Brain Cancer

What Causes Brain Cancer?

2009-01-31T06:38:00.000-08:00

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.

Lloyd Perry is the founder of Infoservice.us An Online Health & Fitness Resource. Where you'll find all your Health Info and Resources all in One Place.

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Brain Cancer Types, Causes, Symptoms

2008-11-24T15:36:00.001-08:00

MedlinePlus: Brain Cancer
The primary NIH organization for research on Brain Cancer is the National ... Brain tumors can be benign, with no cancer cells, or malignant, with cancer ...www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/braincancer.html

Brain Cancer - Overview, Causes, Risks, Symptoms - oncologychannel
27 Nov 2007 ... Brain tumor types, causes, symptoms, cancer diagnosis, and treatment options including radiation and chemotherapy.www.oncologychannel.com/braincancer/index.shtml -

Brain Cancer Types, Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Statistics on ...
Brain cancer symptoms include headache, weakness, seizures, clumsiness, and difficulty walking A biopsy is a sample of tissue removed by your doctor to make ...www.emedicinehealth.com/brain_cancer/article_em.htm

Your Household May Be The Cause of Mesothelioma Cancer

2008-11-24T07:17:00.001-08:00

Your Household May Be The Cause of Mesothelioma Cancer
By Riley Hendersen

Asbestos is a group of minerals resistant to fire and has long been used throughout history for various purposes. It was found in the burial clothes of the ancient Egyptians. Asbestos is mined from metamorphic rocks. When this material is used in materials to increase their resistance of fire, it is often mixed with cement and woven into clothes and fabric.

Asbestos is everywhere in your household, from your brake shoes, in your electric oven, and hot plate wiring, it is in the insulation of your house. It is resistant to chemicals, it is flexible, a material easy to use and very much in demand. However, the inhalation of asbestos is the cause of various serious illnesses.

Therefore, the use of this material has been banned in many countries due to its cancer causing quality. In the US, chrysolite has been widely used in various products such as texture and mud coats, sheeting, adhesives and ceiling tiles, plasters, roofing tars, siding, pipes, fireproofing, and the list continues for long.

Naturally, asbestos is in small quantity in the air we breathe and the water we drink. Studies have shown that members of population, who are not exposed to high asbestos exposure, have around hundreds of thousands of asbestos fibres in every single gram of their dry lung tissue.

Cancer mesothelioma is almost in every cases caused by exposure to asbestos. The mesothelium is a layer of special cells that form a membrane around certain body cavities. This tissue produces a fluid that protects the organs. These organs are enabled to move by the help of this tissue. It is mainly in the pleura, and the outer lining of the lungs.

Most people who develop mesothelioma cancer have previously been employed in a place where they inhaled asbestos, or have been washing the clothes of people working with asbestos. Developing it shows no relation to smoking.

Diagnosing it is often difficult as symptoms may not occur up to 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, coughing, and pain in the chest are signs of cancer mesothelioma. The latter is due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space, which are the membrane around the lungs. Symptoms include weight loss, weakness, fatigue, and anorexia. Abdominal swelling, anemia, and fever are also indicators of the tumor as well.

If the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, the mesothelium symptoms will include pain or trouble swallowing, or facial or neck swelling. In severe cases, other signs will show, including blood clots in the veins that may be the cause of thrombophlebitis, severe bleeding in many body organs, and jaundice, in which the skin and the eyes turn yellow. The sugar level of the blood can drop significantly, and pulmonary emboli can develop, which is when blood clots form in the arteries of the lungs.

Mesothelioma cancer does not normally spread to the brain or bones. Pleaural tumors are usually found on one side only of the lungs.

Treatment of mesothelioma cancer with conventional therapies have not proved successful, and patients have a survival time span of 6-12 months only. This fact is mainly due to the slow forming of the tumors after the long exposure to asbestos. Surgery has not proved helpful at all in most of the cases. Only 10% of the patients who have been operated have lived for up to 5 years after the surgery.

Radiation has proved to be useful in relieve symptoms, although, the tumours are highly resistant to radiotherapy. Most successful of the treatments is Heated Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy which helps the drugs to enter more efficiently into the abdominal and pelvic tissues by way of heating the fluid agent.

There are various societies and organisations which can help you identify the risk of asbestos exposure in your household, and they can provide you with guidance on how to eliminate the risk.

For more information on cancer try visiting http://www.cancercondition.com - a website that specializes in providing cancer related information and resources including information on mesothelioma cancer.

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The Value Of Radiation Therapy And Chemotherapy After Surgery For Pancreatic Cancer

2008-11-23T08:00:00.001-08:00

The Value Of Radiation Therapy And Chemotherapy After Surgery For Pancreatic Cancer
By Carol Kornmehl

Pancreatic cancer, which generally has a very poor prognosis, is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths. It killed greater than 32,000 Americans last year. Therefore, researchers are investigating methods to improve the outlook.

A large study recently demonstrated that patients who underwent surgical removal of the pancreas, who were given both radiation therapy and chemotherapy afterwards, derived improved survival.

When radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy are administered to a person who has undergone an operation to remove all the visible cancer, it is termed adjuvant therapy. An example of the routine use of adjuvant radiation therapy and chemotherapy is that of a woman who has had a lumpectomy to remove a malignant breast tumor.

Investigators reviewed the records of 472 people who had complete surgical removal of the pancreas. All had negative margins, meaning a rim of normal tissue surrounded the cancer cells. Patients whose disease spread beyond the pancreas or whose disease could not be removed entirely were excluded from the study. Also excluded were patients who had a slow growing variant of pancreatic cancer.

At the end of the review, the records of 454 patients were eligible for analysis. A comparison was then made of those who received adjuvant radiation therapy and chemotherapy concurrently after surgery versus those who did not.

Over half of the patients received adjuvant radiation therapy and chemotherapy (274 out of 454 patients). 50 percent of these survived two years and 28 percent went on to live at least five years.

This data was in stark contrast to one-third (180 out of 454 patients) who received no additional therapy after surgery and whose survival was significantly less; 39 percent at two years and 17 percent at five years, respectively.

In addition, patients who received further chemotherapy after their course of adjuvant concomitant radiation therapy and chemotherapy seemed to have even better survival; 61 percent and 31 percent at two and five years, respectively. However, only 28 of 454 patients received this regimen, so it is premature to draw conclusions from this limited sized population.

Nonetheless, the findings of this study suggest a significant improvement in survival rates for those who undergo adjuvant radiation therapy and chemotherapy after complete removal of pancreatic cancer. More good news is that the incidence of pancreatic cancer has decreased over the past few years.

Dr. Kornmehl is a board certified radiation oncologist at Passaic Beth Israel Regional Medical Center, Passaic, NJ and author of the critically acclaimed consumer health book, The Best News About Radiation Therapy (M. Evans, 2004). Her website is http://www.RTSupportDoc.com

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InternetBased Grid Computing

2008-11-22T20:10:00.001-08:00

Internet-Based Grid Computing
By Denny Lancaster

An open letter to members of D'Wild West (A The Site Fights Team) was sent in October 2000, which is below. After seven years the UD grid accomplished its goals and remains silent as of Friday April 27, 2007.

The research centered on proteins that were been determined to be a possible target for cancer therapy. Through a process called virtual screening, special analysis software identified molecules that interacted with these proteins, and determined which of the molecular candidates had a high likelihood of being developed into a drug. The process is similar to finding the right key to open a special lock by looking at millions upon millions of molecular keys.

