Archive for the 'Cancer' Category
August 23rd, 2010 by Peter
Most of us non-smokers feel we’ve got little to worry about when it comes to lung cancer. After all, isn’t it the disease of smokers? According to recent studies in the British Medical Journal, people who have never smoked before as well as ex-smokers, are all at risk of developing the disease. In fact, about 50,000 deaths per year can be attributed to second hand smoke and toxic fumes. Lung cancer does not limit itself to smokers.
Although rarely discussed, exposure to toxic fumes in the workplace or environmental toxins in the air contribute to a significant number of deaths from lung cancer. For example, occupational exposure to diesel motor emissions, asbestos, and paint was found to be significantly correlated with an increased risk of lung cancer.
In addition, a study on smokers from Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention showed that the fumes from frying oil, meat, or barbecuing have been found to also significantly increase the risk of lung cancer. This means working in a kitchen can put you at higher risk too. These carcinogenic fumes are toxic, and daily or weekly exposure to them causes oxidative damage in the lungs as well as to our DNA.
Another surprising finding is that if your parents smoked in the house during your childhood and adolescence, your risk of lung cancer is double as an adult even if you yourself don’t smoke. Parents, think again lighting up your next cigarette! This year, lung cancer will kill about 163,500 Americans and remains the number one cause of cancer deaths taking more lives than colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
What can we do to protect ourselves?
If you are a smoker, you must make quitting a priority in your life as well as follow a nutritional and supplement program to protect your lungs. For those of you who are non-smokers or who may have smoked at some point, protecting your lungs is also very important. There are some simple things you can do to decrease your risks:
1) Eat your broccoli and arugula
Over 125 published scientific papers have shown the exceptional protective effect of the Brassica vegetables on lung cancer and other cancers. These Brassica veggies including watercress, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli sprouts, Brussels Sprouts, arugula, and kale, have been shown to fight cancer by inhibiting carcinogenesis, excreting carcinogens via liver detoxification, inducing death of cancer cells, and inhibiting tumors! Consuming 500 grams per day (about 4 cups) can cut your risk of various cancers by up to 50%. This is exceptionally valuable research should make the NY Times front page news and be implemented as first line defense in every doctor’s office. There is nothing more powerful you can do to protect yourself against cancer than to eat your broccoli every day.
A number of other impressive studies show that green tea inhibits the growth of the human lung cancer cell line. Green tea of all flavors is known for its ability to reduce angiogenesis or blood flow to the tumor. So, making that switch from coffee to green tea may save your life.
For those of you who can’t imagine washing down your 4 cups of Brassica veggies each day with your green tea, there is a nutritional supplement named Indole Plus by Rx Vitamins containing Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C), the active ingredient within these veggies which has the cancer protective effects. Take it first thing each morning, before you are exposed to toxins and carcinogens. The active ingredient within green tea is also available by the name of EGCG Green Tea Extract.
2) Get your zinc, selenium, and vitamin C each day
Mineral tests on lung cancer patients show that they have lower levels of selenium and zinc, two critically important and protective antioxidants found in foods including Brazil Nuts, almonds, and seafood. These powerful minerals can also be obtained in a good antioxidant supplement such as Three A Day Antioxidant by DFH, which contains other lung cancer protective ingredients including EGCG green tea extract, vitamin C, and N-Acetyl Cysteine.
3) Avoid exposure to smoke or fumes in the air
If you live in a polluted city, jog near cars, work around motor emissions, or fry oils regularly, wear a protective mask. If your job requires you to be exposed to chemicals such as those found in printing companies, nail salons, dry cleaners, or paint supplies, you should also take a protective antioxidant supplement containing I3C and a mixture of fat soluble antioxidants such as those found in Ultimate Antioxidant LS by DFH.
Although we don’t know our individual genetic risk for developing lung cancer, and we can’t readily quit our toxic jobs or turn back the clock on our exposure to cigarette smoke, we can take some very effective and simple steps to protect ourselves and dramatically reduce our risk for lung cancer, the number one cause of cancer deaths. http://www.RockwellNutrition.com
August 13th, 2010 by Peter
The early symptoms of lung cancer resemble the symptoms of other common illnesses. As such, it can be difficult to diagnose lung cancer until it is too late. Also confounding the problem, at least 25 percent of the people that are diagnosed with lung cancer have no symptoms at all.
