Incidents of Leukemia: Is this just a coincidence?

[Writer]

In the last few days:

Ed Bradley died of leukemia

A Wyoming senator has been diagnosed with leukemia

My friend's little sister is battling leukemia

And now this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15657132/

What is going on? Is this form of cancer becoming more rampant? Is this environmental? I am taken aback by the apparent coincidences here.

[Richard D]

1. Maybe increased levels of radiation

and depleted uranium entering the environment.

[Writer]

But from where?

And over what period of time would that need to take place to seriously increase this form of cancer?

[Virginia Dare]

2. Chemicals in the food supply...n/t

[Writer]

4. But is this any different than twenty years ago? n/t

[Virginia Dare]

9. I think it is a cumulative effect....

apparently it effects mostly men in their 60's, becoming more prevalent. Why it effects men more, I don't know. It's just a guess on my part.

[LisaM]

3. Bill Walsh? Yes, I saw that too and wondered the same thing.

One of my high school friend's daughters died of it a few years ago, but I always attributed it to the fact that her father worked at a ChemLawn kind of place.

[1932]

5. I'm lucky in that I don't know many people who have died in last 5 years.

However, two people I know have died of Leukemia.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Hard to tell

"Leukemia" is a catch-all term for fifty or more neoplastic (cancerous) diseases. Some of them are fairly benign, and others are aggressive with high mortality.

It's impossible to draw any conclusions from three cases in a large country, but there is an ongoing "epidemic" of cancers and leukemias. Billions of dollars have been spent studying and treating it; if you want to study it for yourself, you'll have plenty to keep you busy.

--p!
Corrections welcomed.

[porphyrian]

7. Is it a real or just a perceived increase in incidence?

Anyone have the actual stats? I don't know myself.

[enuffs_enuffs]

8. Stay away from weed-n-feed...

dioxin ya know...

[Virginia Dare]

10. Could be why it effects men more than women...

although I don't see Bill Walsh or Ed Bradley doing a lot of yard work.

[enuffs_enuffs]

17. Traces tracked indoors by people and pets.

Have to replace carpet to be rid of all.

Like most, I'm unsure of the male/female lack of correlation.

[truedelphi]

11. We now gas up our own cars - and we had MTBE in

The gasoline supply for quite a while. Babies in utero when Mommy gassed the car - they had some risk of leukemia.

In the old days it was the gas station attendant who got cancer - now we do that job for ourselves.

Benzenes in all the fragrant" candles. Glade Air "fresheners" etc.

[Duppers]

16. True!

Thanks for bringing those risks to our attention.

I hate those damn fragrant candles and air fresheners for many reasons, as any knowledgeable asthmatic would.

[lonestarnot]

12. Jack just died with lukemia.

[Red Right and BLUE]

13. A cousin of mine and an online friend have it too.

It does seem like a lot all at once.

[wholetruth00]

14. My 47-yeaer old cousing has it too.

[judaspriestess]

15. a good friend of mine has been diagnosed with a blood disease

that is a precursor to leukemia. culprit - cigarettes. He has so much toxicity in his blood. He has to have a pint removed every week so he can generate new blood. His blood is very thick and sludgy. gross

[Nikia]

18. It used to be much worse in my home area

Lots of little children got leukemia. It turned out that many of these homes had high radon levels.
I don't know if there are a lot more cases now in the country or world in general.

[Boojatta]

19. What's the total number of celebrities?

It's probably fairly large. When you hear that some of them have a given diease, there are a lot of possibilities that are very unlikely. For example, they're unlikely to have scurvy, typhoid fever, or measles.

That a celebrity has heart disease isn't likely to be considered newsworthy unless the celebrity actually has a heart attack.

[LeftCoast]

20. It's a Rovian plot to win the '06 election

:)

[Iris]

21. I was thinking the same thing.

My dear mother-in-law died of leukemia 2 years ago.

[Bluerthanblue]

22. we've made big strides in childhood leukemia, but adult

leukemia is very often a death sentence-

And it often comes on quite suddenly, and ferociously- I lost a very beloved friend to it 3 yrs ago- He was the epitome of a 'healthy adult'- then began to tire very easily, and suddenly all these bruises appeared on his legs- out of no-where. He didn't last 6mos after that fateful day-

Lung cancer- seems to be VERY common with folks I know - friends brother who never smoked died at 40- and another friend who was smoker, but caught cancer early, and was in remission, now has lesions on the brain....

.... I'm glad Ed Bradley had the time he did- I admired him a lot- and it seems he had some quality time after the initial diagnosis and remission. That's a bittersweet blessing.

peace,
blu