Participants in the Cancer Research Project were sent a ligand library over the Internet. Their PC analyzed the molecules using a docking software called LigandFit by Accelrys. The LigandFit software analyzed the molecular data by using a three-dimensional model to attempt to interact with a protein binding site. When a ligand docked successfully with a protein, the resulting interaction was scored and the interactions that generated the highest scores were recorded and filed for further evaluation.

We need a better answer. Over five decades of cancer research effort in drug discovery and development have yielded more than 40 drugs for the treatment of cancers. These anti-cancer drugs are extending the lives of many people with cancer, but often at great cost. The side effects commonly associated with cancer therapy often may seem as bad as the disease itself. Side effects can be so severe that they limit the dosages patients can receive. And half of all cancer patients fail to respond to the therapies currently available.

Despite these shortcomings, these therapies are still quite costly a considerable amount of money is spent on treating cancer. Treatment of cancers account for over 6% of all health care costs. The National Institutes of Health estimate cancer is responsible for $37 billion for direct medical costs, and $11 billion in lost productivity due to illness. The discovery of new drugs represents the best hope to fight both the rising medical costs and the suffering associated with current cancer therapies.

There could hardly be a scourge more worth fighting the high mortality rate, the suffering experienced by patients, and the high costs of treatment make fighting this disease a research priority.

Even with extensive pre-screening, the whittled-down number of molecules to review for this project is estimated at over two hundred million for each protein a daunting number. Analyzing this quantity of anything requires an enormous amount of computational power. And when the numbers are this big, even supercomputing is limited. A super computer has a peak capacity. That is, if a workload is three times the capacity of the computer, the jobs must be queued up and attacked consecutively. A project like this one might take so much time that a researcher wouldn't even embark on it he or she wouldn't see the end result in their lifetime. However, with distributed computing, thousands or even millions of individual computers can each work on different molecules simultaneously, and the time to results can be significantly lessened.

Diana Campbell's Letter

I have had Stage IV Breast Cancer (metastases to the bones) since Sept. 2000, and was first diagnosed as Stage IIIB in January, 1992. The past decade has been a roller coaster ride and if you, a family member or friend has cancer, then you know what I'm talking about.

I began researching Stage IV Breast Cancer in the summer of 1999 when an X-ray during a checkup showed a suspicious sliver on a back rib. Many months later, this sliver was a huge tumor, but it had previously biopsied negative. I had a feeling something was not right so I began researching. I found there was not as much info on Stage IV as there was on Breast Cancer prevention and awareness as well as early stage, primary diagnosis and treatment.

So I created this website and the associated Survivor webring, email lists, research project and stores. My goal was to provide the information here that we all want to know at this Stage -- mostly associated with what we can do to prolong our lives. I am in the process of updating and adding but I hope this site will be of some help to you. Please join the UD grid too as this project will help speed cancer research and possibly help me and others too very shortly as we cope with stage IV breast cancer.

Diana Campbell

Diana passed away on February 19, 2003

Within a month of joining Diana's team in December 2000 I found that cancer had vested itself in my frailer human body too.

The initial team which Diana formed began to dwindle as cancer took its ugly toll. Wishing always remember my dear friend and make a contribution, my resources were transferred to the AS! team-CureNow. AS! is now exploring forming another team with broader appeal beyond the very small awards community and will be making a decision in the very near future. I will certainly join and a new team graphic with a link will be updated in this space.

To keep the memory of Diana alive there are now various Internet-based grid computing schemas available, thanks to the pioneering work of Oxford University and United Devices.

The World Community Grid software uses the idle time of Internet-connected computers and applies this computing power toward the advancement of humanity.

The agent works like a screen saver, only using a computer's resources when it would otherwise be idle and relinquishing the resources back to the users when they start using the computers again. The agent can also be run like an application, always running in the background unless specifically disabled/paused.

While many public computing grids such as SETI@home or Folding@home have been devoted to a single project, the World Community Grid offers multiple humanitarian projects under a single umbrella. Projects are approved by an advisory board, with members from most of the major research institutions and universities, as well as the UN and WHO.

Within the grid, users may join teams that have been created by organizations, groups, or individuals. Teams allow for a heightened sense of community identity and attempts to inspire competitiveness.

World Community Grid also differs from other grid projects by offering support for more than one grid infrastructure. The open source BOINC client is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac; the proprietary Grid MP from United Devices Inc. is only available for Windows.

History

The United Devices Smallpox Research Grid Project was sponsored by IBM and other Research Participants to accelerate the discovery of a smallpox cure. The Smallpox study employed computational chemistry on a massive distributed computing grid to analyze candidates for a medical therapy to fight the smallpox virus.

The project allowed scientists to screen 35 million potential drug molecules against several smallpox proteins to identify good candidates for developing into smallpox treatments. In the first 72 hours, 100,000 results were returned and 44 strong treatment candidates were identified at the completion of the project.

Based on the success of the Smallpox study, IBM announced on November 16, 2004 the creation of World Community Grid with the goal of creating a technical environment where other humanitarian research could be processed.

World Community Grid initially only supported Windows, using the proprietary grid technology from United Devices which powers grid.org projects. Strong demand for Linux support led to the open source BOINC grid technology which powers the Seti@home and Climateprediction (among others) being added. Mac OS X support is now also included.

As of March 24, 2007, the World Community Grid had nearly 272,000 members with over 550,000 registered work stations. It had a total process run time equivalent to about 82,000 years and about 80 million results have been sent. The World Community Grid updates these statistics several times a day, making the information available through a dedicated statistics page.

APEX

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Alcohol Stimulates Cancer Development

2008-11-08T20:11:00.001-08:00

Alcohol Stimulates Cancer Development
By Laurence Magne

Researchers are now making a strong association between alcohol use and cancers of the esophagus, pharynx, and mouth, whereas another study links alcohol with liver, breast, and colorectal cancers. Together, these cancers kill more than 125,000 people annually in the United States. For the first time scientists have demonstrated how alcohol stimulates tumor growth.

Their study, published in the January 15, 2005 issue of Cancer, says alcohol fuels the production of a growth factor that stimulates blood vessel development in tumors. For almost a hundred years mounting evidence has linked alcohol use to an increased risk of cancers of the stomach, esophagus, liver, breast, and colon. Researchers were never able to explain how alcohol may cause cancer.

Theories suggests that the acetaldehyde found in alcohol, dietary imbalances, and impaired nutrient metabolism and the inability of the body to detoxify due to alcohol consumption, activation of precancerous enzymes, and suppression of the immune system.

8 Times More Cancer Cells

The investigators found that compared to their control group, the subjects who had been exposed to high alcohol consumption experienced increases in tumor size, tumor blood vessel density, cancer cell infiltration of blood vessels. Tumor volume and vascular volume more than doubled.

They had more than eight times the level of cancer cell invasion of blood vessels compared to the control group.

These findings support the hypothesis that alcohol represents an important mechanism of cancer progression associated with alcoholic beverage consumption. A recent study indicates that as few as two drinks per day can suppress any beneficial effects of a correct diet on decreasing risk of colon cancer. Although the study suggests that a diet high in folic acid, a B vitamin found in fresh fruits and vegetables, decreases the risk for colon cancer, it also warns that alcohol consumption may counter this protective action and increase the risk for colon cancer by reducing folic acid levels.

Suppression of immune response. Alcoholism has been associated with suppression of the immune system. Immune suppression makes chronic alcohol users more susceptible to various infectious diseases, and to cancer.

by Dr Laurence Magne, publisher of Alternative Health Ebooks and Author of Cancer Free for Life

For more information go to http://www.cancer-free-for-life.com.

