Corona-Pandemic vs. Cancer
Cancer seems to be more fatal than virus infection that can be avoided by wearing a mask, keeping social distance, and avoiding congestion, although it is still unknown whether the corona-virus pandemic will result in world-wide deaths of more than 10 million.
In 2015, about 90.5 million people had cancer. About 14.1 million new cases occur a year (not including skin cancer other than melanoma). It caused about 8.8 million deaths (15.7% of deaths). The most common types of cancer in males are lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and stomach cancer. In females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and cervical cancer.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer#Alternative_medicine)
About 606,880 Americans are expected to die of cancer inThe methods to cure cancer are chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, palliative care, immunotherapy, laser therapy, and alternative medicine. But, as cancer cells are originally normal human cells but only with wrong or defective genes, it is difficult to kill only cancer cells without harming other normal human cells.
2019 (Table 1), which translates to about 1,660 deaths per
day. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in
the US, exceeded only by heart disease.
(https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2019/cancer-facts-and-figures-2019.pdf)
So, for old men with cancer, it is thought to be good to leave and forget the cancer without taking surgery or anti-cancer drags that damage their bodies and normal cells leading to adverse effects that could be sometimes fatal.
From the beginning, it is thought that taking all cancer cells is impossible, since cancer cells move through blood and attach to other organs to multiply. According to a report in 2016 of the National Cancer Center of Japan, the total survival rate in 5 years after initial diagnosis of all types of Japanese cancer patients is 62.1%. It means about 40% of patients cannot live more than 5 years while taking surgery and other medications.
However, American Cancer Society boasts development of cancer management:
The overall age-adjusted cancer death rate rose during most of the 20th century, peaking in 1991 at 215 cancer deaths per 100,000 people, mainly because of the tobacco epidemic. As of 2016, the rate had dropped to 156 per 100,000 (a decline of 27%) because of reductions in smoking, as well as improvements in early detection and treatment. This decline translates into more than 2.6 million fewer cancer deaths from 1991 to 2016, progress that has been driven by steady declines in death rates for the four most common cancer types – lung, colorectal,
breast, and prostate (Figure 1 and Figure 2).
Nonetheless, it is not clear what medications have contributed to prolonged survival of cancer patients. Their is a possibility that other factors than diagnosis, surgery, anti-cancer drags, etc., or improvement of other medical environment and medical care or quality of living has contributed to the increase of survival rate of cancer patients.
Cells of old men naturally come to have defective DNA and genes, thus causing cancer. No matter how long men live, they have to die some day with old cells with defective DNA and cancer, even if cancer symptoms do not occur or cancer medication is successful. And, data such as those shown above do not seem to include those with cancer but without medical treatment. Some old men with cancer might live and die without pains caused by taking anti-cancer medical treatment, living longer than other cancer paints who took painful medical care.
Anyway, almost 10 million people die yearly over the world due to cancer. The corona-virus pandemic will not be able to cause this scale of tragedy in 2020. However, if corona-viruses are not completely expelled, death by the corona-virus might become as common or resident as cancer or influenza (causing a half million deaths globally per year) in future. But is it acceptable for the mankind?
Finally, when a new pandemic causing more than 10 million deaths globally yearly occur, we might be facing the end of the world.
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John 6 King James Version (KJV)
15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,
17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.
18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.
19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.