As rates of cancer increase in the teen population, medical teams are faced with not just treating the cancer, but also the emotional challenges they face as they are preparing to enter the world.
I love the stories about the inner strength these teens have when faced with cancer, but it doesn't make the sad truth that cancer rates are going up any less disturbing.
Cancer rates among children and teens just don't go up for no reason. We can't blame this on smoking, or drinking, or poor lifestyle choices that erode health over time - they are directly responding to either 1) environmental toxins, or 2) the recent introduction of Genetically Engineered Foods that have become ubiquitous in the past decade.... or maybe it's because more and more children are put on medications just to get through the school-day.
Something is breaking down in their bodies. We can treat it, try to cure it, help them cope emotionally, hope they survive, but until we start to address the root causes (and maybe it's a combination of causes) we will continue to see more and more cases.
Time for policy change in the interest of public health.
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