Getting down to the nitty gritty.

The topic that I am considering is the disparity in hospital care one receives in Lake County, IN versus Cook County, IL. I believe that the quality of care is impacted by both the amount of money a family has as well as the amount of money the doctor would make in that area in addition to their schooling.  It seems that there are far more people in Lake County that are on some type of government health care or have no health care whatsoever.  The quality of education the doctor in Lake County, IN is also more likely to be well below that of a doctor in Cook County, IL. Part of this is that there are 4 teaching hospitals in Cook County, Loyola University Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center, University of Chicago, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. There are zero teaching hospitals in Lake County, IN. The average Cook County, IL resident’s annual income is $54,559. The average Lake County, IN resident’s annual income is $34,296. That is a difference of $20,263 per year. This topic interests me because many of my family members as well as myself have been forced to make the trek to Chicago to see a specialist that cannot be found in Lake County, IN. I think all demographic groups would be interested in this topic. I believe most parents want nothing but the best for their children, especially when it comes to health care.

Two useful websites.

The site listed cancer statistics for Indiana up to 2007.

Quick Profile-State Cancer Profiles. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2010, from State Cancer Profiles: http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/cgi-bin/quickprofiles/profile.pl?18&001

This site's data was updated in 2009 with information from the National Cancer Institute in addition to it being a government site. It allows you to refine your cancer type within the state. There are multiple graphs showing you the trends of different cancers as well as cancers in different races within the state.

This site listed the Top 10 Cancers Among Men in the United States. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009, February 19).

Top 10 Cancers Among Men. (2010, June 28). Retrieved September 12, 2010, from Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsMenTop10Cancers/

The CDC's website was updated in 2010. It provides something to compare the number of people in the state of Indiana with a particular cancer to the number of people across the US.

 

Topics for consideration.

One subject that interests me is how a virus can mimic another illness. I find it interesting that someone can have allergies but they think they just have a cold. I have allergies and I thought I was just sick for a week or two until I noticed I would get the same symptoms when i cleaned the house.
Another subject that interests me is the disparity in the quality of care you receive from a doctor in Northwest Indiana and the same care you receive from a doctor in Chicago. A majority of the tests you would get from a doctor in Chicago are the same as those you can get from doctors or hospitals in Northwest Indiana. One would think that with the high cancer rate in Northwest Indiana we would have noticeably better cancer care.
A third subject that I find interesting is why is the cancer rate so high in Northwest Indiana? I can see a slightly higher cancer rate what with the steel mills in close proximity to a mass populous, but why is it the same all the way down to the Kankakee River?

An area of researchable interest.

A subject area I am interested in researching this semester is cancer and how certain illnesses can mimic cancer symptoms. I know that Histoplasmosis can mimic Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. 

1)What causes cancer to spread?

2)What can help an illness mimic cancer?

3)Why is there such a divide in the quality of care between Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana and Chicago?