Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma vs. Hodgkin's Disease

Since Lucy's diagnosis a lot of people have also been asking me what the difference between non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Hodgkin’s Disease are.

Here is an article that I just found that might help answer some questions that people have.

"Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma vs. Hodgkin's Disease

Lymphoma is divided into two general categories: Hodgkin's disease (HD; also called Hodgkin's lymphoma) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). In the United States, there has been a general decline in HD rates over the past 30 years, and this disease now accounts for only 1% of all cancers. By contrast, rates of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have increased by more than 70% during this same period of time. NHL is the fifth most common type of cancer and accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), there were approximately 66,000 new cases of NHL diagnosed in the United States in 2008 and about 19,000 people died from the disease.

The majority of NHL (95%) occur in adults 40 to 70 years of age; however, some NHL subtypes are among the most common cancers in children. More men than women develop NHL, and rates are particularly high among men who live in areas with epidemic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS) infection, such as the San Francisco/Oakland area. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is more common in Caucasians than in African Americans, Japanese Americans, or Chinese Americans.

Each year in the United States, approximately 8,000 new cases of Hodgkin's disease are diagnosed. Among these cases, about 60% of cases involve advanced stage disease and 40% involve early stage disease. Men typically have higher rates of Hodgkin's disease than women. This difference is particularly noticeable in children and among people older than 35 years of age."

http://www.oncologychannel.com/hodgkins/facts.shtml