Therefore, when you get a physical exam, the doctor typically checks the potential lung cancer symptoms against the patient background and considers the age, occupational exposure, family history and smoking history to determine if the symptoms are actually the result of lung cancer.
For example, an 18 female who does not smoke probably does not have lung cancer, whereas a 60 year male who smoked for 40 years might be suffering from lung cancer.
The first symptom that most people notice is a persistent cough, and it is noted about 80 percent of the time that people have symptoms. Many people refer to this as the smokers cough. Lung cancer affects the cells lining the airways, and the nerve endings in the airways detect any foreign substance and try to dislodge it in an effort to keep the airways clean. Patients diagnosed with lung cancer who never complain of coughing most likely have tumors located in the smaller passageways that do not get as irritated.
The second most common symptom is coughing up blood. When the tumor gets larger, it tends to bleed, resulting in the patient coughing up bloody mucous. If this is noticed, then you should get a physical exam as soon as possible to determine the cause of the discharge.
The third most common symptom is wheezing. This is caused by the airways being blocked by the tumor. Sometimes the wheezing is loud enough to be heard when the patient is breathing, other times the doctor will detect the wheezing when listen to the breathing.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you should inform your doctor and have it checked out as soon as possible. The earlier that lung cancer is detected the better chances are that the patient will survive.
August 13th, 2010 by Peter
Prognosis deals with predicting about the way a disease spreads and its possible outcomes. Prognosis includes chances of recovery from the disease too. These are two aspects for prognosis of any disease. When a patient approaches a doctor with symptoms of lung cancer, the patient is advised to go through some tests to confirm detection. After analyzing the test results, doctors are able to ascertain the stage to which cancer has reached. Every stage has a specified course of treatment.
There are many questions that come up during and after the prognosis. The patient would first like to know if the disease is curable. Cancer detected in early stages is usually curable. The third and fourth stage cancers are a major concern. If cancer has grown to other parts of the body it almost is incurable. There is however a chance to increase life expectancy, if detected in early stages. Doctors informs their patient abut the stage cancer has reached and whether it is life threatening. The treatment is a long process with radiation or chemotherapy as part of treatment. Prognosis continues to change at every stage of treatment.
Doctors generally inform their patient about possible complications during course of treatment. They also inform patients about treatment required for such complications. Doctors also communicate the survival chances to the patient if necessary. The severity of the disease and possible time frame for treatment has to be considered by the patient.
Many of lung cancer centers have an in house support groups to help patients cope up with the disease. They also help them by counseling on their individual cases and explaining exact outcome of the disease.
It is advisable to remember that prognosis is just a prediction and can change during the course of treatment. Doctors inform patients about the stage and treatment of the disease to help them deal with it and be prepared for all eventualities.
May 20th, 2010 by Peter
In the early stages of lung cancer, often, you will have no symptoms. It is as the cancer grows that the symptoms begin to appear. Here’s what you should be looking for when you suspect that you have lung cancer symptoms.
Some of these symptoms may include a cough that gets worse or doesn’t seem to want to go away, breathing problems (including shortness of breath or wheezing), a constant chest pain… especially when you cough, at times you may be coughing up blood.
This is accompanied with a hoarse voice, frequent chest infections (such as pneumonia), or an infection that doesn’t go away, feeling fatigued all of the time (feeling very tired all the time), unexplained weight loss, and a loss of appetite.
Be aware that other health problems may also cause some of these same symptoms. Whatever the case, you need to immediately get checked by your doctor.
These conditions are also symptomatic of many other lung problems, so a person who has any of these symptoms should definitely pursue the cause until one is sure of the problem. When a person goes for an exam, the doctor may ask many questions about the person’s medical history, including questions about the patient’s exposure to hazardous substances.
More often than not, a person having symptoms of lung cancer will be given physical exam. If the patient has a cough that produces a sputum (mucus), the mucus itself might be examined for cancer cells. The doctor will order a chest X-ray or specialized X-ray such as the CT scan, which helps to locate any abnormal spots in the lungs. The doctor may insert a small tube called a bronchoscope through the nose or mouth and down the throat, to look inside the airways and lungs and take a sample, or biopsy, of the tumor. This is just one of several ways in which a doctor may take a biopsy sample.
