Three Minutes of Your Time Might Save Your Life

Three Minutes of Your Time Might Save Your Life

Three Minutes of Your Time Might Save Your Life

HEALTH NEWS ¡ª Oral cancer is not widely know to the majority of American, but the death rate is higher than many other cancers we hear about. The Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF) as teamed with some big businesses to raise awareness about the disease and how early detection is important.

Crest, Wal-Mart, Henry Schein, INC., and USC team up with the OCF foundation for a free public oral cancer screening.
Volunteer dentists from the USC School of Dentistry will offer free oral cancer screenings to the public on Saturday, June 18, 2005, between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. At Wal-Mart located at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 4101 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.
Bernard Parks, Councilmember of District 8, is scheduled to appear for an oral cancer screening.
Brian Hill, Founder and Executive Director of OCF stated, When we have the opportunity to get out into public venues, we are able to not only screen people for the disease, but to educate them on the risk factors and signs and symptoms of it. The end result is that people can learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of the disease in its early stages, when it is most curable."
Over 30,000 Americans are newly diagnosed with oral cancer annually. Of those, only half them will be alive in five years - that equates to a death rate of one person every hour of each day. The rates of oral cancer occurrence and death among African Americans are twice as high as they are among Caucasians. A common misconception about the disease is that it only affects smokers. New data shows that young, non-smoking adults are being diagnosed with the disease. In these non-smokers, the same sexually transmitted virus that causes 98% of all cervical cancers (HPV 16/18) appears to be the culprit.
Regardless of how one develops the disease, the message here is that if it is found early, the cancer is highly survivable, and that an annual screening for the disease should be part of everyone's medical routine.
Dr. Mahvash Navazesh, Chair of the Division of Diagnostic Sciences at the school states, "Oral cancer is a life threatening disease. In its early stages it may not present with symptoms that are painful or obvious to the patient. Annual screenings by a qualified professional are essential to catching this killer early when the chance for survival is the highest."
For more about the Oral Cancer Foundation: http://www.oralcancer.org.