The Accountant Nov-Dec 2016

HEALTH
several mistakes, among them; failing
to evaluate and obtain long-term care
insurance, an omission that cost Lorna
$40,000 in caregiver costs. You will realize
as you grow older that you should never
leave your health care to someone else;
you should ask questions and get answers.
No one really feels it like you do and
early preparation may stand you in good
stead when many people including close
relatives begin to find you irrelevant. This
happens at a time when you are perceived
to have limited life expectancy, decreased
social worth and in extreme cases regarded
as a bother.
It is not all gloom and doom however.
Had Theresa been alive today, she would
have been enlivened by the volume
of information available on cancer.
The positive attitude she maintained
throughout her sickness is an example we
can all emulate. Before she died, she had
become a beacon of hope to many who had
been plagued by this disease. This was a
while back and a lot has happened since, to
help lessen cancer pain and assist patients
to live with dignity and with hope and to
get the best treatment there is; which is
much more and better than before…for
those who can afford it.
Microsoft joins fight against
cancer
As we ponder over cancer treatment
options, some good news just came in (in
September 2016) …the good news is that
Microsoft… Yes Microsoft has joined in the
efforts to treat cancer. It is now combining
computing and biology to hopefully, get
a cure in ten years if all goes as planned.
A report by The Telegraph says Microsoft
recently vowed to “solve the problem of
cancer” within a decade by using groundbreaking
computer science to crack the
code of diseased cells so they can be
reprogrammed back to a healthy state. The
Telegraph writes that in a dramatic change
of direction for the technology giant, the
company has assembled a “small army” of
the world’s best biologists, programmers
and engineers who are tackling cancer as
if it were a bug in a computer system. In
a report dated 20th September 2016, the
telegraph says that this summer Microsoft
opened its first wet laboratory where it
will test out the findings of its computer
scientists who are creating huge maps of
the internal workings of cell networks.
In an interesting feature that will boost
hopes of dealing with cancer, it further
states that the researchers are even
working on a computer made from DNA
which could live inside cells and look for
faults in bodily networks, like cancer. If it
spotted cancerous chances it would reboot
the system and clear out the diseased
cells. Chris Bishop, laboratory director
at Microsoft Research, said: “I think it’s
a very natural thing for Microsoft to be
looking at because we have tremendous
expertise in computer science and what
is going on in cancer is a computational
problem.”It’s not just an analogy; it’s a
deep mathematical insight. Biology and
computing are disciplines which seem like
chalk and cheese but which have very deep
connections on the most fundamental
level.” The telegraph explains further
that the biological computation group
at Microsoft is developing molecular
computers built from DNA which act like
a doctor to spot cancer cells and destroy
them.
Andrew Philips, head of the group,
said: “It’s long term, but… I think it will be
technically possible in five to 10 years time
to put in a smart molecular system that can
detect disease.” So that is the good news
from Microsoft.
Some interesting
statistics
10,000
Number of lives which
could be saved with earlier
diagnosis
352,197
Number of people diagnosed
with cancer each year (2013)
161,823
Annual deaths from cancer
(2012)
50%
Chance of living at least 10
years after cancer diagnosis
(as of 2010-11)
41%
Percentage of cancer cases
which are preventable
Source: Cancer Research UK
Health Tips
• High-fat cuts of meat can
have two to three times
the fat content of the lean
cuts
• When dieting, It is not how
much you eat that matters
it is what you eat
• When taking yogurt, you
can choose to buy plain
yogurt and add fresh or
water-packed fruit
• Teach Sunday School; it
can be fun too
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016 45