer treatment survive.

To those who are interested in preventative medicine, check out http://www.pcrm.org/health/ or for preventing cancer http://www.cancerproject.org/ . The Cancer Project website is a very informative website that promotes cancer prevention and survival. The most valuable attribute this site has from my point of view is the educational value and it’s ongoing findings that links a certain source to cancer. One example is their confirmed finding with the link between processed meat and cancer… http://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/index.html So there's a hint to stay away from the spam.

Eat well, stay strong, feel good!

Sources from National Center for Biotechnology Information:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19469625

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17059333