A cancer diagnosis can significantly change your life and the lives of your family in various ways. Hearing the news “you’ve been diagnosed with cancer” leave patients and their families in a whirlwind of emotions. The initial shock of this diagnosis leaves feelings of sadness, denial, frustration, confusion, fear, anger, and often times the “why me?” feeling. Thoughts start going through your head regarding how this affects yourself, your family, and your everyday life. Many cancer diagnoses have high percentage of survival rate with proper treatment including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. However, there is one considerable cancer diagnosis that ultimately has a very low percentage of survival. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. By 2020, pancreatic cancer is estimated to be the second leading cause of cancer death (Pancreatic Cancer Network, 2014). Pancreatic cancer accounts for a very small percentage of the cancers diagnosed each year; however has a less than 5% five-year survival rate. This is greatly due to the demographics of the pancreatic cancer diagnosis. African Americans have the highest occurrence of pancreatic cancer by huge percentages. African Americans are 50-90% higher than any other racial group to develop pancreatic cancer. (John Hopkins, 2012) This is greatly due to the risk factors for pancreatic cancer being more common in African Americans. “African Americans also have the poorest prognosis of any racial group because they often are diagnosed with advanced, and therefore inoperable cancer.” (John Hopkins, 2012) More awareness should be available for demographic groups like African Americans to be... ... middle of paper ... ...other organs, so when a patient chooses to carry on with treatment, it could be hard for the nurse accept and respect the patient decision knowing that with treatment the chances of actually surviving is slim to none. As with all other illness by patients, but especially pancreatic cancer it is important that the nurse stay professional, knowledgeable about the disease so as to be a support for the patient and be an education source for the patient. In conclusion, pancreatic is a prevalent disease in the United States. With no cure, no biomarker to detect the cancer it is imperative that the African American population increase their awareness and increase prevention. It is also imperative that the healthcare team promote education for everyone but especially for African Americans so that they have a chance for prevention and can implement a healthier lifestyle.
Being diagnosed with a chronic illness is a life-altering event. During this time, life is not only difficult for the patient, but also for their loved ones. Families must learn to cope together and to work out the best options for the patient and the rest of the family. Although it may not be fair at times, things may need to be centered on or around the patient no matter what the circumstance. (Abbott, 2003) Sacrifices may have to be made during difficult times. Many factors are involved when dealing with chronic illnesses. Coping with chronic illnesses alter many different emotions for the patients and the loved ones. Many changes occur that are very different and difficult to get used to. (Abbott, 2003) It is not easy for someone to sympathize with you when they haven’t been in the situation themselves. No matter how many books they read or people they talk to, they cannot come close to understanding.
African American people are also more susceptible to pancreatic cancer, the cause of this is not known. Specifically “TP53, p16INK4A, and SMAD4. The p53 nuclear protein activates transcription of a cyclin kinase inhibitor p21WAF1/CIP1. Following genomic stress, inappropriate growth factor stimulation or expression of oncogenic ras increased expression of p53, and thus p21WAF1/CIP1 resulted in inactivation of specific CDK/cyclin complexes” (MedScape). If this transformed cell can escape internal and external fail-safe mechanisms, receive nutrients, and activate its proliferative program, it can form a mass of cancerous cells.
If we were to apply a longitude exposure study over the span of 42 years from the time an inner-city child is born, we may conclude that life experiences resulting from potential malnutrition, underprivileged environments, and overall lack of health education are the leading contributors to adult African American deaths. Studies show that 8 of the 10 leading causes in the deaths of African Americans are medical disease, which with proper education and care may have been prevented and/or addressed earlier in their life to diagnose and treat. The fact is Heart Disease is the leading cause of deaths for African Americans. When compared to other ethnicities, some form of heart disease causes 24.5% of African American deaths. These numbers are astounding considering Blacks make up approximately only 14.2% of the total U.S. population. The contributing factor is lack of knowledge and family medical screening. Understanding the history of your genial line specific to your race and ...
Diabetes is a prevalent health disparity among the Latino population. Diabetes is listed as the fifth leading cause of death among the Latino population in the website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in 2009. According to McBean, “the 2001 prevalence among Hispanics was significantly higher than among blacks.” (2317) In other words among the Hispanic or Latino community, there is a higher occurrence of diabetes as compared to other racial/ethnic groups such as Blacks and Native Americans. The prevalence of diabetes among Latinos is attributed to the social determinants of health such as low socioeconomic status and level of education. Further, this becomes an important public health issue when it costs the United States $174 billion in both direct and indirect costs, based on the 2007 The National Diabetes Fact Sheet released by the CDC. In turn, medical expenses are twice as high for a patient that has diabetes as opposed to one without. Finally, this high cost becomes another barrier to receiving care for Latinos when some are in the low socioeconomic status.
