By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    4 Reasons Chris Cornell’s Death Raises Medical Ethics Questions
    December 19, 2018
    What If You Could Sell Your Vote?
    August 24, 2017
    The Sleepy American
    September 12, 2017
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: In Discussing Cancer, Should We Use Fighting Words?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Public Health > In Discussing Cancer, Should We Use Fighting Words?
Public Health

In Discussing Cancer, Should We Use Fighting Words?

JohnCGoodman
JohnCGoodman
Share
2 Min Read
SHARE

Every day in obituaries, you will find combat metaphors about people who have died of cancer. “After a heroic battle against cancer,” “valiant fight against melanoma.” And so on. News stories routinely refer to “weapons” against the illness, the “arsenal” of drugs, “victories.”

Every day in obituaries, you will find combat metaphors about people who have died of cancer. “After a heroic battle against cancer,” “valiant fight against melanoma.” And so on. News stories routinely refer to “weapons” against the illness, the “arsenal” of drugs, “victories.”

Many psychologists, doctors and cancer patients have raised objections to the military trope for the disease. They say that putting the experience into martial terms means that those who die are by definition, at least figuratively, losers. Not just of their lives — as if their lives weren’t enough — but of personal wars. That they gave up. Dr. Andrew Weil says that “it’s not the best way” to think of cancer. Cancer patients writing online and bloggers have also deplored this linguistic habit. “Does it mean that if I croak it’s my fault?” one asks.

At least to ourselves, maybe late at night — and maybe feeling a little like idiots — surely some of us may gather strength from saying of those murderous invaders, in our best Churchillian cadences, “We shall fight them in the mediastinum, we shall fight them in the lymph nodes, we shall fight them in the trachea, we shall fight them in the pleura….”

More Read

Image
Emperor Cholesterol Has No Clothes!
Cialis Approved by the FDA for Enlarged Prostate–But It’s Not Cheap
Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms
New Research Shows How to Lose Weight After 40
Driverless Autos

Full New York Times article on fighting cancer.

 

   

TAGGED:cancerpublic health
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Raise Medicare Age? That’s Cost Shifting, Not Cost Saving

February 28, 2012
cholesterol drug
Public HealthWellness

Experimental Cholesterol Drug Cuts LDL Levels in Half After 1 Year

November 22, 2013

Can We Lower the Risk of Second Cancers?

August 16, 2013

The Curious Case of Testosterone

March 14, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?