Fear and loathing slow cancer diagnoses

We all know what we should do at the first sign of blood in the stool, bloating in the belly or a lump just about anywhere. Early detection is one of the key factors in improved survival from most cancers, and we know these signs should send us scurrying to a doctor's office.

But a  national survey (PDF) by Tower Cancer Research Foundation of 4,402 people shows we don't do what we know we should do. We stall. We hope the symptom will go away. We worry that our health insurance won't cover the care, and that we won't have enough money to pay for what we need.

The survey covered men and women's attitudes in general about cancer, then asked specific questions of people who had been diagnosed with the disease.

Cancer is the No. 1 health fear of most Americans, the survey found. Nearly 80% of respondents said that they worried that someday they would hear the dreaded diagnosis. Fear of heart disease, HIV and Alzheimer's make up the remaining 20% of most feared diseases.

Yet, of the 32% of respondents who suspected they had cancer before they were diagnosed with the disease, 52% waited two months to check it out medically; 15% waited one to five years before seeing a doctor.

When asked why, 38% said they hoped the symptoms would just go away; 32% said they procrastinated; 13% said they were afraid of what a doctor would find; and 13% said they did not have medical insurance.

"Hope, fear, procrastination and lack of medical insurance were all powerful forces preventing people from going to see a doctor," says Dr. Solomon Hamburg, president and chief executive officer of the foundation. "Those surveyed were cancer survivors but many people who delay going to a doctor for long periods of time for a diagnosis are not as fortunate. Early detection raises the bar considerably on our ability to help those in need.”

Of those who waited and worried, 43% said that if they had known earlier of a place to go for guidance and advice, they would have acted sooner. For starters, here's the National Cancer Institute site that can answer most of your preliminary questions, with links to further support. So now, that's one excuse you don't have.

--Susan Brink

Photo: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Winfield J. Abbe]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting. Many doctors will tell patients to wait anyway to see if symptoms vanish. This is the body's natural immune system in operation. Too many patients now waste valuable health services by running to the doctor every time something unusual happens to them. This also increases costs of healthcare.
Unfortunately the much hyped "war on cancer" has squandered multi billions of public and private dollars with little success. Much is understood about cancer but the website of the NCI is not the place to find it. Here are a few references:
1. "The Hidden Story of Cancer" by Brian Peskin E.E. and Amid Habib, M.D., Pinnacle Press, Houston, 2006-2007.
2. "The Truth About Hydrazine Sulfate-Dr. Gold Speaks" by Joseph Gold, M.D., 2005, www.hydrazinesulfate.org. This article demonstrates how the NCI has corruptly lied to the American Public about cancer, its causes and prevention.
3. "American Cancer Society" America's Wealthiest 'Non-Profit' Institution, Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., International Journal of Health Services, 1999, also available at www.preventcancer.com.

[Kate]

The reasons that people wait for diagnoses and treatment are multiple and individual to each individual. But statements like the one above me cause more harm than good. Absolutely true there are "doctors who will tell patients to wait and see if symptoms go away" but cancer is not a symptom. The article is not about people who saw a physician and with appropriate consultation were told to wait and see, it is about people who have not had consultation or diagnosis and wait longer than they should. Some cancers are slow growing and wait and see is a fine choice, others, wait and see is a death wish. I think most patients would prefer to be able to make this choice themselves. Kate www.aftercancernowwhat.wordpress.com