...in to treat African American women as a whole instead of patient X, then there will be a change in the rate of deaths among African American women with breast cancer. However, these women must also decide to trust those providers and receive pre-screenings in order to be proactive about their own health, and the government needs to actively provide affordable ways for women to receive these screenings. There is plenty of evidence available that shows the problems with African American women dying from breast cancer, so people must be educated and aware of the problem in order to bring about a change in society. As Louis Giglio once said, “awareness brings about action, and action brings about change,” and hopefully, people will use this information to bring about awareness to ripple into change for African American women aged 40-80 especially regarding breast cancer.
How do cultural differences affect breast cancer prevalence, prevention, and treatment in African-American, Hispanic/Latina, and Caucasian women living in the United States?
As I stated before, it is really no use in trying to treat stage III and IV pancreatic cancer because death is inevitable in these cases. However, in stage III, palliative surgery and stent placements to bypass clogged areas in the ducts or small intestine are used. Chemotherapy and chemoradiation are used also. In stage IV, palliative treatments like nerve blocks and stent placements are used to relieve pain. Clinical trials (a type of research study that tests how well new medical approaches work in people) are tried and tested on these patients also.
For these reasons, minorities often put off the expense of seeing a doctor until they have advanced disease and are past being easily treated. A lack of education, rural or inner city residence, unemployment, and low literacy rate may also contribute to higher cancer mortality rates for some communities. In several studies researchers investigates whether socioeconomic status is the reason for the disparity in prostate cancer incidence, where African Americans and Non- Hispanic Whites are the top two candidates for prostate cancer. Some results found that the highest level of cancer incidence was positively correlated with low socioeconomic status (Cheng, et al.,
“When someone has cancer, the whole family and everyone who loves them does, too.” – Terri Clark
According to the American Cancer Society, the third leading cause of cancer related deaths for African American men and women is colorectal cancer (CRC). African Americans have a higher CRC mortality rate than White men and women due to lack of preventative testing, increased cancer fatalism attitudes, decreased knowledge of the cancer, and late onset diagnosing. To research how to resolve this issue the “Fayetteville Area Inter-Faith Commitment to Colorectal Health and Cancer Reduction in African Americans,” or “The F.A.I.T.H Project” was created to execute a culturally targeted faith/community-based educational intervention about CRC within the African American community.
Pancreatic Cancer is also caused by damage to DNA, which can be inherited from parents or from aging. Smokers double their chances of developing Pancreatic Cancer versus if they did not smoke. The reason that smokers double their chances of developing this type of cancer is because smoking directly affects the pancreas. Not only does smoking actual cigarettes cause an increase in the risk of being diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, but also smokeless toba...
Colorectal cancer is considered to be a major cause of cancer morbidity and mortality. It accounts for over 9% of all cancer incidences; this makes it the third most common cancer cause with nearly 1.4 million new cases diagnosed in a year (WCRF, 2012) and the fourth most common cause of death (WHO, 2002). Both men and women are affected almost equally for colorectal cancer; 9.4% in men and 10.1% in women from all incident of cancer. However, it has a clear geographical variation which is not uniformly distributed throughout the world. It has been estimated that, the developed countries with a western culture accounts for over 63% of all colorectal cancer cases (Fatima AH, 2009). Though data available to show the clear situation in developing countries, growing evidences show that the problem would be also a concern for the low and middle income countries. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was estimate that in 2008 colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 5th most common cancer in SSA (Ferlay J, 2010 and Alice G et.al, 2012)
Another problem people have with the pancreas is pancreatic cancer. Each year about 29,000 Americans and 3,000 Canadians are diagnosed with it.
The pancreas is one of the essential organs in the human body and belongs in the Digestive system. Out of all the internal organs, the pancreas is unique because the pancreas plays a role in both the endocrine gland and the exocrine gland. This means that the pancreas is a dual function gland in which is the reason why the pancreas is such a vital part of the digestive system. This research paper will talk about the anatomy, physiology, and the important functions the pancreas play to maintain homeostasis.
4. Prevention (CDC). Cancer survivors – United States, 2007. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. March 11, 2011; 60(9): 269-272