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Risk Factors for Kidney Cancer

2008-10-30T05:58:00.001-07:00

Risk Factors for Kidney Cancer
By Michael Russell

There are many risk factors for kidney cancer. Among a few of the top risks are smoking, an inactive life style, exposure to chemicals at home or where you work, being overweight and family history. There are other risk factors that can lead to kidney cancer also, such as, high blood pressure, taking diuretics, race, gender and certain medications. The thing to remember is just because risk factors are present does not mean the disease will form. Risk factors give the physician a better idea on how to assess symptoms and how closely to watch a patient. A patient with a higher amount of risk factors will be watched more closely when symptoms of the disease arise than those without risk factors.

It is also important to know risk factors to help aid in preventing the disease from occurring. If there are risk factors you can prevent such as smoking or increasing vitamin intake, you maybe able to help lower your chance of getting the disease. If you stop smoking, the chances of you contracting kidney cancer are greatly reduced by as much as 40%.

Some risk factors can not be avoided; such as genetic factors. As with many forms of kidney cancer, losing weight and maintaining daily exercise will definitely help your cause. Obesity is the most common reason for adult onset diabetes and juvenile diabetes, causing the need for dialysis or kidney failure. Dialysis is inevitable in most patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

Among these common risk factors are also Tuberous Sclerosis, Von Hippel Lindau disease and low vitamin E intake. Von Hippel-Lindau disease is a disease of tumors, which cause complications in the nervous system. It causes continuous growth of tumors in the brain; causing problems with common things like walking, vision loss and retinal problems. It also causes tumors in the kidneys and pancreas. Von Hippel Lindau disease in very rare and is found in only 1 of 36,000 cases and commonly diagnosed in the mid to upper twenties. Symptoms of the disease are mostly finding multiple tumors in common areas, or one tumor in named areas and a definite family history of the disease.

Tuberous Sclerosis, also known as TSC, is a complex; which causes irregular development of benign tumors in the central nervous system. TSC can cause seizures, behavioral problems and skin abnormalities. The tumors often form in the heart, kidneys and lungs. TSC can be mild or severe and one can live a normal life, if it is treated properly.

The most important thing that you need to do is to consult with your physician regularly if you have any of these risk factors. Prevention is important by taking actions on those things that you can control or stop. However, do not stop taking medications. Remember, these are risk factors and though having them does not guarantee that you will contract kidney cancer it does mean you should educate yourself and get regular checkups to aid in early detection. The earlier the cancer is found the better the prognosis.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Kidney Cancer

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What Is Liver Cancer?

2008-10-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

What Is Liver Cancer?
By Sandra Kim Leong

Liver cancer is to be feared being the eighth most common cancer in the world. Your liver plays an important detoxification role for your body. If your liver breaks down, digestion of your fats via bile cannot take place. Filtering of your blood to remove drugs, waste and toxins can also be severely affected. Getting liver damage or liver cancer would be disastrous as it means that all these important functions cannot be performed. In the worst case scenerio, liver cancer can result in death.

Liver cancer develops when liver cells multiply at abnormal rates. They then attack healthy parts of the same organ or neighbouring cells. Cancer cells soon spread beyond their original location to other parts and organs to establish new tumours, in a process known as metastasis.

Your liver, including every organ in your body, is comprised of cells. Cells are living things. Hence, they are born and they die. Your body is always making new cells to replace the old and dead ones. This process has to be tightly regulated. If not, there will be chaos. Cancer cells interefere with the normal functioning of this process.

Your liver, at approximately 1.5 kilograms in weight, is the biggest organ inside your body. You may not even realise the presence of a liver inside of you as it is hidden in your right upper abdomen, underneath and protected by your right rib cage. Your liver is perhaps the busiest organ in your body, tasked with numerous functions.

The liver makes the different proteins that your body needs, which include enzymes, hormones, antibodies, and other substances necessary for the proper functioning of your body. It is the power plant of your body since it is the primary source of energy. It also filters your blood to remove toxins and produces bile to help in the digestion of fat. It is the most parsimonious organ in the body, extracting anything that can be used from your blood and storing it for future use.

There are two types of liver cancer, primary and secondary. Primary liver cancer means the tumour starts from the the liver. Hepatocellular cancer (abbreviated HCC) is the most common form (90 percent) of primary liver cancer. HCC originates from hepatocytes, the liver cells responsible for most of its functions. Other types of primary liver cancer are rare. They include cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer arising from bile ducts within the liver and hepatoblastoma, which occurs in children, and gallbladder cancer.

Secondary liver cancer means the cancer started somewhere else and spread (metastasised) to the liver. In secondary liver cancer, patients do not have liver cancer technically. Patients are actually experiencing metastases to their liver.

Risk to developing liver cancer depends on various factors. Sex and age plays a part, as with diet and lifestyle habits. In terms of sex, men are 2.8 times more likely to be affected than women. Your risk also increases after the age of 40. High rates have been noted in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines. Studies also show that rates are high among Chinese and Koreans in Los Angeles and among Chinese in the San Francisco Bay area, although those rates are about half of mainland China rates. A diet that comprises of processed and highly preserved foods is generally considered toxic to the liver.

The most important risk factor for liver cancer is hepatitis B virus (HBV). Patients who are located in areas with high rates of hepatitis also have high rates of HCC; conversely, HCC patients are far more likely to be hepatitis B carriers. Studies also show that men are twice or thrice more likely to develop HCC. On the other hand, women demonstrate greater survival rates than men at any stage of liver cancer.

Aflatoxins are the most potent carcinogens on liver cells per unit weight. Aflatoxins are toxins produced by an Aspergillus funcgus that grows on many crops. They have been suspected to be agents for human HCC. While nothing conclusive has yet been established, you should avoid foods that are positive for aflatoxin. Many types of commercial crops or even commercial peanut butter contain minute quantities of aflatoxin, but they are usually below the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recommended safe level.

There are no specific symptoms for liver cancer. One sign that you can look out for is pain in the right upper quadrant of your body. Another common indicator for liver cancer is unexplained sudden weight loss. Hence, you should always take preventative measures to protect your liver on a regular basis. You should reduce your intake of foods that are hard to digest, toxic and drugs. Also, perform regular liver cleansing for optimal liver health.

Sandra Kim Leong is an author and a publisher of a popular newsletter on detox diet. She also shares her tips about liver cleansing and a diet suitable for great liver health. Sign up to her free research here at at http://www.Detox-Cleansing-Diet.com

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12 Tips to Help You Protect Your Body after Breast Cancer Surgery

2008-10-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

12 Tips to Help You Protect Your Body after Breast Cancer Surgery
By Patricia Wagner

If you are facing breast cancer surgery or have had a mastectomy or partial mastectomy, there are certain activities you can avoid to bypass extra suffering after your surgery. Here are some tips to help yourself be more comfortable:

1. As you are probably aware, emotional and psychological pain can sometimes hurt even worse than physical pain. With that in mind, you will want to have a support group standing behind you before surgery and after as well. For example, there may be a friend that you have in mind right now who has already gone through breast surgery. She will probably be a great comfort to you at this time in your life.

2. After breast cancer surgery you may experience a sense of imbalance in your body. In time your body will adjust. A physical therapist can help you regain as much movement as possible. He or she can suggest special exercises to help work out the stiffness and help you to feel better physically after surgery.

