If you have been diagnosed with cancer, you may want to check your surroundings, because apparently where you live has an effect on your chances of survival.

It's fairly well known that poorer people and minorities have a lower survival rate of diseases like cancer due to lack of health care and at times, a lack of awareness of a good health care regime. A late diagnosis is especially to blame. I think we all know someone who is hesitant to see a doctor due to costs and waits until his or her symptoms are serious before getting care.

Race and place of residence can have a staggering impact on the course and quality of the medical treatment a patient receives, according to new research showing that blacks with diabetes or vascular disease are nearly five times more likely than whites to have a leg amputated and that women in Mississippi are far less likely to have mammograms than those in Maine.