I just read that John Kerry's wife is battling breast cancer. It got me thinking of all the horrible illnesses in our world and wonder and pray that they will find cures soon for some of these killers.

Breast cancer has stricken so many women. I think of Farrah Fawcett and poor Christina Applegate, and gosh so many others.

Cancer has been around at least as long as I have and I simply must wonder why oh why with today's modern medicine we haven't found a cure.

I know it's a time of joy but I think also, a time for all of us in good health to take time to appreciate it.

This doesn't have to be ONLY about breast cancer. You can discuss any disease or illness you want them to find a cure for.

For me, one disease I would like to see eliminated is alzheimers. It's so so awful.

TIS

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Hypertension and diabetes.

A search for the cure for cancer should be a national goal such as was placing a man on the moon during the 60s. The feds should provide billions of dollars for such an effort to rid us of all cancers.

Cancer has been around forever. It would be a joyous occasion to be sure if (or hopefully when) we can finally conquer this disease.

And what about diseases/conditions that Lilo mentioned that are not usually so life threatening, like asthma and diabetes? Gosh it seems like in this century there surely could be some advances if not cures.


TIS

Since my grandmother and mother were both afflicted by Alzheimers, I would like to see more research in that area. Its one of those unknowns. Not to sound callous or cold, but many diseases are caused by neglect or abuse by the individual. Those should be further down the list. On the top should be those diseases that strike children - the innocents. When I see kids with cancer, I crumble.

Alzheimers is prevalent on both sides of my family, particularly my father's side. My maternal grandmother bucked the trend as she still has a sharp mind at 95.

Thus, I'm hopeful for advances in cures and treatment for Alzheimers as I may be headed down that path some day.

As for cancer I'm optimistic that we will see a cure.

My mother and I are both cancer survivors, although it did take my dad, but I've found that we have at least advanced to the point where it's no longer an automatic death sentence.

I would love to see advances in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Realistically, we can do no more for them than we ever could.

MC, my daughter had several surgeries when she was younger, and they were all done at Schneider Children's Hospital in Long Island. There's nothing in this world more humbling than seeing an entire building filled with sick children.

Women's health — Find out how to prevent the conditions that affect women the most.

http://health.msn.com/womens-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100050300&Gt1=31036

Farrah Fawcett had and sought treatment for anal cancer (which BTW if anyone can explain the difference between this and colon cancer, please do...).

And w/ regard to diabetes, it IS life threatening. I have a cousin, age 50+ who was in a coma & nearly died from juvenile diabetes at age 2. As one of its most famous victims, Mary Tyler Moore once claimed, the fact that it is controllable with daily insulin shots does cause many to forget how serious it can be.

Apple

I believe that in the early 1970's, then President Richard Nixon attempted to launch such an effort. I remember watching his speech about it. I am not sure what happened to that, hopefully Congress did not hold back funding for it. (It's possible that the emergence of Watergate put this campaign by the wayside.)

Although there has been so much incredible treatment progress since then and many cancers are no longer the death sentence they once was...an actual 'cure' is evasive. Possibly because there are so many variations of it.

first off you guys sure you want more Big Government? You can't bitch about it but then wish for more government involvement in this and that.

Also, what's wrong with praying? Pray hard enough and live a good enough virtuous life, your existence will be extended.

Imagine if there were religious dentists. Without the novacaine or plyers and not as big dental bills, it would be just as effective and wouldn't take as long. Bless away those cavities!

That remark reminds me of the story about the man and the flood. He was warned that the river in his town was flooding due to heavy rains, and he had to evacuate. He ignored the radio report and said, "I'm a religious man. I pray. God loves me, and He will save me."

Sure enough, the river rises. A man in a rowboat calls to the religious man, "Let me row you to safety!" The man refuses, saying, "I'm a religious man. I have served God. He loves me, and He will save me."

The river rises to the top of his house. The man sits on his roof. A helicopter comes by to evacuate the man, but he still refuses to leave his home. "God loves me and he will save me."