3. If you have lymph nodes removed, the affected arm may swell from time to time. So avoid wearing tight clothing or bracelets.

4. Use the arm that has not been involved in your mastectomy or partial mastectomy to carry heavy items.

5. After surgery you will want any medical procedures to be done on your stronger arm. For example, receive injections and have your blood pressure taken on the arm that has not been involved in your surgery.

6. For heavy-duty cleaning or gardening use protective gloves. If your arm is swelling, you'll feel worse having it scratched by thorns from your rose bushes.

7. Protect your skin against sunburn. A swollen sunburned arm can cause a great deal of misery!

8. Be especially careful not to cut yourself when you trim your nails or cuticles.

9. Purchase an elastic sleeve to wear on your arm if it swells.

10. Protect yourself from being bit by mosquitoes and other insects.

11. Your arm may bother you if you have lymph nodes removed, so be sure to consult with your doctor if your arm should bother you.

12. Be very careful to avoid junk foods and eat healthy foods to give your body the nourishment it needs.

By putting these 12 tips into practice after you have had breast cancer surgery, you will help yourself feel better and avoid needless extra suffering.

Learn how to take care of yourself or ease the suffering of a loved one after breast cancer surgery. Patricia Wagner writes about a variety of health tips to help you be healthier.

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What Prostate Cancer Treatment Is Right For You

2008-10-13T16:57:00.001-07:00

What Prostate Cancer Treatment Is Right For You
By Mandi Fain

The population of men nearing the age of their forties and fifties are at risk for prostate cancer. The average age of men afflicted with this type of cancer is sixty-five and accounts for seventy-five percent of the cases of this cancer. An abnormal growth of the prostate requires some testing to determine if cancerous cells are present. This health problem grows rapidly and if not caught early enough may cause death. Prostate cancer treatment procedures vary for every person, as not all men have the same severity.

Many new treatment plans are in place, but still in the clinical stage while some standard prostate cancer treatment procedures call for removal of the prostate gland. With proper check up and early diagnosis will determine your individual treatment.

In the early stages, when you first show a few symptoms of a problem with the prostate, a doctor will watch you carefully until other determining signs become known. This is considered watchful waiting. Although, today most doctors will run some tests right away to rule out cancer, enlarged prostate or another problem with the gland itself might just be causing the problem.

Many different prostate cancer treatment procedures exist and most are invasive while costly as well. There are different surgeries for different patients, because not everyone is the same. Here are some procedures done:

Lymphadenectomy- this includes taking the lymph nodes from the pelvic area and examining them to see if they have any signs of cancerous cells or tumors that would in turn affect the prostate gland.

You can also find more info on Prostate Exam and Laser Prostate Treatment. Prostatecancertreatmenthelp.com is a comprehensive resource to know more about prostate cancer treatment.

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Melanoma in Children

2008-10-10T06:01:00.001-07:00

Melanoma in Children
By Max Bellamy

Melanoma is a malignant tumor that originates in the melanocytes. These cells are responsible for generating melanin, the pigment that gives color to skin, hair and eyes. This pigment is the strongest in moles. It is due to this reason that melanomas are usually brown or black in color. Sometimes, melanomas stop producing the pigment and appear red, pink, and even skin-colored. According to the National Cancer Institute, melanoma is a serious cancer of the skin. Every year, there are about 60,000 people diagnosed with malignant melanoma.

There are reports that document the varying survival rates in children, in contrast to the melanomas in adults. Earlier, it was considered an uncommon phenomenon infecting children. Recently, the number of cases has risen from 3 per million in 1982 to almost 7 per million in 2002. On an average, about 500 kids are getting diagnosed with melanoma each year. Melanoma rarely occurs in children under 10 years of age. Among children in the age group of 10 to 14 years, the incidence is only 0.3 per 100,000. It is recorded as 1.3 per 100,000, in children between the ages of 14 and 19.

The treatment of malignant melanoma in children is done through surgery. Excisional biopsies are performed to detect suspected lesions. If the malignancy is confirmed histologically, a biopsy is performed. It includes the complete thickness of the dermis, to assist measurement of the depth of tissue invasion. Once the diagnosis is successfully done, surgical excision within adequate margins is performed.

Parents need not panic for every minor skin imperfection detected in their children. Nonetheless, melanoma is a serious form of cancer and needs immediate detection. This helps in curing the disease at the initial stage. People need to be aware of moles or birthmarks that may have characteristics of melonama.

Melanoma provides detailed information on Melanoma, Malignant Melanoma, Melanoma Cancer, Nodular Melanoma and more. Melanoma is affiliated with Ozone Generator.

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Your Lifestyle and Your Risk for Bladder Cancer

2008-10-08T15:34:00.001-07:00

Your Lifestyle and Your Risk for Bladder Cancer
By Jon Stout

Each year more and more research is conducted on how to reduce your risk of developing cancer. For some forms of cancer, its fairly simple to understand how to reduce risk. For example, we know that most lung cancer victims are smokers, and that many cases of skin cancer are caused by unprotected over exposure to the sun.

For other cancers, understanding how to reduce our risk is not so simple, because we dont really understand what causes them.

Even in cancers that we dont fully understand, scientists are working to determine how our lifestyle might increase our risks. For example, a study was conducted in Nagoya, Japan to help better understand the lifestyle factors that might contribute to the development of urinary bladder cancer.

The study also evaluated lifestyle habits that actually reduce your risk of bladder cancer. The findings were interesting, and can help us make lifestyle choices that can protect our health.

This study examined the following lifestyle habits and their ability to increase or reduce risk for urinary bladder cancer:

Cigarette Smoking Cigarette Smoking was found to increase the risk of developing urinary bladder cancer. The increased risk was more significant in women than men.

Drinking cocoa Interestingly enough, drinking cocoa was associated with an elevation in risk of urinary bladder cancer in men, but not in women.

Hair Color Women who used hair color had a slightly elevated risk of developing urinary bladder cancer if they also smoke. However, non smoking women had no significant risk factor if they used hair color.

Drinking coffee- Coffee drinking showed no elevated risk but it showed no benefit, either.

Drinking alcohol No significant risk was associated with alcohol intake.

Drinking sodas No significant risk was associated with drinking sodas.

Drinking fruit juice- Fruit juice was associated with a decreased risk in developing urinary bladder cancer in men. No risk or benefit was notable in women.

Drinking Tea Women who drank black tea and powdered green tea showed a reduced risk of developing urinary bladder cancer. The figures for men showed no increase or decrease of risk.

Whats So Great About Tea and Fruit?

This study echoes the findings of many other studies, indicating that tea and fruit are of benefit in preventing cancer. Scientists are now fully beginning to understand how important these substances are to protecting our health. But, why are they so important? Well, the answer is in anti-oxidants.

Anti-oxidants have the power to combat free radicals. Free radicals are produced naturally by our body during the process of converting the food we eat to energy. These free radicals speed up the aging process, and can cause clogged arteries, cancer and other disease by damaging our cells and DNA.

Fruits, vegetables and tea are filled with anti-oxidants. A diet rich in these foods, therefore, help rid our bodies of the free radicals that put our health at risk. Some foods and beverages have more potent anti-oxidants than others. Doctors recommend that we make these super foods part of our everyday life.

Fruits

All fresh fruits are rich in anti-oxidants. However, the ones that are the most potent include blueberries, pomegranates, strawberries and cranberries.

Vegetables

Again, fresh vegetables supply a good dose of anti-oxidants. Tomatoes, which contain lycopene, are one of the best vegetables you can eat. However, artichokes and red beans are also very good anti-oxidant sources.