However, more and more doctors are using a form of CT scan in smokers to spot small lung cancers, which are more likely to be cured as compared to a large large tumor. The technique, called helical low-dose CT scan, is much more sensitive than a regular X-ray and can detect tumors when they are very small, which would otherwise not been on a regular x-ray.
May 10th, 2010 by Peter
We all have heard of lung cancer but how many of us are well aware of its symptoms? The lung cancer is one of the most perilous diseases that kill thousands of Americans every year and each year the number of cases are increasing. With the occurrences of lung cancer on the rise, it is essential that we learn about the basic factors leading to lung cancer and what should be the courses of action in case of lung cancer diagnosis. Here are the basic information regarding lung cancer that will help you to understand how and when it develops and how to steer clear of this killer disease.
Lung cancer is that condition of your lungs where an abnormal reproduction of cells takes place. And it can happen in one or both of your lungs. Sometimes lumps of cancerous cells or the tumors invade the organs. Our lungs allow the oxygen from the air to pass into the bloodstream and carbon dioxide to eliminate from the system. Now any kind of lung disease including lung cancer impairs this function of lungs to transfer oxygen into blood and remove carbon dioxide from it. The result is many kinds of disorders relating to breathing trouble and cough.
Do you know what the most dreadful part of the lung cancer is? One rarely comes to suspect that he or she is suffering from lung cancer until it is too late and goes beyond any kind of treatment. This is because, signs and symptoms associated with lung cancer are never acute or alarming until the later stages of malignancy and it is often at this stage when someone starts to experience the typical symptoms of lung cancer. So it is recommended that if you ever experience any symptom even remotely related to lung cancer, rush to the doctor without delay so that in case of diagnosis of lung cancer you can avail the treatments as early as possible. The earlier the disease is diagnosed; greater are the chances of survival.
So what are the common symptoms of lung cancer? Nagging cough that seems never to end coupled with constant chest pain may be the warning of something being grossly wrong with your lungs. If you are suffering from recurring pneumonia or bronchitis, it may be an indication that you should immediately see an oncologist. The person displaying certain apathy for food followed by a remarkable weight loss may be an indication of lung cancer and the patients of lung cancer often complain of fatigue. However, swelling of neck and face is also one of the symptoms of lung cancer.
Remember lung cancer can be prevented if you give up smoking. So stay away from the cigars, cigarettes, pipes and other tobacco products. Also insist that the smokers should always smoke inside the smoking zone; do not allow the second hand smokes damage your lungs.
April 27th, 2010 by Peter
In the UK 38,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. There are two types of lung cancer; small cell which occurs in 20% of cases and non-small cell which occurs in 80% of cases. Small cell lung cancer is the most dangerous as it travels through to other parts of the body early on and can get into the bloodstream or lymph system quite quickly. Non small cell lung cancer travels more slowly and if caught early can be successfully cured.
Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer although 10% of people with the disease have never smoked. The risk of lung cancer increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and the age of the smoker. If a person stops smoking the risks reduce quickly and after 15 years the chances of developing lung cancer are the same as a non-smoker. Breathing in other people’s cigarette smoke, known as passive smoking, increases the chances of getting lung cancer but the risks are far less than if you smoke yourself. Those who smoke cigars, pipes or cannabis have a lower risk of lung cancer than cigarette smokers but a far greater risk than non-smokers.
Radon gas in high concentrations is believed to add to the risk of developing lung cancer, this is a naturally occurring gas in some areas and you can get a radon detector to check the levels in your home. In rare cases contact with some chemicals and substances such as uranium, chromium and nickel can also cause lung cancer.
The symptoms of lung cancer can include:
A persistent or long standing cough
Chest infection
Increasing breathlessness
Coughing up blood
Loss of appetite and weight
Difficulty swallowing
Excessive tiredness and lethargy
It is important to get any of these symptoms checked out by a doctor but any could be caused by an illness other than lung cancer.
