[ad_1]
By Lisa Rapaport
(Reuters Health) – Adult survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for serious chronic medical conditions, but many of them are not particularly concerned about their future health, a study suggests.
In a survey of 15,620 adult survivors of childhood cancer and 3,991 of their siblings, 31% of cancer survivors and 34% of siblings said they were not worried for their health.
And 40% of survivors no longer cared about cancer, as did the proportion of siblings who did not worry about future malignancies.
"Our findings indicate that there is a substantial subset of survivors who are not concerned about their future health risks, even among survivors known to be at increased risk for health problems," said Todd Gibson of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Publicity
"A lack of concern may be appropriate for some survivors, but in others, it may prevent them from engaging in risk-reduction activities such as recommended screening tests and healthy behaviors," said Mr. Gibson by email.
Advances in cancer treatment in recent years have helped an increasing number of young patients survive the diagnosis, often turning their disease from a death sentence into a permanent chronic illness.
More than 84 percent of children with cancer survive at least five years and become long-term survivors, the researchers note in the journal Cancer. Today, more than 420,000 survivors live in the United States alone.
Better survival chances also mean that these children may be at high risk of health problems that may occur as a result of tumors or treatments, including heart disease, kidney failure, and new types of malignancies.
Cancer survivors in the study were diagnosed between 1970 and 1999. Half of them were at least 26 years old at the time of the survey, and half had survived at least 17 years after their diagnosis.
Publicity
Most had at least a high school diploma and about a third had graduated from college.
Even though the survivors did not seem much more concerned about their future health than their siblings, they were almost three times more likely to have at least one serious chronic health problem.
About 26% of survivors had at least one serious, disabling or life-threatening chronic health problem, compared to only 9% of their siblings.
However, not all survivors had the same ideas about their health and they tended to worry more about the future if they had ever had another experience with cancer.
About one in four survivors had previously been diagnosed with subsequent malignancies, and they were 21% more likely than their siblings to be concerned about the development of future tumors. Of the survivors who had no other experience with cancer, however, their level of concern about future malignancies was similar to that of their siblings who had not had any Cancer.
Publicity
The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how cancer survivors' feelings about their future health could impact their lifestyle choices, their behavior or their chance to develop new life-style behaviors. chronic medical problems.
It is also possible that the siblings in the study have a different perspective on their future health than the general public who did not have a brother or sister with cancer when they were children, note the authors of the study.
Still, the findings suggest that survivors might not fully appreciate that they have unique risks that require continued attention, said Dr. Karen Effinger, a researcher at the University School of Medicine. Emory and clinical director of the cancer survivor program in Atlanta.
"Often, young adults are too young to worry about their health," said Mr. Effinger, who did not participate in the study, by e-mail.
"This is true for healthy young adults, cancer survivors, transplant recipients, or those with congenital heart disease," added Effinger. "The surviving young adults hear our recommendations, but are not ready to act or treat them until they are older and settle in their work or prepare to build their families.
Publicity
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2lzHUWY Cancer, online June 25, 2018.
Source link