Tea

Tea is a simple way to get your anti-oxidants. Tea comes from the camellia sinensis plant. There are many types of tea on the market, but all tea comes from the same plant.

The difference between green, white and black tea comes from the way the tea is processed. Black tea is fermented; white and green are not. Green and white tea have been found to be better sources of anti-oxidants because they fermenting that black tea goes through changes the anti-oxidants into compounds that are not as healthy.

The study quoted above found that black tea had the same benefits as green tea in preventing urinary bladder cancer in women. However, most other studies conducted on the benefits of tea have concluded that green tea is better.

Green tea began gaining attention because of the significantly lower incidence of cancer and heart disease in Asian culture. Even though Asians are more likely to smoke than Americans, they have lower incidence of cancer and heart disease even lung cancer. It appears that their high consumption of green tea protects their health in a way that other dietary habits do not.

Research has even suggested that green tea may be effective at treating patients who already have cancer. Several studies, on different forms of cancer, have shown that traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, are more effective when green tea is administered along with the treatment. Green tea seems to increase the concentration of the drugs in the cancerous cells and slows down cancer progression, perhaps even preventing metastasis.

Much of the research that has been performed has been on mice or in-vitro, though the study outlined above was performed on humans. The next step in truly understanding how foods, including tea, can protect our health, preventing cancer and other disease, is to conduct more human trials. The results could take years, because human trials on prevention require following subjects over a long period of time.

Preventing cancer is a national health concern. Certainly, much more study is required before we can gain true understanding of how to protect our health. One things for sure, however; a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and tea is a good start!

Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea, white tea, black tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea) and chai. Visit goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning the Golden Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.

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Breast Cancer Metastatised to Liver After Surgery Chemotherapy Radiotherapy and Arimidex Part 2

2008-10-06T05:47:00.001-07:00

Breast Cancer Metastatised to Liver After Surgery, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy and Arimidex - Part 2
By Chris Teo, Ph.D.

Chans daughter told us that her mothers loss of blood was due to the bleeding from her guts. The doctor in the private hospital told the family that nothing much could be done since the cancer had spread. Chan is a worrying-type of person and suffered from the following:

She has pains if she walks for some distance.
She is not able to sleep when she feels heaty.
When she is asleep, she observes that her stomach moves and churns.
Her stools are black in colour.

In December 2006 (about a year after taking Arimidex), Chan suffered a sudden onset of pains throughout her body besides having shortness of breast. Then, her guts bled leading to severe loss of blood. Are these problems related to the intake of Arimidex?

Among the many documented side effects of Arimidex are: hot flushes, mood disturbances, depression, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, muscle and bone pain, shortness of breath or coughing, fractures due to reduction of bone density, thromboembolic events, rash, swelling or water retention, loss of appetite, weight gain, constipation, diarrhea, vaginal bleeding and gastrointestinal disorder.

In spite of the above the medical researchers concluded that the use of Arimidex is well tolerated. To get an insight of what patients suffer, go to the message board of cancercompass (link below).

Patient 1 wrote: I have been on Arimidex for almost two years now. Firstly I had hardly any side effects and slowly but surely they seem to be building up, some days far worse than the next. The main side effects which I am experiencing now are aching bones and joints, mainly while trying to sleep at night. Also tiredness and seem to want to just go to bed to rest from as early as 8 p.m. -- this is sad as I always went to bed late before my breast cancer.

Patient 2 wrote: I have been on Arimidex for three and a half years. I too, did not notice anything in the beginning but am now beginning to wonder. I always seemed to have trouble standing for longer periods of time -- seemed to always want to sit down instead. Last summer (August) I had trouble walking for any amount of time over 20 minutes. In February of this year I had a major back trouble with sciatica. It was very, very bad. My Radiation Oncologist mentioned that maybe it was a side effect of the Arimidex. I also wake up four to five times every night.

Patient 3 wrote: I began taking Arimidex in late June and from the beginning had a constant headache, very slight so I didn't worry too much. Then the bone pain started and got worse very quickly. My oncologist wanted me to switch to something else right away.

Patient 4 wrote: My pains are definitely getting worse as each month goes by. I wake up feeling 30 years older. I am with pains pretty much all over the bones and joints from the hips down! I get depression too, very bad at times. Not sure if this is because I lack sleep due to painful nights, feeling sorry for myself or the effects of Arimidex.

Patient 5 wrote: Like you, at first I didn't notice any side effects. But for the last two to three 3 years I've experienced severe pain in my neck and back, specifically in the thorax region. It is truly debilitating at times. My doctor told me it was degenerative arthritis. But as I read your and other women's remarks who are on this treatment, I have to wonder if it is the Arimidex.

Patient 6 wrote: I just started taking this drug in June. At fist I was fine but recently I've been having pains. I wake up several times at night with pains in my arms and fingers.

Patient 7 wrote: I have been on this medication for seven months. I too have much joint pain -- pain during the night that wakes me up! I am wondering if it is worth all this pain -- there is no guarantee that in five years the breast cancer will not return!

Patient 8 wrote: I have been taking Arimidex for two years also. I feel bone pain, my hands hurt, my headaches have gotten worse, I am depressed, and my appetite is just not there any more. I wake up three hours after I go to bed. I feel tired and drained the rest of the day. My doctor thinks I am a hypochondriac. But these symptoms are real. My cousin had been taking this for four years and her intestine got infected from all the medicine. It started to eat away at it. She died two months after the removal of her intestine. Have you heard any thing about that?

The comments of these patients and the case presented by Chan are real. These are not fantasies of the patients mind. The side effects suffered by Chan are similarly felt by other patients. Chan had bleeding from her guts. Reading the comment of Patient 8, who wrote that her cousin who took the drug for four years, ended with an eaten away gut, one cannot help thinking if Arimidex is causing similar problem to Chans gut.

It is most distressful to see the CT scan of Chans liver. The metastasis is so extensive and widespread covering her entire liver. Over the decades looking at liver images, I cannot help feeling that the scan images of Chans liver is rare indeed.

The question that begs an answer: Why is the liver metastasis so extensive? Only a year ago (April 2006) Chans liver was said to be free of metastasis. Why does this happen so suddenly and so soon? It is understandable if there are only one or a few metastatic spots in her liver but to have numerous nodules at once is beyond comprehension. One is tempted to ask if this metastasis could be related to the treatment rather than the cancer itself.

The case of Chan further reinforces my resolve to say this to cancer patients: Cure for cancer requires a change of diet, lifestyle and full commitment on the part of patients to take matters into their own hands. Subjecting themselves to invasive treatments of modern medicine and taking of the so-called FDA-approved drugs may not be the only option for them. Look far and wide there are other options available in the horizon. My experience shows that for some patients, taking the alternative, holistic path could prove to be a more humane and effective path for their cancers.

Comments by patients:
For information on holistic healing for cancer: http://www.cacare.com View patients videoclips go to: http://www.cacarevideo.blogspot.com

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Your Quick Guide To Facts About Prostate Cancer

2008-10-01T05:26:00.001-07:00

Your Quick Guide To Facts About Prostate Cancer
By Helen Hecker

Prostate cancer is cancer that grows in the prostate gland. At an advanced age, the risks of surgery for prostate cancer or other more radical treatments may actually be worse than the disease itself. Detected in its earliest stages, prostate cancer can be effectively treated and cured.

