OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

For the past 5 years the No.1 leading cause of death in New Hampshire has been cancer but no one knows why that is.  The Granite State now ranks No. 1 for the most new diagnosed numbers of breast cancer in the nation with a total of 8,670 new cases and 170 deaths reported in 2017.  The cause is claimed to be from the population being 94% white. Breast cancer has been also claimed to be most prevalent in white women. New Hampshire now is ranking fourth in the nation for all cancer-sites diagnosed, with 490 per 100,000. The state’s high rate may be due, in part, to a push for early detection of breast cancer, which may also be why New Hampshire’s cancer death rate is right at the national average of 166 per 100.000.

Also a new study has just been released in July 2018 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  The CDC found that pediatric cancer rates are also now the highest especially in New Hampshire, once again, having the highest rate now in the country, and once again, are not able to specify a specific cause as to why this is happening throughout the state. 

The study shows that there were 816 pediatric cancer cases recorded in New Hampshire between 2003 and 2014. That's a rate of more than 205 per one million, which is the highest rate in the United States. New Hampshire only has a total population that is a little over 1,300,000 people living on a land mass that is only 50 miles wide by 180 miles long.  There are only 3 other states that are smaller than NH in the U.S.

Overall, there were about 174 pediatric cancer cases per one million children and teens alone throughout New Hampshire, and the rate was higher in males compared to females. When broken down by age group, the rates were higher in children between the ages of 0-4 and teens between the ages of 15-19, as compared to kids between the ages of 5-9 and 10-14.

There are also several types of cancers that are also caused by HPV - Human Papiloma Virus.  Such as cancer of the Anus, Orpharynx, Cervix, Vagina, Valva, and Penis, which have been increasing throughout the state.  There are only 2 types, 16 and 18 that are not responsible for about 10% of all cases.  Between 1999 - 2013, NH found that out of 2,257 cancer cases diagnosed, that 1,786 cases were possibly caused by HPV.  This assessment is reviewed every 5 years and continues to only result in increasing numbers.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. The CDC estimates that nearly 80 million people are infected and that about 14 million new infections occur annually among teenagers and adults. Most of these go away on their own, typically without even causing symptoms, but some HPV strains can lead to genital warts and cancer.  Each year, 31,000 men and women are diagnosed with cancers caused by HPV.

There is also an estimated 80,000 cases of primary malignant and non-malignant brain and other CNS tumors that are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2018 alone.   In 2010, there were 241,688 cases throughout the country.

In 2018, the American Cancer Society has now estimated 23,880 new malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord to be diagnosed throughout the U.S., and an estimated 16,830 will die.  Between 2011 - 2015, the most recent 5 year statistics on incident rates for brain and ONS cases, shows New Hampshire had a total of 436 cases alone.  However, during that time period, the number of cases  throughout the United States were actually declining while New Hampshire's numbers had only continued to increase.

The American Cancer Society has now estimated that New Hampshire will have a complete total of 8,080 new diagnosed cancer cases with an estimated of 2,810 cancer caused deaths in 2018. Given how New Hampshire's history of taking decades to resolve and give any answers to the state's continuous problems, is now making people think twice, while questioning in more ways than one, how really and truly safe is it to actually now choose to live right here in New Hampshire.