Colon Cancer Featured on WebMD

I visited WebMD yesterday and was surprised but happy - at first - to see that "Colon Cancer Symptoms" was one of the four featured article tabs (along with an article about how watermelon has Viagra-like effects... Happy 4th of July!) on the front page. How great that they are spotlighting colon cancer, I thought to myself. I clicked the tab, and a handsome and pensive man appeared next to the words "Colon Cancer Symptoms" and "Symptoms usually appear in later stages. Here's what to look for."

A further click led me to the symptoms section of WebMD's Colorectal Cancer Health Center. And again, my initial reaction was, "Wowee! Look at all this great info!" It is a good resource, with information that would be very helpful to someone who is experiencing the obvious symptoms of late-stage colon cancer, or whom has been diagnosed and needs to learn about the disease fast.

But basically, a site like this is not going to help people be any less afraid of colon cancer (or other cancers, if they are similarly discussed, which I assume they are). I know I have to understand that WebMD exists to give unbiased, factual information - and with cancer, the facts are often very, very hard to hear. So I can't wholly blame the website. It just made me feel slightly defeated, I must admit.

I wish that the site could focus more on prevention, especially with colon cancer because it is highly preventable when people are appropriately screened. Instead, the "Prevention" section is buried between "Treatment Overview" and "Home Treatment," which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

This issue is bigger than me. After all, who funds WebMD? How does the site make money? Oh, I know! They get revenue from all the pharmaceutical companies who advertise their drugs! And why would drug companies want to advertise on a site that says, "You can prevent this disease from reaching late stages just by getting screened regularly"? Oh. They wouldn't. Huh.

Sigh. Alright, well, moving on.