Since smoking bans and higher taxes have not had their desired effect - the antis are back where they started with their shock commercials - here we have a 39 year old with throat cancer that he blames on smoking and a young mom with emphysema. Never mind that less 5% of smokers die before age 60 - when you can scare the kids into thinking they might drop dead tomorrow if they light up...
anti commercials return

Not to mention that at 39, if he had ANY kind of cancer, something else is going on; hereditary factors. I would guess that over 90% of ANY cancers, smokers or not, occur past age 70. Of course anyone at any age can get cancer, but I'm saying that the vast majority are elderly. For every kid with leukemia or every Dana Reeve who gets lung cancer at 44, I would bet there are 10 people over 70 with it.

Ahhhh the joys of cable tv and premium channels. I don't have watch any of that shit.

Whatever will they do when lung cancer, etc are running rampant 50, 60, 100 years from now because they were so busy trying to dictate our choices they never did bother to look into real cures and causes.

Smoking gave me throat cancer at 39. Now I breathe through a hole in my throat and need this machine to speak. -Ronaldo Martinez

Well, aren't you special? And I mean that. Throat cancer at 39. Calling that rare would be an understatement. It must be why they used you. Who would get shivers down their spine if you were 70?

From the American Cancer Society:

Age: The incidence of esophageal cancer, or rate or frequency of occurrence, increases with age. Nearly half of all people with this cancer are older than age 70. Around three fourths of people diagnosed are between ages 55 and 85. For people younger than age 40, the chance of developing this cancer is less than 1 in 100,000.

(I called him special before I looked up that little factoid)

Other ACS facts dealing with this cancer:

Gender: Compared with women, men have a 3-fold higher rate of esophageal cancer.

Race: African Americans are 50% more likely to develop esophageal cancer than whites....

Barrett esophagus: This condition...is often associated with long-term reflux of stomach and duodenal fluids...One estimate from a Swedish study estimates that about 1.6% of their population over age 18 had Barrett esophagus. This would mean about 3 million people in the United States...People with Barrett esophagus are anywhere from 30 to 125 times more likely than people without this condition to develop esophageal cancer.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD):...A recent Gallup poll found that 44% of adults in the United States have heartburn at least once per month. About 30% of esophageal cancer cases can be linked to GERD.

Tobacco: The use of tobacco products...The longer a person uses tobacco, the higher the cancer risk....More than half of all squamous cell type of esophageal cancer is linked to smoking.

Alcohol: Long-term heavy drinking of alcohol is an important risk factor for esophageal cancer...the combination of smoking and drinking alcohol raises a person's risk much more than using either alone.

Obesity: Overweight and obesity are clearly risk factors...The risk of dying from this cancer is increased by around 50% in obese men.

Diet:: Diets low in fruits and vegetables, as well as certain minerals and vitamins...Overeating, which leads to obesity, increases the risk... Certain substances in the diet may increase the cancer risk and may explain the high rate of this cancer in certain parts of the world. About 15% of esophageal cancer can be linked to a diet poor in fruits and vegetables. There have been suggestions, as yet unproven, that a diet high in processed meat may also increase the chance of developing esophageal cancer.

Very hot liquids: Frequent drinking of very hot liquids...

Occupational exposures: Exposure to the solvents used for dry cleaning...Exposure to other chemical fumes also may lead to an increased risk...

Lye ingestion: Lye is a chemical found in strong industrial and household cleaners such as drain cleaners...Children who find and accidentally swallow household chemicals have a high rate of the squamous cell type of esophageal cancer as adults. The cancers occur on average about 40 years after the lye was swallowed.

Achalasia:...The reason that achalasia is a risk factor for esophageal cancer is not clear, but roughly 6% of all achalasia patients develop squamous cell-type esophageal cancer.

Tylosis: This is a rare, inherited disease...People with this condition have a very high risk (about 40%) for squamous cell type of esophageal cancer and therefore require early and regular monitoring...

Esophageal webs:...About 1 in 10 patients with this syndrome eventually develop squamous cell...

I wonder what else you might have done besides smoking to earn you throat cancer at 39. Maybe you were a full-time drunk? Heartburn, etc?

I'm sure the doctors could rule out certain risk factors, but that doesn't mean smoking was the culprit either. 39. Smoking DID it. Sure. That's why you're so special. There's only 40-50 million current tobacco users and 40-50 million former ones who didn't get throat cancer at 39.

Joe Esterhaus (sp?), the movie industry guy blamed his throat cancer on smoking too. He neglected to mention he would drink 3 bottles of wine with his dinner. In beer equivalents that's about 15 cans of beer with just your supper. But it was the smoking that got him. Sure.

quote:

Originally posted by Lynda F:
Ahhhh the joys of cable tv and premium channels. I don't have watch any of that shit.

Whatever will they do when lung cancer, etc are running rampant 50, 60, 100 years from now because they were so busy trying to dictate our choices they never did bother to look into real cures and causes.

You know what really ticks me off? Very late last year, I contributed some money to the American Diabetes Association. That must have been the reason that they tattooed my forehead with "sucker". Now I'm getting at least three mailings a month from them, PLUS the American Cancer Society (who I would NEVER contribute to), the American Heart Association, the March of Dimes (with a "free" calendar). So far no solicitations from the American Lung Association, but I'm waiting.

HOW DARE THEY SELL MY NAME TO THESE OTHER GROUPS!

They will not see one more dime from me. And I WILL let them know why!

