Cancer doesn’t discriminate when it selects its victims. Famous stars from Lance Armstrong to Jon Lester have experienced it. And it’s only likely to become more common as the number of cancer cases is expected to rise by 70 percent in the next two decades.
It’s a real issue that has to be addressed. Whether it’s through awareness or actively funding treatments, sports leagues around the world are reacting to the need.
So what’s the deal with cancer in sports?
Why Do Many Older Athletes Get Cancer?
Understand that many older athletes take decades to be diagnosed with cancer because of the nature of sports decades ago. Most top athletes, particularly Olympians, used to work other jobs at the same time. Terry McCann, gold medalist in wrestling at the 1960 Olympics, is a prime example of older athletes who were diagnosed with mesothelioma.
He used to work in an oil refinery. This was just one of the thousands of workplace environments that contained asbestos. The most common type of asbestos-related cancer is pleural mesothelioma.
Pleural mesothelioma is cancer within the lining of the lungs and the chest wall. It accounts for up to 90 percent of all mesothelioma cases.
The latency period is extremely long, so it can take decades for mesothelioma to begin showing any symptoms at all. This could be up to 50 years. When it comes to asbestos, we only stopped using it in the US 30 years ago so many athletes may still be at risk.
Are Fitness Supplements Causing More Cancer?
Any sports star will have an entire range of supplements to gather that extra edge. This starts at the top and goes all the way down to the amateur level. There’s limited evidence to show that fitness supplements could be inadvertently increasing the risk of experiencing cancer. A recent study revealed that male smokers who took vitamin B supplements have a 40 percent increased lung cancer rate. Those numbers are startling.
Naturally, most athletes won’t be smoking, but these numbers point to something potentially disturbing with certain supplements and aids.
Why Survival Rates Will Be Higher
Athletes are best placed to survive cancer through early diagnosis. First of all, they’re constantly surrounded by the best medical teams in the world and they undergo regular testing. The average person normally doesn’t seek out treatment until they’re experiencing visible, debilitating symptoms.
By then it’s far too late.
Early diagnosis is the key to surviving cancer. And professional athletes have all the tools they need to get that early diagnosis and treatment plan.
Last Word – Is Cancer in Sports a Concern?
There’s a risk in sports of cancer with long latency periods. Pleural mesothelioma is the big fear among athletes who have retired.
But the value of cancer in sports is to act as inspiration for those fans suffering from cancer. It proves that nobody is invincible and cancer can affect anyone. Use the stories of athletes overcoming cancer to inspire your own recovery, no matter the type of cancer you’re experiencing.
Do you look up to any athlete who has experienced cancer at some point in their careers?