About one man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, but only one man in 34 will die of the disease. The main job of the prostate gland is to make seminal fluid, the milky substance that transports sperm. Men, who are younger than 40 years old, are rarely ever diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease are bone pain or tenderness, and abdominal pain. One symptom is the need to urinate frequently, especially at night. Another prostate cancer symptom is difficulty starting urination or holding back urine. One of the most common symptoms is the inability to urinate at all.

If prostate cancer is caught in its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms.

A number of tests may be done to confirm a diagnosis of prostate cancer. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures the PSA enzyme in your blood for abnormalities. The decision about whether or not to pursue a PSA test should be based on a discussion between you and your doctor.

A urinalysis may indicate if there is blood in the urine. Urine or prostatic fluid cytology may reveal unusual cells. There is a newer test called AMACR that is more sensitive than the PSA test for determining the presence of prostate cancer.

Hormone manipulation is mainly used as a treatment to relieve symptoms in men whose cancer has spread. The approaches to treatment include: waiting to see whether the cancer is growing slowly and not causing any symptoms. Whether radiation is as good as removing the prostate is definitely debatable and the decision about which to choose, if any, can be difficult for some men.

Radiation therapy to the prostate gland is either external or internal, both of which use high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Some drugs with numerous side effects are being used to treat advanced prostate cancer, blocking the production of testosterone, called chemical castration; it has the same result as surgical removal of the testes. Treatment options can vary based on the stage of the tumor.

Most men simply want the best treatment they can get but what's important is picking the best treatment for you. Be aware that some men choose natural treatment options and forgo any surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. Recent improvements in surgical procedures have made complications occur less often.

Medicines can be used to adjust the levels of testosterone; called hormonal manipulation. Medications can have many side effects, including hot flashes and loss of sexual desire. Since prostate tumors require testosterone to grow, reducing the testosterone level is used to prevent further growth and spread of the cancer.

Thoroughly discuss your treatment options and concerns with your doctor and other health professionals; it never hurts to get a second or even third opinion or more if necessary. What you can do now is begin to understand what your treatment options are and where you're going to begin.

It's important to get as informed as possible and read all the newest books, ebooks and research available. With the advent of PSA testing, most prostate cancers are found before they cause any symptoms. The outcome of prostate cancer varies greatly; mostly because the disease is found in older men who may have a variety of other complicating diseases or conditions, like cardiac or respiratory disease, or disabilities that immobilize or greatly decrease their activity level.

For more information on prostate cancer treatments and prostate cancer symptoms go to http://www.BestProstateHealthTips.com Helen Hecker R.N.'s website specializing in prostate and prostate cancer tips, advice and resources, including information on prostate tests and natural prostate cancer treatments

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12 Cancercausing 'Elements' in our Home? How to Fight Them

2008-09-29T05:49:00.001-07:00

12 Cancer-causing 'Elements' in our Home? How to Fight Them
By Lucy Wong Moi

Fight smart! Look out for natural, safe, easy ways to reduce or solve the 12 cancer-causing 'elements' I posted a few days ago. Here are some suggested ways to counteract those 12 cancer-causing 'elements'! They should be referred as corresponding to its numbering of the previous article.

[1 Bring into the new home plentiful of green non-toxic plants to be placed outside your home and some at your verandah, [only one or two inside your rooms. Keep your rooms airy and open. Fresh air comes from the plants during the day.

When night falls, use quality air purifiers that really works inside your home. A good air purifier will remove odour, airborne harmful contaminants and pollutants from the air at the same time keep the room clean with fresh air.

Good air purifiers will effectively removes pollen, dust, tobacco smoke, airborne bacteria and viruses, mold, fungi, dust mites, radon decay products, asbestos and dioxins..

[2 Electrical appliances should be kept at a safe distance

When using a computer, place two pots of green plants at each side so as to reduce radiation. These living plants will be the 'scrapgoat'. It will minimize our problem, but it is still best to stay in a safe distance from all electrical appliances especially when it is on.

Beware of our main switch when the household electric comes into our house. Work or stay far from the main switch or just any electrical switches. Be smart to arrange your working table away from them. It pays in the long run.

Try not to work in the evening. Evenings are time for us to rest and rejuvenate and be revitalized. A normal healthy person should go to bed before eleven for best total body rest.

[3 Use water purifiers

When bathing, throw in some natural flowers or natural green leaves to minimize and neutralizing of the unseen contaminants in the water. It works. Or have a pre-treat filter installed outside our home to filter dirt, chlorine and bigger contaminants.

But for drinking and cooking, one should use a reputed, safe, branded filter that emphasizes on filtering the contaminants and leaving behind valuable minerals. We call that water treatment systems.

[4 Use biodegradable shampoos, detergents and safe toothpaste that are proven to be safe.

Use biodegradable and safe products that will not pollute our environment. Fresh, clean water and air now is getting scarcer now. The importance of using biodegradable products that have quality control should be emphasized. Safe products means safe to hands, safe in the sense that they are made from plant origins instead of petroleum distillates or other chemicals.

Though we need to pay more for those biodegradable products, it will be comparatively 'cheaper' in the sense of toxicity and poisoning or cancer-causing problems . If we don't heed them, one day we will pay dearly for this ignorance.

[5 Use traps, boiling water to rid off those insects

Keeping our home clean and hygiene really means to clean it thoroughly. A clean house is detestable to flies and other insects. It is the filth and dirtiness that attract more unwanted pests into our home.

One can also use traps, boiling water to rid off those crawling insects. Mosquitoes nets can be a built-in for homes in humid and equatorial areas.

[6 Use good vacuum and quality air purifiers, it helps!

Poor ventilation in enclosed bedrooms should be regularly aired and to let sunlight into Use of good vacuum and quality air purifiers is a must to keep our rooms clean and green.

[7 Use stainless steels pots

Avoid using aluminium pots, non-stick pots that cannot withstand scratches and abrasive cleansing. Buy pots made of stainless steel. Or utensils made from iron can do too, but there is a need to keep it clean and non-rusty.

[8 Use safe food containers

Proper and safe food storage would stand in advantage where health and hygiene is concerned. Get acquainted with proper food storage.

[9 Don't stock up canned foods, just don't buy in excess, use low heat cooking

Most foods are perishable within days of harvest, cooking or storing. One must be advised as not to eat moldy nor burnt foods. Especially those foods that contain fats cannot be kept long.

[10 Wear silk or cotton light clothing

Fabrics made from plant fibers and origins are safer than synthetic fibers. Be careful with its dying processes too. Dark colored materials for internal wear should be out.

[11 Take food supplements instead of medicines

Go for preventive measures, nutritional cures, natural food cures, reflexology, massage or detox programmes which are much safer and effective. Understand the meaning of total health and happiness achievable through the 4 dimensions of health.

[12 Make sure you use 'proven-to-be-safe' products, for our skin, eyes and overall health.

There might be cancer-causing agents hidden in some skin care or cosmetics. Buy only from reputed sources.

Since all of us fear the overloading of contaminants in our body, special care should be taken to prevent instead of waiting for it to happen. Prevention is much better than cure. Don't overload our body system with toxemia and acidosis that cause all kinds of cancer!

Lucy Wong is a health and nutrition consultant. She is keen in sharing the 4 dimensions of health, aiming at attaining total health and happiness for all. She has written many articles on health related issues in her personal column at http://articlesubmission.info Read more about alternative approach of maintaining good health at Health Article Directory where you will discover the secrets of maintaining good health in men, women and teens. Read more from her personal blog too.