Diagnosis starts with an examination by a GP who may arrange for x-rays and tests to be conducted at a hospital. The hospital doctors may also do a CT scan or spiral CT scan which is a series of x-rays that build up a three-dimensional picture of the inside of the body and can help find the site and size of the cancer; or a Bronchoscopy which is where the inside of the lung airways are examined with a bronchoscope. This is a thin flexible tube which is passed via the nose or mouth into the airways, the doctor can then look through the bronchoscope to check for abnormalities. Photographs and biopsies can be taken at the same time.
Small cell lung cancer is normally treated with chemotherapy which enables the patient to live longer with better control of the symptoms. Unless small cell lung cancer is found very early surgery is not normally done because the cancer will have spread to other parts of the body before being diagnosed. Sometimes radiotherapy is given to the head to prevent the cancer spreading to the brain and in advanced cases of small cell lung cancer it is used to effectively relieve symptoms such as pain.
Non small cell lung cancer is treated differently depending on the stage of the cancer; at an early stage surgery can be used to remove the cancer and is often followed up with chemotherapy. Radiotherapy may also be used on patients not fit enough or choosing not to have surgery. In advanced stages chemotherapy and radiotherapy are used, sometimes a combination of the two. These are used to maintain a good quality of life for as long as possible and relive pain.
April 27th, 2010 by Peter
Survival rates have improved for non-small cell lung cancer because of advances in combination radiation and chemotherapy treatment. With treatment, 14% of patients can have a 5 years survival rate, a high achievement in lung cancer terms. Unfortunately, most patient will die within 12 to 18 months of diagnosis.
Small cell lung carcinoma is treated primarily with chemotherapy and radiation, as surgery has no quantifiable influence on survival. Lung cancer survival rates are higher the earlier the cancer is diagnosed. However, more than two-thirds of lung cancers are diagnosed at a late stage and so survival rates for these patients are lower.
It is no wonder that more and more people are turning to alternative treatments and switching to a cancer friendly diet as their last resort. Alternative treatments are cheap and is within the control of the patient and their family members. A major component of alternative medicine lies in what you eat.
The process start with identifying the foods that can cause or worsen cancer. The idea is to stop eating harmful food before you begin to consume specific anti-cancer food. Be prepared to forgo many types of food that are known and not-so-known to contain cancer-causing fungi. Then, eating cancer-friendly food and cancer-curing food can commence to produce optimal results without obstacles.
Cancer can thrive under these 4 situations in our body:
Weak immunity
Acidity
Excessive Toxin
Lack Of Oxygen
To thoroughly eliminate cancer, you have to rectify each and every one of the above scenario. Apart from diet, maintaining an active lifestyle, smoking cessation and living in a smoke-free and asbestos free environment will greatly increase your chance of survival.
April 17th, 2010 by Peter
There is one indisputable fact about lung cancer — the earlier the disease is detected, the better the chances of curing it. This is why lung cancer screening is of prime importance.
Doctors point out that although the overall survival rate for lung cancer at the five-year mark is only 15%, the survival rate for those whose cancer was detected early and could be surgically treated is as high as 80%. For this reason, some doctors recommend periodic lung cancer screening with chest x-rays.
Once this disease has progressed somewhat, it will spread rapidly to other areas of the lung and to critical organs all over the body. At that stage, surgery is no longer a viable treatment method.
Unfortunately, the early stages of lung cancer do not give rise to any alarming symptoms. Common symptoms include a persistent cough, a tendency to get respiratory illnesses, etc. These symptoms are not linked to lung cancer alone. This is why lung cancer is rarely diagnosed till it is too late.
In this context, regular screening for lung cancer — at least for those who are most at risk of developing it, like smokers — seems like a sensible choice. However, unlike in the case of many other diseases (including other cancers), there is no truly effective screening test available for lung cancer.
In most cases, lung cancer is detected when doing tests like chest x-rays for other health problems. Because of the risks involved, most doctors do not recommend chest x-rays as a routine screening procedure. Many believed (till recently) that chest x-rays can be fairly misleading when it comes to detecting cancer.
This conclusion was based on studies conducted during the 1970s. Those studies showed that chest x-rays were not effective at detecting dangerous, fast-spreading tumors at the earliest stages. Further, those who were detected with relatively slow-growing tumors had to undergo surgery and other treatments that were not really needed.
