What Causes Brain Cancer?
There is no known cause of brain cancer. Extensive research has been conducted to pinpoint a cause to help prevent the cancer from occurring. Although there has not been very much conclusive evidence leading to a cause of brain cancer, the one thing that doctors do know is that brain cancer is not contagious and it does not occur due to head injury. There are known instances where cancer has spread to the brain from other parts of the body.(Lung cancer,Breast cancer,Liver cancer and so on.)
Brain cancer can occur at any age. Studies have shown that two major age groups are affected. From ages 3 to 12 and 40 to 70 are the age groups when brain cancer is formed. Since researchers have been able to gather this data, it has led to the discovery of some risk factors. Workers in certain industries are at a higher risk for brain cancer than workers in other industries. These include, rubber manufacturing, drug manufacturing, and oil refining. Since brain cancer often occurs with members of the same family, heredity is believed to be another cause of brain cancer.
There are many different kinds of cells in the brain, each with a different function. Sometimes the cells inside the brain begin to grow uncontrollably leading to a tumor. A tumor in the brain may or may not be malignant.If benign a tumor stays where it starts, although it can grow very large and put pressure on crucial areas. In the case of a malignant brain tumor however this has the ability to spread and brain cancer occurs. Brain cancer is dangerous and life-threatening as the cancerous cells can interrupt vital brain functions. When brain cancer occurs, the cells continue to grow at a rapid pace. The cells and tissue around these cancerous cells become crowded out and invaded.
Symptoms of brain cancer include headaches that are worse in the morning, changes in personality, abnormal eye movements, and weakness in the arms and legs. Seizures, nausea, and drowsiness are other symptoms of brain cancer.
Surgery is the treatment of choice for primary brain tumors radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are the treatments that are used when cancer has spread to the brain. The doctor will use one or a combination of these treatments depending on the needs of the patient.
Getting Serious About Breast Cancer Prevention
Few words produce a fear factor for women as the words "breast cancer". The best protection against breast cancer is knowledge of the ways you can reduce the risk of acquiring this dreaded disease.
While it is currently true that there are some very promising advances in breast cancer research and treatment, it is still a prudent course of action to use prevention as your best defense against getting this cancer in the first place, and that is what we are ready to discuss.
Some of these promising treatments and detection tools for breast cancer include genetic testing for certain risk factors that can help women determine preventive courses of action if they are at a higher risk, advanced ways of detecting breast cancer earlier including more sophisticated biopsy methods with minimal invasion, and new and improved breast cancer drugs and tailored courses of treatment.
Heck, I was even reading just the other day about one company that is coming out with new, natural "biochemical" remedies against cancer and other serious maladies for which we have yet to discover excellent, non life threatening treatments.
Perhaps the most obvious of all prevention measures is, of course, eating a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and "live" foods instead of processed, dead foods. Reducing alcohol or eliminating it completely helps to protect against breast cancer. If you drink alcohol, limit your consumption to less than one drink per day.
While there has been discussion and debate about whether red wine may help fight cancer, it is still wise to watch your consumption of even this, since it is, in essence, processed and broken down as a sugar, which causes inflammation.
Inflammation is thought to be a major contributor to all types of cancer, and I tend to agree with this philosophy from the information I've been privy to. Many of the popular diets now that promote overall health, weight maintenance and blood sugar stability are often "anti inflammatory" in nature, they just aren't always advertised that way.
Keep your weight at a healthy level for your age and height. Be especially vigilant not to gain any postmenopausal weight as this has been proven to increase your odds of getting breast cancer. The excess fatty tissue in your body increases your estrogen and the degree of estrogen exposure in your lifetime is linked to breast cancer.
Exercising can help with weight loss or maintenance of a healthy weight, therefore lowering your risk of breast cancer. If you do the weight bearing aerobics, you will add the extra bonus of keeping your bones strong.
Limit the amount of fats in your dietary intake. A lower fat diet has a moderate effect, but still decreases the risk of breast cancer. Hormone replacement therapy taken long term has been associated with an increase in breast cancer. If you are taking hormone replacements, you should probably talk to your doctor about other therapies to minimize menopausal symptoms.
There is not clear cut evidence linking birth control pills and a higher incidence of breast cancer. The newer oral contraceptives have a lower dose than the older contraceptives. Studies continue on this subject, but it may be something to think about when considering forms of birth control.
Excessive use of antibiotics is being scrutinized as a possible risk factor in the development of breast cancer. Exposure to pesticides is also being looked at in relation to breast cancer. Use caution concerning long term use of antibiotics and limit exposure to pesticides.
Areas of research that are promising and natural are retinoids and flaxseed. Retinoids, a form of vitamin A, may inhibit growth of cancer cells. Flaxseed lowers the amount of estrogen circulating in your body.
Both flaxseed and retinoid compounds are being studied for their role in breast cancer prevention, and are also known to be of benefit in heart and circulatory health, and flaxseed is known for it's digestive benefits as well. Most foods that are beneficial for cancer prevention wear many hats when it comes to health benefits, which is always a good thing.
Regular screenings by mammograms and self examinations will help to detect any early signs of breast cancer. Nothing is guaranteed to eliminate the risk, however lifestyle changes can reduce your risks significantly and are often simple and easy steps to take. You just have to know what they are...
