PITS Video

OK, this was just too weird to pass up: a video from almost two years ago, created by the British Lymphoma Association. It's meant to alert people to the typical symptoms of lymphoma, with the acronym PITS: Persistent lumps, Itching, Tiredness, and Sweating. They make excellent use of the whole "pits" visual pun.

The video is aimed at people under 30, who are most susceptible to lymphoma. (I think they are referring to Hodgkin's, specifically, though they lump it (ha!) all under "lymphoma."

Still, it's a nice way to make people aware of the symptoms. Of course, with the prevalence of WebMD and other medical sites, the problem might also be people who know about some symptoms and suspect they have lymphoma, when those very general symptoms could be many other things, too. We get a lot of those folks visiting the support group: "I have a lump/itchiness/fatigue -- could I have lymphoma." And the gentle response is always, "We don't know -- go see a doctor."

And that's ultimately the message. No one wants to be a hypocondriac, but no one wants undiagnosed cancer, either. So this video does a nice job of getting people's attention and encouraging them to do just that -- go see a doctor.

Enjoy.