Jonathan Demme Dies of Esophageal Cancer: Tips for You to Avoid This Cancer

Jonathan Demme Dies of Esophageal Cancer: Tips for You to Avoid This Cancer
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Cancer is the most feared disease. When Jonathan Demme died on April 26, 2017, at age 73 of esophageal cancer, it served as a stimulus for us to consider how to avoid and control this disease.

Demme is remembered by everyone for his Oscar winning productions. As a director, he won the Academy Award for Silence of the Lambs starring Anthony Hopkins. His film Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks not only won the Academy Award for best film, but also brought the AIDS epidemic to greater public awareness.

But Demme is not the only celebrity to have died from esophageal cancer. Among others are Humphrey Bogart at age 58, Ron Silver (Romancing the Stone) at 63, Jean Hagan (Singing in the Rain) at 54, and Robert Kardashian (OJ’s attorney) at 59.

Esophageal cancer attacks 17,000 people each year, and 16,000 individuals die of it annually. It is more common in men, with 1 of 125 men developing this cancer over their lifetime, versus 1 of 435 women. The average age of patients is 67, and it has an 81% mortality within 5 years of diagnosis. There is a 60% increase in survival if patients get any type of treatment, especially if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage. Treatments can include local surgery, extensive surgery with removal of part of the esophagus, or combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy with or even without surgery.

Since survival is higher if the illness is found early, people should know about the symptoms of this cancer. These include any difficulty swallowing, regurgitating food, food sticking on trying to swallow, heartburn, GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease), hoarseness, pain in the throat chest or back, fatigue, weight loss, or having the condition Barrett’s esophagus which can be found on EGD (esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy).

So here are Dr. Cary’s tips for preventing and controlling esophageal cancer.

· Avoid excessive alcohol intake (above 2 drinks daily for men, or 1 drink for women). Avoid smoking, and e-cigarettes.

· Keep your weight normal and avoid obesity

· Treat heartburn and GERD by getting good advice and medication from your physician.

· If you are found to have Barrett’s esophagus, have it monitored by a gastroenterologist, and discuss eradication of this pre-cancerous abnormality by surgery, laser, or other measures if the illness has high risk changes.

· Although screening of everyone by EGD or other measures is not recommended, screening of very high risk individuals or people with any of the symptoms above is appropriate. So ask your physician if you have any of the symptoms, or have the risk factors listed above, and ask for a gastroenterology (stomach doctor) consultation.

· Always have health insurance, and have a primary care doctor who is interested in disease prevention, and cancer screening. For advice on finding a good doctor, or evaluating our current doctor, see my website and book Surviving American Medicine.

· Be sure you know your family history including the details of any diagnoses. This will help your physician to evaluate your risk for cancer.

Esophageal cancer can be a devastating disease, so take steps to prevent the illness and diagnose it early when it can be cured.

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