The man drowns. When he gets to heaven, he demands an audience with God. He says, "God, I served you. I was a religious man. I prayed. Why didn't you save me?"

And God says, "I sent you a radio report, a man in a rowboat and a helicopter. What are you doing here?"

No question they will come up with more drugs that will prolong life, if not cure outright these awful diseases.

There are many causes, some of them self inflicted (pollution, smoking, bad diet) that make people ill.

Everywhere in the world, people raise funds to cure diseases like cancer, but it doesn't seem like any progress is being made.

If they had a cure for all of these diseases how many people in the medical field would be out of a job? I hope one day they do find a cure but I doubt if they ever will. I hope I'm wrong.

Also if they do find cures for major diseases, will there be a problem with the population getting too large? Doctors may lose money too. All the money would be in a medicine not a cure for the big wigs selling it.

You first!

Melanoma Skin Cancer Treatment Improves with New Drug Ipilimumab June 07, 2010, 11:06 am

The survival time of patients battling melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, improved by 68 percent in a recent study involving ipilimumab, a new drug designed to fight infection.

According to Timothy Turnham, Executive Director of the Melanoma Research Foundation, the last time a drug was approved in the treatment of melanoma was 12 years ago, and "finding another drug that is going to have an impact, and even a bigger impact than what's out there now, is a major improvement for patients."

I'll go first!!!!

Well the number 1 killer is cardio (heart attack etc,
Number 2 -- cancer. However, this is all cancers lumped together. The word cancer is almost generic as each type of cancer is really a seperate disease itself.
Number 3 -- stroke

Risk factors for all the above can be both genetic and lifestyle. Some individuals / races etc... are more prone to certain conditions / diseases (blame on your parents). However, there are some risk factors that everyone can control and thus personal accountability comes into play.

I heard diabetes mentioned above in a coupple replies. Yes, diabetes can be deadly if it is not under controlled. Just think, we did not even understand anything about diabetes some 100 years ago. People for the most part would wither away and die. Of course, this was primarily Type 1 Diabetes (or what some mistakenly call Juvenile Diabetes) People with Type 1 Diabetes must receive insulin or they will die. Their pancrease does not produce insulin. Amazingly enough that insulin was only "discovered" in the early 1900's. Of course, there are sythetic insulins used now. In the early days people with diabetes received dog or hog insulin. And, you shpould have seen the first "needles they used -- looked more like nails. It is amazing how far we've come with new insulins, smaller needles and now the diabetes pump - all this in just the last 100 years.

Type II - thats a we bit different story. Their pancreas does produce insulin, howver, their body does not use it properly. Type 2 is the biggie in the US (and the world) Of the 24 million in the US living with diabetes -- about 90-95% is Type 2.

Diabetes is scary in that it leads to so many other conditions -- leading cause of heart attack and stroke -- in fact 2 of 3 people woith diabetes will die from a stroke or heart attack. So -- who should get the "credit" for cause of death -- heart attack / stroke or diabetes?

It is also the leading cause of non-traumatic amputations, blindness in adults, kideney failure -- you can go on and on.

Like the three big killers (I think diabetes is number 5 or 6) -- there are both controllable and genetic risk factors.

There are non-profits that raise money for research for a cure and how to manage all the conditions better. However, IMO, they do not work well together instead work as silos and compete for dollars and human capital.

A cure for diseaes / conditions in the near future -- Who knows but we will continue to get closer and more importantly better help those that have these diseases not just live longer but live good lives.

Drill baby drill!

More good news about the fight against cancer:

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/...ronts/?hpt=Sbin

Not necessarily so. I can think of three or four people on this board alone (myself included) who are cancer survivors. While it's true that there is no known "cure" for cancer, we have reached the point where it is no longer necessarily a death sentence.

Thanks to regular checkups and tests, like pap smears, PSAs, mammographies and colonoscopies, we are more vigilant and can therefore catch the disease earlier. The earlier it is diagnosed, the better the patient's chance of survival.

Olivant made an excellent point. Because cancer can attack any and every part of the body, each type of cancer is almost treated as a separate disease. That's why the field of oncology is so very important.