emperor of all maladies ......

Have  we ever paused for  a  second  and  thought about  the miracle that is our human  body  .  And another miracle that  inspite  of  millions of cell divisions going on in our body  it rarely  goes out  of control  and we are  continuing to live a healthy  life  .   And when it goes wrong  ,  that disease is dreaded and misunderstood that  the common reaction  is  not to talk about  it  .... 

Yes  that  disease  is the Emperor  of all maladies  -- cancer  .   It is  a  disease  which  has  been there from the time  of  ancient civilisation ,documented in mummies  and  in the earliest written history  . This disease doesnt discriminate  between rich and the poor ,young or old unlike  the lifestyle diseases  . Some  of the risk factors  like cigarette smoking are known  but there are  many unknown variables in the causation  .  Newer and newer therapies are being  developed some of which  are  remarkable in giving a cure for some cancers  .   And  thanks  to  a  doctor  named  Siddhartha Mukherjee  we have  a wonderful  book  now  called  "Emperor of  maladies  ---a  biography  of cancer  "   a  book  written in the style of a biography and reads like a novel  .  It  won the 2011 pulitzer  prize  and i read  it  last week   .  The writing style is brilliant  and anyone who is  interested  in science  of cancer and  the history  of cancer  and its treatments  from 5000 BC  to 2000s  AD  would like  it  . 

He starts  with  the  work  of  Sidney Farber  who  did  experiments  with chemotherapy  in the early 1950s and  the  childhood  leukemia  which had 100  percent fatality  then  .... The author   tells about  the  many  defeats and the triumphs  in the field of  chemotherapy  ,  radiotheraphy  ,  cancer surgery  . He  goes  back  in time  to    when  a  persian queen   Atossa  was diagnosed with  breast cancer  and  orders  her  slave to  excise it  .  And  he  later  in the book  describes what would have been her  fate  if she would have been there in 1900 s 2000 s  etc  taking the reader along  to show  what progress there has been in cancer therapy  over the ages  .  Though  being a doctor  myself  i  was filled with awe  reading the  book  about  the  toil  the  physician researchers  of yesteryear  undertook in discovering  each  new  thing about cancer and newer treatments  . 

                          Over  the  years  ,   i have  also seen  some  of the  people i know  succumb  to this  disease  .  But  each  time  though  the  disease  won  ultimately physically,   i saw  the  undying  human spirit  emerging each  time  it struck  someone  .  For  ,  my  grandmother  who asked  with a slight smile  why  she  was having  increasing difficulty  in swallowing  while knowing the answer herself  that  she had  stage 4  cancer  .   Still  she used  to take her  walks  everyday  at  age  of  88  albeit  taking  5 minutes  to walk  those  50  metres  . 
And  my cousins  cousin  who used to  greet  us with  a  smile  when  she  had  leukemia  at the  age  of  11  .  She  died  ultimately  in an  year  but  whenever  i  think about her  i remember  her  greeting smile  and  "she  " asking  how  we were doing  .   This disease  gave  her  a maturity at that age  which  many  of us  dont have even at  adulthood  ... 

And  then  6 months  ago  my uncles brother  in mumbai  who died of cancer  who  grabbed the  report  of his ct scan from me  and  read  the  diagnosis of  cancer spread  throughout  his  body  .  And  he  told  me 
"  So  the outlook  is bleak  " as  casually  as  you would  read  a report   .and  i was speechless but  he didnt want an answer  ....  The way  all  of these  people   battled  cancer  ,  gave  me   faith  in the  human  spirit  which  is  one of the  strongest  things in the world   .... 

                         Last  but  not the  least  ,  i  find  it  sad  that  this  is one  of the  diseases  which  is  the most lucrative  for  alternate  treatments  .  For  promising  instant  cure  it  is  very common  for the  victims family  to take him  to  all  the alternate  treatments  ,proven or not  ,  spending his already stretched  finances  and ultimately  not  getting  cured  .  Even worse  some  of  them  stop  the treatments  which are  already working midway  due  to  "sideeffects  "   .   My  point is  is there anything  in life  without  sideeffects  . But  in cancer  also most people  i have  come across  have  this  black  and white thinking  ---either  miracle cure   or   hopeless  to the  core   ......  while the  truth  lies  midway  just  as  like all other things in life 

Another  point  is  time  and  again  i have  heard  people  ridiculing  cancer specialists  that  "  the doctor  told  mr. X  has 6  months  to live  "  and see  this guy  is  flying  to  bali   six years later  .   The  innuendo  is  the  trained  specialist is plain stupid  .Here  too  books  like  "Emperor  of maladies  --biography of cancer  "  gives  answers  .  No  doctor can predict  or  will  say  Mr X  has  6 months  to live   .... for  no one  can predict  whether  you or   me  will  see  the  next day  or not  .  There are  no  guarantees  in life      The  "6 months   "  thing is about  prognosis  . There  are  certain cancers  like  malignant  brain tumour  and  pancreatic cancer  which  even with the  best treatment  has  the  odds  against  you  .  Doesnt mean the patient will  die  in 6 months but there is a high probability  that the treatment is unsuccessful compared  to some cancers  like  acute  lymphatic leukemia  which have almost  100 percent cure  rate  . 

Todays  blog  of mine  is a tribute  to  the  cancer   victims  i  have  seen  and  their remarkable courage  which has inspired  me  in  my life  . Meanwhile those  who  have the patience  to read  the  book  do it  and  please tell me  whether  you liked  it  ...