However, many things have changed since the time those studies were done. Today, x-rays are far more sensitive than they were back then. In addition, there is a battery of refined tests available that can be used to follow up on any problems detected with the x-ray.
A new study is being conducted by the National Cancer Institute on a group of 150,000 healthy adults. This study, sponsored by the American government, divides these 150,000 people into two equal groups — one group is screened annually with x-rays, while the other (forming the control group) does not receive such screening.
The preliminary results show that about doctors found something abnormal in almost 6,000 people. They were followed upon with CAT scans, more x-rays and other diagnostic tests. From among these people, 206 had biopsies done. Eventually, 126 people were diagnosed with cancer. This is only 2.1% of the original group of 6,000 with abnormalities in their x-rays.
The bad news is that the 6,000 represent a large number of false positives. It resulted in unnecessary follow up x-rays, CAT scans, etc. The good news is that out of those detected with cancer, fully 44% were at the earliest stages of the disease — when the cancer is most treatable and the chances of survival highest.
The final results from this ongoing study will only be available some years from now. But based on the preliminary results, it appears that regular lung cancer screening with chest x-rays may help at early detection and a better cure-rate for this disease.
April 12th, 2010 by Peter
The great majority of lung cancers originate within the walls of the bronchi, the three-like structures of tubes which carry air to the lungs. That is why lung cancers are more correctly know as bronchogenic cancers. The direct cause of this form of cancer, like all other cancers, is unknown. However, there is much evidence to show that cigarette smoking is responsible factor, as well as inhalation of certain irritating dusts (including cobalt and chromates) and fumes. Lung cancer cases have increased, and now account for about 15% of all cancers. The disease occurs in middle life or later, with greater frequency in men.
Symptoms. Symptoms vary with the size and location of the tumor. The patient develops a cough early in the illness. It is usually dry but there may be blood in the mucus. There is chest pain similar to that of pleurisy. The patient is often short of breath and wheezes as he breathes. His finger joints swell painfully. There can be swelling of the face and upper extremities, and swallowing difficulties, depending upon where the tumor located.
Complications. Complications include collapse of the lung, recurrent pneumonias, bronchiectasis, and lung abscess. However, the real danger is the fatal spread of this tumor to other parts of the body.
Prevention. The main hope is to identify the tumor before the symptoms appear. For that reason, all men over 40, and particularly those who smoke, should have routine chest X rays. A patient who has a persistent cough, or spits blood, should notify his doctor promptly. People who have repeated bouts of pneumonia, or a case of pneumonia that does not respond to treatment, should be checked to rule out the possibility of underlying malignant disease. It may also be suspected in any case of unresponding lung disease for which no cause of apparent. Early recognition and surgery to eradicate the disease are vital. Delay that permits, the cancer to spread beyond the confines of the lung is fatal.
April 12th, 2010 by Peter
Several factors influence lung cancer survival rates. The type of cancer, the stage it is at when diagnosed, and the overall condition of the patient all play a role in determining survival. Cancer survival is usually expressed in terms of a five-year survival rate, which is the percentage of patients with cancer who survive at least five years after their cancer is diagnosed.
Studies have shown that five-year survival rates among non-small cell lung cancer patients vary by stage. Stage 0 patients have the best survival, of close to 50 percent at five years. Approximately one-quarter of stage II patients survive to five years, as compared to eight percent of stage III patients and only two percent of stage IV patients. In general, small cell lung cancer tends to proceed more rapidly to terminal disease. Ten to fifteen percent of patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer, and between one and two percent of those with extensive-stage cancer, survive to five years.
Estimates of cancer survival do not reflect current treatment advances that may lead to better chances of survival, because they are typically calculated for a five-year period that does not include the previous year. Further, each patient responds to treatment in a unique way; aggregate estimates do not account for individual factors that may improve or worsen the likelihood of survival.
The overall number of deaths in the United States from lung cancer rose throughout the 1980s, and began to drop for men in the 1990s. However, a similar decrease has not been observed among women. Over fifty thousand current and former smokers have been enrolled in the National Lung Screening Trial to find out if chest x-rays and CT scans taken before the onset of lung cancer symptoms may improve early diagnosis and therefore survival.