Good healthcare is mainly about having healthy lifestyle, avoiding high intake of risky substances like tobacco and alcohol products, high fat/high calorie food and drinks, early detection of diseases for early and less costly treatment, and new, more powerful medicines against diseases once the latter have developed inside our body. The production and sale of generic drugs once the patent on innovator drugs have expired, is also an important part of good healthcare.
I also included his paper last year also from BWorld, about the discovery of Insulin. Below, photos of various cancer cells, from top left, clockwise: (a) breast cancer, (b) brain cancer, (c) prostate cancer, (d) a cancer cell being attacked by the immune system, (e) lung tumor, (f) brain cancer.
Photo sources:
1. http://www.alternative-cancer.net/Cell_photos.htm
2. http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/images-inside-human-body-images/8292
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(1) Medicines in development for cancer
Medicine Cabinet -- Reiner W. Gloor
June 08, 2012
http://www.
Some do not want to talk about it while others call it the Big C. Experts refer to it as an emerging epidemic as well as a leading threat to global health and development. Whatever it may be called, cancer is no matter to be taken lightly.
Around the world, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and friends have lost loved ones to cancer. Men and women, adult and children, and rich and poor alike, are all vulnerable to the disease that has developed into one of the world’s biggest killers.
Cancer, along with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases altogether prematurely claimed the lives of 38 million people in 2008, affecting the developing world and lower-income populations hardest. In fact, about 70% of cancer deaths occurred in these countries where health systems are characterized by high out-of-pocket spending.
In the same year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that 7.6 million died of cancer, representing around 13% of deaths worldwide. In the Philippines, the GLOBOCAN Project reported that there had been more than 51,000 cancer deaths in the country in 2010.
The GLOBOCAN Project, a WHO initiative provides global incidence of mortality and prevalence from major types of cancer, reported that leading cancer deaths among Filipinos in 2010 include those involving the lung, liver, breast, colon/rectum, leukemia, stomach, cervix, uteri, brain, prostate and pharynx.
There are valid and serious reasons why people fear cancer. For one, there are more than 100 types of cancer that could affect just any part of the body. And, as mentioned, it defies gender, age and socio-economic class. If not detected early on, worldwide statistics would attest to its irreversible consequences. The WHO disclosed that deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue rising, with an estimated 13.1 million deaths in 2030.
Meanwhile, more than 30% of cancer could be prevented through healthy lifestyle, which includes non-tobacco use, a healthy diet, being physically active and moderate use of alcohol. Furthermore, the chances of beating cancer become higher each day with early detection, vaccination and a steady stream of innovative medicines.
The solid commitment to patients and the advancement of science are at the core of the sustained progress in the fight against cancer. Biopharmaceutical researchers are now developing 981 medicines for all cancer types. Many are high-tech weapons to fight the disease, while some involve innovative research into using existing medicines in new ways, announced the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).
In its 2012 Report on Medicines in Development for Cancer, PhRMA revealed that several cutting-edge approaches are being employed in search for better treatments for cancer.
