Thyroid cancer starts when the abnormal cells mount up on the thyroid gland of a person. This type of cancer is very treatable and has a higher survival rate than other cancer types. However, a recent study revealed that those people who survived this particular type of cancer may not have the same positive outlook in life than they used to.
A new study was done and released by a team of researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center. The researchers stated that at least 95 percent of all thyroid cancer survivors can still live a long life after they are free from the disease. The team also added that due to the rising number of thyroid cancer cases, it could soon fill up a solid 10 percent of all cancer survivors in the United States.
As for the study, approximately 1,200 survivors from all over the United States and Canada took part in the series of tests. A set of questionnaires was then given to them in order for them to assess their physical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being. The researchers were able to find out that most of the survivors rated their quality-of-life scales at an average of 5.5 points. This is much lower than the 6.75 average points registered for those survivors of other types of cancer, such as colon and breast, two kinds that require a lot more care and intense treatment process.
According to Dr. Raymond Grogan, a co-author of the study, the possible reason for this is that cancer has always been one of the diseases that people are most scared of. It is just normal for victims and survivors to feel dismal than usual since they have acquired it. It is also revealed that those survivors who have less knowledge about thyroid cancer registered the lowest scores. However, in a span of 5 years, the researchers stated that those scores will eventually go higher.
