Cancer In Older People

The fact is that because of many important advances in medicine, people are more aware of how to prevent many illnesses like heart disease and others. In addition, people in the world are healthier, living longer, and they are more concerned about living healthy lives. Women that are born now, are expected to live for 85 years and men are expected to live for 77 years.


The biggest risk factor for becoming sick from cancer is aging. According to research done by the National Cancer Institute, the amount of new cancer cases is 10 times as great for those who are 65 years old or older. On average, 60 percent of all cancers happen in this age group. The most common kinds of cancers in people over the age of 65 include cancers of the breast, prostate, colon, bladder, pancreas, lung, stomach and rectum.


Keep in mind that aging is a bodily process that changes healthy, young adults into older and possibly less healthy adults. As people age, the risk that they become ill, injured or die increases. The process is extremely complex and it can make a person weaker. As a result, people are not able to resist disability and diseases as well. Aging may also affect how a person feels and their independence. In addition, their self esteem may decrease as they become older.


Many people experience changes physically as they become older. If they have cancer, these changes can interfere with therapy and treatment. In addition, many older people find it difficult or they are not able to do the normal things they used to do like bathing, getting dressed and using the bathroom without help. These abilities are measured by the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) and the Activities of Daily Living (ADL). As a result, these people are expected to die sooner than other adults, and they may find managing stress difficult including the stress that results from cancer treatment.


Older adults that have chronic illnesses are more likely to die sooner and they have a harder time handling stress. Common illnesses and conditions that may occur as people become older include decreased kidney function, heart problems, memory loss, vision loss, hearing problems, poor nutrition, and weight loss, which can result when dentures are not fitted properly, teeth loss, depression and appetite loss, especially if the individual takes certain medications. Please note that people age at different rates. When estimating how long a person will live and how capable they are of handling stress, it is important to look at how they function and what illnesses or conditions they have.

Cancer in the Elderly


Cancer is common with older people. However, older people usually receive screening for cancer less often, and they may receive no treatment or milder treatment. Research shoes that cancer therapy and treatment is useful for older individuals. It is essential that older people that have cancer and their family be given information about treatment, including the benefits, risks and objectives of treatment. They will be able to make better choices if they become informed about cancer treatments.


Many older people that are sick from cancer, have concerns that other cancer patients do not have. Most older people want to be able to cook for themselves, bathe, walk or drive, but these things can be affected by cancer treatment. Sometimes they feel isolated because they do not live near their family or they have lost family or friends. They may become depressed and anxious because they feel alone. These negative feelings may interfere with their treatments. In addition, religious and spiritual concerns may affect their decisions about treatment. Some older people that have cancer have financial problems, so paying for treatment and other costs becomes a problem. Some older people that have cancer have other medical problems that may affect their ability to get around. However, older adults can change their environment in order to make it a better and safer place to live. Some older people have trouble making their appointments for treatment because they do not have transportation. Older people that do not drive or have transportation for their treatments, should seek help from social workers or nurses when they need it.

Potsdam, NY Civic Center Gets Asbestos Remediation after Cancer Deaths

In Potsdam, New York, two workers at the city’s civic center, or city hall, died this summer within three weeks of one another, raising fears of asbestos contamination in the building on Park Street in downtown Potsdam.

One, Sharon M. LaDuke, 57, died May 29 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare and often fatal cancer linked with asbestos exposure. The other, Linda M. Power, 59, a tax collector, died June 19 of ovarian cancer.

Asbestos, a fibrous mineral widely used in various building products during most of the last century, can cause irritations in the mesothelial linings of the lungs, abdomen and pelvis, leading to lesions that may develop into cancer.

The difficulty with asbestos exposure is that a single incident can trigger mesothelioma, which commonly lies dormant for several decades before producing symptoms of such intensity that doctors can diagnose it. By that time, however, the tumors have invaded so many tissues and vital organs that the prognosis is very poor, and most patients are given between a year and 18 months to live.

The illnesses in Potsdam apparently triggered an examination for asbestos, and on June 5 contractors working at the behest of the state’s Public Employee Health and Safety Bureau took a core sample through the roof into the building, and then patched the hole.

The patch, about a foot in diameter, started to leak, so officials shut the courtroom and have been holding court in the civic center board room.

During testing, the core sample demonstrated asbestos-containing mastic in tiles affixed to the courtroom ceiling, and employees were understandably upset when John Usher, an inspector from the state’s Public Employee Health and Safety Bureau, showed up on Wednesday, June 24, to address their concerns.

