Cancer is now more common than getting married or having a first baby
Research suggests that developing cancer is more common than getting married or having a first baby.
Analysis by Macmillan Cancer Support shows there were 361,216 cancers diagnosed in 2014 in the UK, compared to 289,841 marriages. There were 271,050 babies born to first-time mothers in England and Wales in 2015, compared to 319,011 new cases of cancer. New cancer cases are as common as graduating from university and more common than a woman having her first baby, according to the Telegraph.
“Being told you have cancer changes your life, and it can leave people feeling as if they’ve been thrust into the unknown, bewildered and unprepared,” Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said. “But as more and more people are being diagnosed with cancer, it’s important that we are all better informed about what to expect if we do one day receive this shocking news. Cancer is almost always life-changing, but it isn’t always life-ending. Life with cancer is still life – you’re still a dad, a sister, a grandparent, a friend.”
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Furthermore, research from the charity showed that out of 2,000 people, 37% feared cancer the most, ahead of Alzheimer‘s disease (27%), stroke (7%), depression (4%), heart disease (4%) or multiple sclerosis (2%). Additionally, one in 10 people in the UK say cancer is their biggest fear, above losing a loved one, their own death or terrorism.
Around 90% of the people living with cancer surveyed by Macmillan said they were trying to live their lives as normally as possible. “Getting a diagnosis of cancer was probably the single most terrifying thing that has happened to me,” Jane Ives, 49, a mum of two from Hampshire, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, said. “My biggest fear by far was not seeing my children fully grow up. Not being there for those milestones in their lives – their graduations, their weddings maybe. While the fear never quite leaves you – you realise life goes on after cancer and you appreciate the here and now.”
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