Hey All-
So this diary started as a comment on Watch Al Franken slice and dice the nice wingnut lady but it got really long, so I decided to expand upon it here.
The one thing you can count on when reform is talked about is that our survival rates for cancer- always the dread cancer- is very high due to our technology and so we need to have our piecemeal system to insure the very best tech can be purchased by patients. I am here to tell you that is not always true.
Here's the video of Mr Franken:
Now, towards the end, Mr. Franken smoothly parries the Hudson Institute lady about cancer and cancer survival rates. It was not an evasion; it was a notice that Mr. Franken has not forgotten what statistics mean and how they can be massaged.
Let's first understand what cancer is:
Cancer is, at it's heart, an inability for cells to turn on their death cycle- to stop reproducing. Cells, with it's accumulated waste and energy needs, will keep reproducing until the person dies. What can cause cancer? Any number of things that contribute to the damage of either DNA or more devastatingly, the RNA. This damage contributes to Cells Gone Crazy (tm).
Okay, so we know what cancer is. So what causes cancer? One of the causes of cancer is...simply living longer.
As horrid as it sounds, the longer you live, the more likely you are to get cancer. Young people prior to reproduction age getting cancer are an abomination. A person in the very prime of their reproductive life? Still horrid, but not unexpected, given hormone shifts and changes. An older person getting cancer? Not unusual, and actually to be expected.
Why? Oxidation and radiation from our sun and other sources, pollution, hormonal shifts and changes, diet and other factors that can cause accumulated damage in cells. So this damage accumulates throughout your life, causing cellular damage and leading ultimately to cancer of some sort. The types and duration will depend on ethnic(s) groups, gender and as I have inferred, age.
God, what a bummer- but what does that have to do with cancer survival rates? As Senator Franken said, what the Hudson Institute Lady wanted to do was cherry pick survival rates for cancer. Well, which cancers? From which socioeconomic group? From which self identified ethnic group(s)? And finally what age?
Start breaking down the cancer rates according to age, gender, ethnic/race groups and all of sudden the USA really does not look good. Allow for income, and the USA looks bloody fucking awful. Allow for age, and the USA look plain cruel! Look at all those old people! Dying! Of cancer!
To be serious, another thing that the stats won't tell you about survival rates is the damage done by the cancers and the treatments used and whether that is allowed in figuring survival rates. Some treatments can cause damage to nerve systems or other organs. Sure, you don't die of cancer, but you did DIE of the treatment used to the cancer!
And finally: don't you find it interesting that survival rates of spoken of, and not living after rates? That's because of bills! You survive medical bills, you certainly cannot live with them!
So, next time you hear some snow job about our technology and cancer and stats for survival, ask yourself: What cancer, to whom, and when in their life cycle?