Wednesday, April 17, 2013

American Cancer Society Study seeks key to staying cancer-free



Here’s a novel idea let’s study why people stay healthy, instead of why people get sick. That seems to be the idea behind the third wave/generation of a series of American Cancer Society studies.

The lead researcher, Alpa Patel describes the study in this youtube.com video.
An article in the Chicago Tribune, by reporter Rachel Levy, adds context to the video and notes that “…researchers hope (the study) will help them solve one of medicine's most perplexing puzzles: why some people never get cancer.”

Is this some 20 to 30 person interviews from which researchers draw wide-ranging conclusions?

Nope.

Levy reports that “The American Cancer Society has already enrolled 200,000 people and hopes to find 100,000 more people nationwide; enrollment in Chicago's western suburbs began Thursday and runs until April 26.”

This isn’t a one-time survey as she further comments that “To take part in the study, a person must be 30 to 65 and never have had cancer. Participants fill out comprehensive surveys about their health and habits and give blood samples and waist measurements. Researchers will track participants' progress over the years, sending short follow-up surveys every two years or so that can be filled out at home in about 15 to 20 minutes.”

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