Why is the pandemic increasing the risk of deaths from cancer? | The State
The Covid-19 pandemic has led us to a unprecedented health contingency that has changed our lifestyle. This contingency has important consequences, but as Cuídate Plus indicates, others are not so pronounced.
For example, not much is said about how the current pandemic will increase the risk of death from Cancer, something that is related to factors that we will mention below.
Hospital care for cancer patients
The impact that Covid-19 has caused in the hospital system is not only manifested in the care of health centers on patients, the lack of resources and the wear and tear of doctors, but also in the organization of hospital services.
It has been due reorganize care for cancer patients to reduce your risk of infectionThis is due to their status as a vulnerable population against the virus. For this, telemedicine has been given priority over the face-to-face modality.
In cases where telemedicine is not possible, they have been designed guidelines with fewer hospital visits. Although this has had positive effects, it has also had negative repercussions, such as the delay of diagnostic and evaluative tests.
The importance of diagnostic and evaluative tests is that they allow constant surveillance of the disease. If she is interrupted, even for a short time, cancer can grow freely, which is risky for the patient.
Delay in surgical interventions
There have been cases where surgical operations on cancer patients have had to be postponed to give priority to patients infected with Covid-19, which has increased the risk of death linked to some of the manifestations of cancer.
These delays represent an impact on the prognoses of each patient, especially in those with aggressive tumors. According to an English study, a modest delay can mean up to a 30% reduction in survival at 6 months.
This reduction is not as pronounced in cases with less aggressive tumors., but anyway an advance in tumor formation develops that complicates the patient’s odds.
Access to cancer treatments
Patients already diagnosed, in principle, would not have complications of access to the corresponding treatments since Medical Oncology services remain functional, even in the moments of greatest hospital collapse.
However, undiagnosed patients do have access problems because their lack of diagnosis prevents them from being referred to the corresponding medical units, which delays the start of treatment for the disease.
Patients at risk of dying from cancer should take extra precautions whenever they are within your means. In this way, they can avoid suffering a mishap or complication in this complex context for health centers.
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