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12 CancerCausing 'Elements' Found In Our Home!

2008-09-25T03:05:00.001-07:00

12 Cancer-Causing 'Elements' Found In Our Home!
By Lucy Wong Moi

When I jokingly told my friend about 12 common categorized 'cancer causing elements' found in some homes, my friend was in disbelief! She couldn't accept these facts that there are cancer-causing elements found in our own home... Let's have a look at all those cancer-causing elements basically found in our home!

[1 Vanishes, Industrial coatings, Paints and their solvents and Glues

These are generally found in newly completed or renovated homes where most of them are freshly applied to walls, floors, ceilings in bedrooms, sitting rooms, kitchens and even our bathroom.

A very distinctive sign of all these home finishing coatings will be the unbearable odor when applied inside or outside the house. Decaying plasters after decades will also be cancerous. The worst is that we spend more time at home, thus increasing certain risks.

[2 Electrical appliances

Most electrical appliances produce small or slight radiation and is never healthy towards those who are constantly exposed to them. What are these electrical appliances? Television sets, video players, computers, hand phones and the main switch just to mention a few.

[3 Water-borne cancer-causing elements that comes from our water taps

Tap water is always chlorinated to kill germs and bacteria. We need chlorine but we need not drink the chlorine inside the water. Moreover, there are heavy metals, other contaminants, possible toxins that one is not aware of. In the process of washing, cleansing, cooking and drinking, many have unknowingly consumed dirtied water that might be cancer-causing in the long run.

[4 In your kitchen, in your bathroom..

Some toothpaste, shampoos, soaps, body shampoos, washing powder do contains unexplainable cancer-causing elements. Most of these are manufactured without scientific backup and lack of quality control. So, take great care to buy only reputed branded quality products which are backed up with scientific proofs. Read the labels outside the products, its expiry date and know the basic ingredients it is made. .

[5 Insecticides to keep away mosquitoes, cockroaches and other insects

If they can kill small insects, it can also poison people slowly too when exposed for a long period of usage of the said chemicals. Moreover, it is not safe for young kids and the aged.

[6In your bedroom

Poor ventilation in enclosed bedrooms, lacking of sunlight and fresh air will create poor quality air. Contaminated air will cause a lot of health problems. Great care should be taken as to maintain clean and fresh air in the bedroom.

There are certain contaminants in the air that will cause cancer. Free radicals from polluted air will attack our body DNA and immune system unmercifully.

[7 Improper cooking utensils

Aluminium pots, non-stick pans that gets worn out and gets thinner after constant use can cause havoc in our body when these metals and unknown chemicals are consumed with our foods cooked using them. Sad to say, it cannot be easily excreted from our body. The worst fear is that it goes into our blood streams. Cooking gas when inhaled will also cause health problems.

[8 Unsafe food containers, food storage compartment

Some housewives are ignorant about using safe food containers, when microwaving and cooking. Some food containers are not suitable for storing hot foods, especially plastic and rubber.

[9 Your supplies of canned foods, preserved foods, sauces and stale foods kept too long,

Some canned foods are full of cancer-causing elements. Moldy foods are never advisable for consumption too. Foods rich in fats that become stale is cancer-causing too. Beware of stale groundnuts! It is the fat that cause it to be cancer-causing.

[10 In your wardrobe

Dark deep colored lingerie and underwear..... Those underwear that are wore day and night, close to our sensitive body parts ... dyed by certain dyes can be cancer-causing. A word of advice, don't buy or wear dark colored lingerie or underwear, especially black.

[11 In your cardboard

You might keep some medicines, pills, cough solution in your cardboard. You might also be in some form of medication. Some drugs are only found to contain carcinogens after a period of trial and error. What a big guinea pig we have become!

[12 In your dressing room

Some skin care products and cosmetics might also contain cancer-causing elements too. Beware of some skin care products who never emphasized on safety and quality control. Be smart to opt for preventive measures which are still the best!

What all of us fear is pollution and contamination. Polluted air, water, environment and food or drinks will cause cancer in the long run when the free radicals create havoc in our body system. Too much toxemia and acidosis will ruin our normal cells. From there, cancer is born....

Lucy Wong is a health and nutrition consultant. Her interest in health related issues includes the 4 dimensions of health that talks on the body, mind, emotion and spirit. She is also keen in sharing Multiple Qs, she is also an educator and has written many articles in her personal column under alternative health in http://submitarticles.biz Read more about achieving total health and happiness. Read more from her personal blog too.

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Zapping Cancer

2008-09-22T16:15:00.001-07:00

Zapping Cancer
By Jonza Kriss

Illustration: treating drug-resistant tumor cells with electric pulsesWhen tumor cells resistant to chemotheraputic drugs were subjected to very low intensity electrical stimulation, the cells acquired sensitivity to the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin. This effect has the potential to reform treatment especially for malignant tumors that are refractory to drug treatment, while possibly reducing side effects in all patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy resistance is a major obstacle in the treatment of various cancers erally, cancer patients refractory to chemotherapy are resistant to multiple anti-tumor drugs. Genn in vitro (i.e., outside of the living organism) experimental model in cells termed multidrug resistance (MDR), is often due to drug extrusion mechanisms (meaning that drugs that enter the cell are transported back out, and thus are prevented from exerting their effect on the cell). One such drug extrusion mechanism is mediated by overexpression of the P-glycoprotein (P-gp; the human version of the protein encoded by the MDR1 gene), a drug-transporter glycoprotein associated with the cell or plasma membrane (which encloses the cell's cytoplasm) with a wide variety of drug substrates. Cells that overexpress the MDR1 gene are, hence, resistant to many drugs.

In a study led by Luca Cucullo and Damir Janigro from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in Ohio that was recently published by the open access journal, BioMed Central, tumor cells that overexpress the MDR1 gene product were shown to lose their resistance to anti-tumor drugs by electrical stimulation. In vitro rodent and human tumor cells refractory to anti-tumor drugs were exposed to continuous, very low intensity (7.5 mA [microamps) 50 Hertz AC (alternating current) pulses, with ten-second intervals, for a three day period. After electrical stimulation, parallel cultures of cells were treated with increasing concentrations of the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin, or with various controls, for three hours, following which cell viability was assessed. The researchers discovered that the cells became sensitive to the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin. The researchers concluded that treatment of the drug-resistant tumor cells with low frequency, low intensity AC stimulation in vitro drastically enhances chemotherapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin, a substrate for the MDR1 glycoprotein drug transporter.

Further investigation demonstrated that electrical stimulation not only decreases levels of the MDR1 glycoprotein transporter, but also changes the localization of the MDR1 glycoprotein from close to the plasma membrane to the cytosol (the fluid portion of the cytoplasm). This altered expression of the MDR1 glycoprotein is believed to have caused the loss of the cell's drug extrusion ability, which it mediates. Unable to extrude the drug, the cells succumbed to its effect, essentially acquiring sensitivity to the drug, and were killed.

A fuller understanding of the way electrical pulses affect drug-resistant tumors will require further research. However, this technique may be exploited as part of new cancer treatment protocols, such as coupling electrical stimulation with chemotherapy to treat tumors otherwise refractory to drugs, as well as possibly enabling reduction in the amount of chemotheraputic medication used, and thereby in unpleasant side-effects.

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Breast Cancer Risk Factors And Symptoms

2008-09-21T05:04:00.001-07:00

Breast Cancer - Risk Factors And Symptoms
By Michael Russell

Breast Cancer. For most women it is something they dread hearing, but it is something more and more will hear in their lifetime. Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women, but also occurs in a small number of men. It is most commonly associated with those above the age of 50. It can be contracted by those in younger age groups, but the risk is not as high as for those in the older age range.

