Death rates for lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined have fallen by 25% in Scotland over the past 20 years, according to Cancer Research UK. Read full BBC article.
Improvements in treatment, including surgery, hormone therapy, and radiotherapy as well as earlier diagnosis, are thought to have contributed to the trend of reduced prostate cancer death rates.
However, mortality rates in liver, pancreatic, melanoma, oral and some digestive cancers have all increased.
In the USA in 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in the US. Cancer remains the second most common cause of death in the US, accounting for nearly 1 of every 4 deaths. And not only that. Global cancer death rates are more than 50% higher in men than women.
But, there is something more to life, isn't there? We're people, with hearts, souls and minds.
Lyrics to Alfie: www.lyricsdepot.com
What's it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
or are we meant to be kind?
And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
then I guess it's wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
what will you lend on an old golden rule?
As sure as I believe there's a heaven above, Alfie,
I know there's something much more,
something even non-believers can believe in.
I believe in love, Alfie.
Without true love we just exist, Alfie.
Until you find the love you've missed you're nothing, Alfie.
When you walk let your heart lead the way
and you'll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie.
Here's a link to uplifting thoughts about cancer: http://thepreachersword.com/2012/03/10/what-cancer-cannot-do/
We are not meant to live forever. Yet, I like to think our spirit lives on.
So many people are facing this dreadful disease nowadays, especially as the population ages. Know that you're not alone.