Chemotherapy For Lymph Node Negative Breast Cancer – Who Needs It?
Why do people with breast cancer need chemotherapy? The reason is that despite the best efforts of the healthcare team to remove all traces of the tumor, breast cancer can still recur. Even early stage breast cancer can return months to years after the original diagnosis and treatment.
It can come back as a local recurrence (in the treated breast) or as a distant recurrence, also known as metastatic disease, elsewhere in the body, such as the bones, lungs, liver, or other organs. Due to this concern, many oncologists prefer to err on the side of over treating their patients with chemotherapy, lest the person be under treated and sustain a recurrence.
There are certain traditional prognostic factors that influence a doctor's decision to prescribe chemotherapy. These include the age and general health of the person as well as the size of the breast tumor, the status of the lymph nodes (positive versus negative), and the presence or absence of estrogen receptors on the tumor. Small tumors with positive estrogen receptors and negative lymph nodes tend to be less aggressive.
Examining the statistics, perhaps up to 15 out of 100 (15%) of patients with less aggressive tumors will develop a recurrence. Until recently, to save the lives of those 15 people, medical oncologists needed to treat all 100 patients, as they did not have the tools to identify which of the 100 patients were the 15 who were bound to recur. This meant that 85 out of the 100 people were over treated with chemotherapy.
The question then arises: which of these people can be comfortably spared chemotherapy, as well as its side effects? Also, of those people who undergo a lumpectomy and need breast radiation therapy, who can avoid the delay in radiation therapy imposed by the need to complete chemotherapy first?
To answer this question, a new diagnostic test that measures the likelihood of breast cancer recurrence has been developed. It also assesses the benefit from chemotherapy. The test is called Oncotype DX(TM) and it is appropriate for breast cancer patients who are:
Cancer Prevention – 10 Healthy Lifestyle Tips
77% of the cancer cases are related to a person's lifestyle, as reported by the American Institute for Cancer Research. Accordingly, the following types of people are most likely to attract cancer:
1. People who are obese
2. Those who do very little physical activities
3. Those who enjoy oily food
4. Meat eaters and those who consume very little vegetables
5. Smokers
6. Heavy drinkers
7. Have a liking for salty stuff
8. Enjoy eating preserved food
9. Those who are under great pressure
10. Those who worry a lot
Here are the 10 tips to keep cancer at arm's length:
1. Watch out for your BMI (body mass index): For Asian it should be around 18.5 to 22.9.
2. Physical activities to make you sweat: You walk, jog, dance, cycle, or climb stairs at least 30 minutes each day.
3. Drink green tea: Green Tea contains antioxidants to stifle cancer.
4. Eat a lot of fresh vegetables: Eating more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans can help you to prevent cancer of the digestive system.
5. Eat less fat: For example, you drink skimmed milk instead of full cream milk. When you eat chicken just remove the skin. As for cooking try to steam instead of fry.
6. Eat more poultry and less red meat: Eat more chicken and fish instead of pork, mutton and beef.
7. Give up smoking and drinking: It does not matter how old you are. The moment you stop these habits you can reduce the chances of getting cancer.
8. Avoid sugary drinks, food high in added sugar and consume less salty foods: Drink water to quench your thirst instead of carbonated drinks.
9. Breast feeding: It is best for mothers to breastfeed for up to 6 months. According to research breastfed babies have less chances of getting cancer and for the breast feeding mothers the chance of getting breast cancer are much less.
10. Be happy: When you worry and under pressure you are more likely to be a victim of cancer. For those who are always under pressure their immune systems are less active.
Use of Chemotherapy For Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer found in women in the 21st century. Doctors have also adopted a singular line of treatment and that is mastectomy which means removal of the affected breast. After that they refer the patient to the oncologist who prescribes chemotherapy with a promise that the patient will be totally cured and there will be no recurrence of the disease. This promise induces the patient to bear the pains of the treatment. They are promised longevity after the completion of the treatment. The fear of death and the promise of a healthy life relieve them of fear and they opt for the treatment.
The oncologists hide the hard truth that chemotherapy cannot wipe off all the cancerous cells. It is a fact that chemotherapy does not have the potentiality to kill all the cancerous cells present in the body; on the other hand the healthy cells in the body are also killed during the chemotherapy treatment due to which the natural immune system of the body is destroyed which gives rise to other health problems as the patient suffers the attack of other infectious diseases. Patients do not ask any question about the effectiveness of the treatment or what is the percentage of survival after the completion of the treatment.
Many researches have been done on this subject and it has been proven that the rate of survival is very low. The oncologists promise their patients that if they survive for five years after the treatment then they can be sure that they have been cured of breast cancer. Recurrences have occurred within the first ten years after mastectomy, this clearly shows that a patient has to live in constant fear of recurrence and death for the first ten years after mastectomy.
Many times the patients are assured that if there is no recurrence within the first five years then they can assume that they have been totally cured. But it is a hard fact that diseases which have recurrence tendency may lie dormant in the body for years and push up its head when the body becomes weak. Residue of the diseased cell may remain in the body and slowly and gradually spread in the body without showing any symptoms and thus remain undetected for years. So mastectomy and chemotherapy is not a full proof treatment for breast cancer.
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