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4/05/2016

Things Haven't Improved for Pancreatic Cancer Research Budgets Even after

Things Haven't Improved for Pancreatic Cancer Research Budgets Even after Patrick Swayze

Pancreatic cancer was what killed the vibrant and energetic actor, Patrick Swayze. It reduced him to a shell of his former self, and as was widely reported back then, it has no cure. But a pancreatic cancer research study done in Singapore on more than 50,000 people, has gained a little more understanding into the way this rare form of cancer works. They chose Singapore for this study, for the way its lifestyle bears a close resemblance to the American way of life - rich, well-educated, and with a predilection for shopping, entertainment, and eating out that is quite close to America's own. The study followed those thousands of people, over a period of about 15 years. More than 100 of those volunteers who were involved in the study, went down to pancreatic cancer in that period. And what they found out was that the volunteers who had a weakness for soft drinks and sodas, were nearly twice as likely to be among the cancer-afflicted. It would appear, that the sugar in soft drinks, may be overworking the pancreas in a way that turns it cancerous.

Is it possible that a study that is thorough enough to include 50,000 volunteers, could be incorrect? Well, it is possible, that when the researchers found their volunteers downing soft drinks, and falling to pancreatic cancer, they just thought no farther than to simplistically draw a cause-and-effect relationship between the two. It is possible that a liking for soft drinks, also usually translates to a liking for less exercise, and more alcohol. There is just no way to control things like this in a study. About a quarter of a million pancreatic cancers are found out every year. But Singapore pancreatic cancer research hasn't been the only one to make the link between soda and the pancreas. Pancreatic cancer research done at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden independently arrived at much the same conclusion. Only, they followed 80,000 people for their study. And Swedish scientists, claim that they really are able to pinpoint that the pancreatic cancer could be because soft drinks. It would appear that science has declared war on the modern high-calorie low activity lifestyle.

This kind of cancer that is the fourth deadliest of any in America. Last year alone, more than 40,000 Americans were diagnosed with it, and almost all of them went down to it. If that sounds terrible, what does one say to the predictions they make, that in 20 years, there'll be 50% more who go down to it? You've always heard about how you can arrest cancer, if you catch it early. That isn't really possible with pancreatic cancer, because there is no early detection method available yet. One of the first things that can be done about the situation is, that cancer institutions could allocate forward something higher than the current 2% research budget they have for it. There is really nothing more at this stage that can be done about it, so rudimentary it is the treatment available for this kind of cancer.