On May 19, Canton-based Atlantic Testing Laboratories tested 15 locations inside the civic center for asbestos, and all came back at the non-detection level, meaning there were no airborne asbestos fibers inside the building.

Two further tests have also demonstrated that the air quality in the building is safe (that is, below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Permissible Exposure Limit, or PEL, of 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter (f/cc) of air, calculated as an 8-hour, time-weighted average, or TWA). In spite of that, Usher’s meeting with employees and union representatives – and his subsequent asbestos awareness Q&A sessions – have done little to reassure, falling as they do one day after workers returned from Power’s funeral.

Usher described the condition of the building as “typical for its age”. Potsdam Deputy Mayor Ruth F. Garner, who attended the Wednesday session, has described the employee’s furor as a “fiasco”, and says that, while there may be cause for concern, the aura of fear has created a prejudice that might not be overcome even if testing shows the building safe.

Potsdam officials are still waiting for the state’s final report, and expect that they will be cited for two violations; the first from an unlabeled boiler room pipe with asbestos insulation, the second for not providing asbestos awareness training to workers and staff. Garner said both problems have since been addressed.

The four remaining asbestos abatement projects will come from Potsdam general funds, and be completed within three months. Trustees voted not to approve $500 per day for an air monitoring system, because all the testing so far has shown the civic center’s air is safe.

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090625/NEWS05/306259963

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090818/NEWS05/308189931/0/FRONTPAGE

http://www.usgs.gov/usgs-manual/handbook/hb/445-1-h/ch12.html

Asbestos Fraud Case Goes to Trial

CSX Transportation, a leader in the rail freight industry, presented their suit against a West Virginia-based doctor, a Pittsburgh-based law firm and one of the firm’s employees for filing false claims of asbestos exposure against the company. The suit, originally filed in 2005, claims that Robert Gilkison and his employers, the law firm of Peirce, Raimond and Coulter, conspired to make false insurance claims against CSX. The suit also says that two CSX workers originated the idea of scamming the rail company by switching x-ray photos. CSX filed the suit after company officials received an anonymous call that mentioned two former workers, Ricky May and Daniel Jayne, had participated in the fraud.

According to the suit, CSX claims a former employee who was previously diagnosed with asbestosis came in to have x-ray images taken, then reported to the doctor that he was another employee who had earlier shown no symptoms of the disease. After the report, CSX reached a settlement for $8,000. The suit also says that Gilkison, who once worked for the railroad company before joining the law firm, had knowledge of the x-ray swap and did not disclose the switch. CSX also stated in the suit that Gilkison actively attempted to enroll railroad workers to file other fraudulent suits against the railroad.

Dr. Ray Harron, a radiologist based in Bridgeport, West Virginia, was also named in the suit. The allegations against Dr. Harron include misinterpreting x-ray images in order to give merit to the false claims. CSX also claims that Mr. Jayne, who had been diagnosed with the disease, visited Dr. Harron’s office and used Mr. May’s personal information when filling in the personal information form. This deception enabled Mr. May to receive the $8,000 settlement from CSX. Mr. May and Mr. Jayne have agreed to testify for CSX in the civil action. In return, CSX did not pursue charges against Mr. Jayne. Mr. May agreed to return the settlement money.

Marc Williams, one of the CSX attorneys pursuing the case, mentioned that the burden of proof in civil cases is much lower than that in criminal prosecutions. In a criminal case, prosecutors must show guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt”. In civil actions, plaintiffs such as CSX can win a judgment if they can establish guilt through a “preponderance of the evidence”. Mr. Williams also told jurors that Mr. Gilkison was participating in the fraud in order to keep the powerful CSX employee’s union as clients of his employer’s firm. Mr. Williams also alleged that Mr. Gilkison was afraid that, if he did alert either CSX or the media to the attempted fraud, the union would drop the law firm as their counsel and that he would lose his job.

Walter DeForest, the attorney for the Peirce law firm, claimed that Mr. Gilkison was in the dark as to the fraud. He stated that the scam started with Mr. May as an attempt to extract both money and revenge from CSX. Although the firm is widely acknowledged for holding regular asbestos screenings for union employees, Mr. DeForest said that Mr. May brought the idea to Mr. Gilkison but that he did not take it seriously and did not participate in an active fraud scheme.

Sources:
http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=10806

http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=64567&catid=166