The Doctors: Donna Summer Lung Cancer
The Doctors paid tribute to stars who have recently lost their lives and used their untimely deaths to help viewers understand their diseases and ways to prevent them. Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco. She was one of the first artists with three consecutive double albums to hit number one on the charts. But in 2012, Summer passed away from lung cancer that was not connected to smoking.
The Doctors went over Donna Summer’s had lung cancer & the possible causes.
The Drs. called cancer specialist Dr. Lawrence Piro on the set to help them inform the audience about lung cancer. He said the chances of getting lung cancer if you are a non-smoker are around one in 10,000 and nearly 2/3 of them will be women.
The Drs: How Did Donna Summer Get Lung Cancer?
Summer thought she may have been exposed to some type of chemical during the 9/11 attacks on New York City, but Dr. Piro said it was unlikely because it would take a prolonged amount of time for the chemicals to become a significant problem.
He did say, however, radon could have been coming out of the ground which could have caused her lung cancer. He cautioned everyone in the audience to have their homes checked for the deadly odorless and tasteless gas. Radon is the second most common trigger for lung cancer in non-smokers.
The Drs TV: Lung Cancer Symptoms
Some of the symptoms for lung cancer include:
- A cough that will not go away
- Coughing up blood
- Weight loss
- Chest pain
- Loss of appetite
The Doctors: Lung Cancer Treatment
The best hope for treatment is catching the cancer early at a time when it can be removed from the body. If it spreads, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery will be the only course of action. And after it spreads so far, there is nothing that can be done.
The Drs: Yvette Wilson HPV
Yvette Wilson came to prominence on shows such as Moesha and The Parkers. Sadly her life was cut short when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer and kidney disease. She died on June 14th, 2012, at the young age of 48.
Dr. Piro said around the world, cervical cancer is the third most deadly cancer, but in America it is very low on the list of cancers taking people’s lives because of the screening we have. He said Wilson may have developed cervical cancer from HPV, which accounts for 90 percent of cervical cancer and attributes to anal and oral caner. Cervical cancer is curable if caught early.
Dr. Travis Stork explained HPV is a virus that makes cells grow in abnormal patterns which is exactly what cancer is.
The Drs TV: HPV Prevention
Pap smears are the key to detecting HPV early. The HPV can be seen in the cells taken from the pap smear and it can be quickly diagnosed and treated.
The Doctors also recommended having safe sex and getting the HPV vaccine. They said the HPV vaccination can help to eradicate cervical cancer. The vaccine is also recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to help prevent cancer before it can occur.
Some people think by giving their child the vaccine they are allowing them to be promiscuous. There are also studies that have shown it has made mice infertile, which The Doctors said does not happen in humans. Much of this misinformation is making parents think twice about giving the vaccine to their children. Check out the video below to see what Dina had to say about giving the HPV vaccine to her daughter.
The Doctors said that everyone, even men, should get the HPV vaccine. The HPV DNA can live inside a person dormant for up to 20 years before it turns to cancer.
Dr. Piro said boys can get tongue cancer and anal cancer and he could not think of any reason why you would not give the vaccine to a boy.
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