Once you stop giving you are no longer of value - why not sell your name and address?

Smoking is the ultimate reason that medicine did not cure you or your deceased friend or relative. People accept it and forget about talking to a lawyer about mal-practice. When asked in a court of law, it is also accepted, not because it is responsible but because the public has been trained to accept it.

I tell people who are told this to find a licensed doctor with a valid degree on their wall.

Maybe the throat cancer was caused by this:'

Oral sex can cause throat cancer
* 22:00 09 May 2007
* NewScientist.com news service
* Roxanne Khamsi

People who have had more than five oral-sex partners in their lifetime are 250% more likely to have throat cancer than those who do not have oral sex, a new study suggests.

The researchers believe this is because oral sex may transmit human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus implicated in the majority of cervical cancers.

The new findings should encourage people to consistently use condoms during oral sex as this could protect against HPV, the team says. Other experts say that the results provide more reason for men to receive the new HPV vaccine.

Maura Gillison at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, US, and colleagues collected blood and saliva samples from the throats of 100 patients diagnosed with cancers of the tonsils or back of the throat. The scientists also took samples from 200 healthy people for comparison.

By combining the blood and saliva samples with antibody molecules, Gillison's team could tell whether a person had ever had an HPV infection.
Cancer traps

All of the study participants provided information about their sexual history, including the number of people with whom they had engaged in oral sex.

After controlling for other risk factors for throat cancer, such as drinking and smoking, the analysis revealed that people who had prior infection with HPV were 32 times as likely to have this cancer as those with no evidence of ever having the virus. And those who tested positive for a particularly aggressive strain of the virus, called HPV-16, were 58 times more likely to have throat cancer.

By comparison, either smoking or drinking increases the risk of such cancer by about threefold.

The throat cancers analysed in the new study mostly started in the "crypts" of the throat – the grooves at the base of the tonsils. This might be because the tonsil grooves trap infectious particles, suggests Mark Stoler of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, US, who was not involved in the study.
High risk levels

The study also revealed a link between oral sex and throat cancer caused by HPV. People who had one to five oral-sex partners in their lifetime had approximately a doubled risk of throat cancer compared with those who never engaged in this activity - and those with more than five oral-sex partners had a 250% increased risk.

There was an even stronger link between oral sex and throat cancers clearly caused by HPV-16 (those tumours that tested positive for the strain). People with more than five oral sex partners had a 750% increased risk of these HPV-16-caused cancers.

"This study is important because it is putting all of the pieces together," says Gillison. "We need to add oral HPV infection to the list of risks for oral cancer," she adds.
Virus vaccine

A vaccine against several of the most aggressive strains of HPV linked to cervical cancer received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in 2006. However the plan to vaccinate adolescent girls with this vaccine developed by Merck, called Gardasil, has received some criticism.

There have been no studies investigating whether the vaccine can also protect against throat cancer, but the new evidence linking HPV to throat cancer could lead to broader vaccination with Gardasil. "We will see a push for vaccination in men," says Stoler, who has been involved in the development of the vaccine.

Tonsil and throat cancers affect about two in every 100,000 adults in the US. The new results could promote the development of spit tests for HPV infection to help identify people at high risk for these cancers, researchers say.

Journal reference: New England Journal of Medicine (vol 356, p 1944)

quote:

Originally posted by smallbird:
You know what really ticks me off? Very late last year, I contributed some money to the American Diabetes Association. That must have been the reason that they tattooed my forehead with "sucker". Now I'm getting at least three mailings a month from them, PLUS the American Cancer Society (who I would NEVER contribute to), the American Heart Association, the March of Dimes (with a "free" calendar). So far no solicitations from the American Lung Association, but I'm waiting.

HOW DARE THEY SELL MY NAME TO THESE OTHER GROUPS!

They will not see one more dime from me. And I WILL let them know why!

While you are letting them know, make sure to tell them off for selling your personal information and then tell them to go begging their primary benefactor - the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - for more funds because you refuse to donate to organizations that harass people and sell personal information.

Thanks Lynda....I'll keep that in mind for the next time I get a mailing from these "non-profit" scammers.

I am delighted you give them a hard time for any reason, Smallbird. Sometimes non-profits trade lists with one another rather than sell them, just to be fair.

Not that I'm willing to get any more fair than that. If we can't accidentally walk down the same street as someone working for the tobacco industry did 20 years ago without being discredited, then go ahead and give the American Diabetes Association hell just for talking to these cancer scammers.

I will be happy when all these 501(c)3's lose their tax exempt status if they so much as think of running down to our state houses and halls of congress recommending that someone else should get a hike in theirs.

quote:

Originally posted by richlady248:
I am delighted you give them a hard time for any reason, Smallbird. Sometimes non-profits trade lists with one another rather than sell them, just to be fair.

You are more generous than I am. I don't care if they trade or sell their lists. If they don't have MY signature stating that I don't mind them giving MY personal information to someone else, they are DEAD WRONG. I've learned to look carefully now for those tiny little sections where you can agree or not to their sharing your information. I always check NO.

IF I want to share my personal information, I'll take out an ad in the paper and publicize it.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ladyteal:
Maybe the throat cancer was caused by this:'

Oral sex can cause throat cancer
* 22:00 09 May 2007
* NewScientist.com news service
* Roxanne Khamsi
QUOTE]

If that was the case why isn't there a higher incident of prostitutes and gay men having throat cancer