MetaFilter posts tagged with disease and us

More Americans are Surviving Cancer

zarq — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 07:43:04 -0800

According to new data released by the CDC yesterday, more Americans are surviving cancer thanks to advances in increased early detection and treatment. CDC analysis shows an unprecedented 20% increase in survival rates between 2001 and 2007, which is nearly a quadruple increase since 1971. * One in 20 US citizens (approximately 11.7 million people) is a cancer survivor. * One in five of them are over the age of 65. * Survivors are more likely to be female than male (54% vs. 46%). * "22% of cancer survivors had been diagnosed with breast cancer; 19% with prostate cancer; and 10% with colorectal cancer. Those three cancers accounted for slightly more than half of all cancer diagnoses." From the CDC link: Similar to previous reports, this analysis found that the majority of cancer survivors are females and persons aged ≥65 years. Women are more likely to be survivors because cancers among women (e.g., breast or cervical cancer) usually occur at a younger age and can be detected early and treated successfully; in addition, women have a longer life expectancy than men. Among men, a substantial number of cancer survivors had prostate cancer, which is diagnosed more commonly among older men. The large proportion of cancer survivors aged ≥65 years reflects the increase in cancer risk with age and the fact that more persons with diagnoses of cancer are surviving ≥5 years.

"A Minute With Venus... A Year With Mercury!"

zarq — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:48:09 -0800

"During World War I, the [US] Army lost 7 million person-days and discharged more than 10,000 men because they were ailing from STDs. Once Penicillin kicked in in the mid-1940s, such infections were treatable. But as a matter of national security, the military started distributing condoms and aggressively marketing prophylactics to the troops in the early 20th century." Additional Background From the NIH: Visual Culture and Public Health Posters. (Previously on MeFi.) They have a section on Venereal Disease. Medical History: Venereal Disease and Treatment During WWII

The Ban on Blood Donation

zarq — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:35:07 -0800

Are the Rules That Determine Who Can Donate Blood Discriminatory? Canadian AIDS researchers Dr. Mark Wainberg and Dr. Norbert Gilmore say that while the ban on blood donation from men who have sex with other men may have been ethically and scientifically justified in the 1980's, it no longer makes sense. (CMAJ.) Even though the US FDA reaffirmed their long-standing ban in 2007, they plan to revisit the policy in June. Background Currently gay and other men who have sex with men in Canada and the US, as well as the UK and a number of other countries, are permanently banned from giving blood. The prohibition in North America was introduced in 1983. Thousands of individuals were infected with HIV after receiving blood products infected with the virus before effective screening was developed.
Also: Before giving blood, all men are asked if they have had sex, even once, with another man since 1977. Those who say they have are permanently banned from donating. The FDA said those men are at increased risk of infection by HIV that can be transmitted to others by blood transfusion. In March 2006, the Red Cross, the international blood association AABB and America’s Blood Centers proposed replacing the lifetime ban with a one-year deferral following male-to-male sexual contact. New and improved tests, which can detect HIV-positive donors within just 10 to 21 days of infection, make the lifetime ban unnecessary, the blood groups told the FDA.
And: In the CMAJ article, Wainberg and colleagues noted that several industrialized countries, including Argentina, Australia, Japan, and Sweden, have implemented a shorter one-year period of deferral.
More on the study from the Globe and Mail, National Post and Toronto Sun From 2000: Should Gay Men be Allowed to Donate Blood?

Mad Cow USA

woil — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:28:40 -0800

After reading that beef has been recalled from my local grocery store, I spent some time reading Mad Cow USA a book written back in 1997 but not widely published because of fears of repercussions under the Texas food disparagement act. AlterNet has an article written by one of the book's authors summarizing some of the key points of the book. Some claim that only ground beef is infected, while others claim that's bull. mad-cow.org has a lot of good information on the topic, and it seems the powers that be are going to blame Canada.