2/10/2013

Fight Cancer Before You Get it, Be in This Study!



Are you waiting to care about the cause of cancer till you are directly affected by it?  Many Americans are.  They are happy to put a donation in an envelope once a year and be on their way.  This year the American Cancer Society is starting the third and final phase of their longitudinal research study on preventing cancer.  This study has been done in the past and has given society some of the most memorable breakthroughs in the fight for lowering diagnosed cases of cancer. Discoveries such as the link between obesity and cancer, the benefits of physical exercise, and the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, just to name a few.

The population used for this research is diverse and the length of the study is over twenty years.   All participants have no personal history of cancer other than basal or squamous cell skin cancer.   And, the men and women that participate must be between 30 and 65 to be eligible.  The commitment is long term but the benefits are enduring forever.  Saving lives is priceless, valued at more than any check that can be placed in an envelope.

And yet, so few are willing to volunteer the 30 minutes needed to go, one time, to a site location to give blood, have their waist measured and pick up a registration packet.  After that one and only inconvenience, all surveys are done by participants in the comfort of their homes, either in written form they will receive by mail or via the internet. This is so much less intrusive than going through chemotherapy or radiation.  And yet, to help prevent others from getting a cancer diagnosis by having more breakthrough discoveries, it is still hard to get otherwise healthy individuals to sign up to participate in this important project.  

Some staggering statistics follow:  12 million Americans have had cancer, including those currently in some form of treatment as of December 2012. Our survival rates are dramatically improving, especially in certain types of cancers but we still have over 1,500 people a day die of cancer in our country. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U. S. only exceeded by heart disease.  Cancer is responsible for 1 out of four deaths.

Please consider participating in a study that takes little time or effort.  Simply one appointment and every other year, filling out of a survey in your home is all that is needed.  Do you can find the time to drink a pop, eat a pop tart, or surf the internet?  If you do, can you likewise, find the time to participate in this study called CPS-3 that just might one day lead to a break through discovery to save a life, possibly yours?

Visit cps3nashville.org  for more information and to register for the study. 

Sister Bonds

  Having spent some time recently with my older sister, it reminded me of so many shared moments in our youth.   Those years were some of th...