There is currently no defined cause for breast cancer, although there are factors which can put someone at a higher risk. Some risk factors are unavoidable, while some are not.

Unavoidable risk factors include;

- Gender: Women are more susceptible to contracting breast cancer than men.

- Age: The older a person gets, the greater the risk factor.

- Family history: If a family member has previously contracted the disease, the chances of another family member contracting it rises considerably.

- Genetic predisposition: If the body carries a gene associated with the disease, the odds can increase greatly. This gene can be passed down through generations. If a parent is known to carry a genetic predisposition, it is also possible for their children to carry the gene as well.

- Race: White women are much more susceptible to contracting breast cancer than black or Hispanic women.

- Prolonged exposure to estrogen: Those who enter the menopause at a more advanced age than normal (55+) are believed to have a higher risk factor. Estrogen is believed to play a part in causing breast cancer to form.

Factors which can be controlled include;

- Weight: As in most cancers, those who are overweight place themselves at a higher risk of cancer. Anyone overweight would be advised to begin an exercise program and improve their diet as soon as possible. Especially if coupled with age factors. Always be sure to consult with a doctor before beginning a rigorous exercise program.

- Smoking: Again, as with other cancers, those who smoke are putting themselves at a higher risk for cancer. Quit smoking as soon as possible to reduce the risk of cancer.

- Drinking: Those who drink more than one alcoholic beverage per day are thought to be at greater risk of breast cancer. If you struggle with alcohol, seek help to quit and cut the risk. If that is not possible, try to limit yourself to only one alcoholic beverage per day.

There are many symptoms, which may point to breast cancer. Finding a lump or hardening of the breast, or areas near the breast, is the most common symptom. Other symptoms can include a change in breast size, discharge from the nipple itself, tenderness and even a change in how the breast feels. If you experience any of these symptoms, you are advised to visit a doctor as soon as possible.

If caught in the early stages, breast cancer is much easier to combat and in most cases can be beaten. If allowed to reach an advanced stage, the survival rates are much worse. That means screening and preventative measure are essential. If you are over the age of 50, a mammogram is an essential tool in breast cancer prevention. Have your doctor schedule one at appropriate intervals. If you find a lump, have it checked. A little prevention can go a long way in avoiding an unnecessary battle with the advanced stages of this dreaded disease.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

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Asbestos Attorneys Online

2008-09-18T08:53:00.001-07:00

Asbestos Attorneys Online
By Eddie Tobey

There are a multitude of websites dedicated to asbestos-related lawsuits. They provide information such as how to file an asbestos case. These websites even help you find good asbestos attorneys. It is easy to find asbestos attorneys online, as almost all good attorneys list themselves in various websites. Many law firms also boast their own websites. Attorneys who do not have their own websites usually register with a bar association website.

There are numerous websites dedicated solely to law and related issues. These websites contain online resources such as articles related to asbestos lawsuits. Online resources also tell you where to find a good asbestos attorney, how to approach him, and what points to discuss in the initial consultation. Additionally, there are online articles related to asbestos-related ailments such as mesothelioma and the medical costs involved in treating them. Private websites that are owned by law firms and attorneys contain information on previous lawsuits handled by them. They tell you the case histories and the compensation amount won in each of those cases. Well-qualified and experienced asbestos attorneys usually have a good track record of winning large compensation amounts for their clients. These compensation amounts, usually to the tune of millions, are displayed on these websites to attract more clients.

Most law-based websites feature online search tools to find asbestos attorneys. Asbestos victims usually prefer attorneys from their own states, so, websites provide online searches that can be narrowed down to a state, county, or city. Websites belonging to bar associations generally maintain databases containing information about their members. They also give information on attorneys' success rates.

Asbestos Attorneys provides detailed information on Asbestos Attorneys, Asbestos Cancer Attorneys, Asbestos Litigation Attourneys, Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorneys and more. Asbestos Attorneys is affiliated with Asbestos Trial Lawyers.

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Colon Cleaning Enemas

2008-09-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

Colon Cleaning Enemas
By Seth Miller

An enema is a procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon. Enemas are usually carried out for medical reasons, like treating constipation, or as part of alternative therapies. In the early days, they were known as clysters. Enemas are a popular way of detoxifying the digestive tract. One can find extensive information on the various types of enemas by visiting leading online resources devoted to the subject.

Enemas act as a bowel stimulant. When an enema is performed, the patient expels feces. Bowel simulating enemas usually consist of water, sometimes with baking soda or a mild soap dissolved in it. This helps draw additional water from the bloodstream into the colon and increases the effectiveness of the enema.

Enemas generally cleanse the lower part of the colon, the sigmoid and the descending colon. Unlike colonics, enemas involve a single infusion of water into the colon. And unlike colonics, enemas do not have to be administered by a professional. One can find many types of disposable enema kits available in drugstores.

Modern times have seen many kinds of enemas hitting the market. The coffee enema is a term often heard. It is believed to detoxify the liver by quickly emptying the colon and increasing the flow of bile and the elimination of toxins through the bile. The entire process provides immediate relief from toxicity symptoms like indigestion, headaches, pain and congestion.

Sometimes, for surgical purposes, anesthetic agents are administered by way of an enema. This is done to reduce medically induced vomiting during surgery. Similarly, a barium enema is used as a contrast substance in radiological imaging of the bowel. Though there are disposable enema kits available, it is always preferable that one administers them in consultation with a qualified physician.

Colon Cleansing provides detailed information on Colon Cleansing, Natural Colon Cleansing, Colon Cleansing Products, Colon Detox Cleansing and more. Colon Cleansing is affiliated with Colon Cancer Treatment.

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Liver Cancer

2008-09-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

Liver Cancer
By Karen Lavender

Liver cancer

Liver is an important organ that performs a number of different functions like maintaining fluid balance in the body, handling toxic substances etc. It also produces bile that is instrumental in breaking down fat. Occurrence of cancer in the liver is termed as liver cancer.

Types of Liver cancer

On a broad basis, we can classify liver cancer as primary liver cancer and secondary cancer. When cancer originates in the liver itself, it is called as primary liver cancer. Liver cancer is known as secondary liver cancer when it originates in some other part of the body and then spreads to liver (e.g. due to proximity of liver to the place where cancer originated in the body). Hepatoma and bile duct cancer are the two main types of liver cancer.

Causes of Liver cancer

The two main causes of Liver cancer are: Excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks and occurrence of infections like Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. Its unfortunate to note that though a number of people know that alcohol can increase the risk of Liver cancer, they still dont cut down on alcohol.

Symptoms of Liver cancer

Liver cancer can lead to enlargement of Liver which can result in discomfort e.g. pain in the upper abdomen or pain in the right shoulder. There are some other common symptoms of Liver cancer (none of them are too conclusive though) like nausea, weakness, loss of weight etc. Other symptoms of liver cancer include jaundice and fluid disbalance in the body (e.g. building up of fluid in the abdomen). However, these too are just mildly indicative of liver cancer and are in no way conclusive symptoms.

Diagnosis of Liver cancer

Recognizing the symptoms and seeking professional help (from qualified doctors) can help early diagnosis of liver cancer. So, consult your doctor and let him/her know all the symptoms that you have been experiencing. The doctor might do a physical examination and prescribe certain tests as the need may be. The physical examination is basically to check the enlargement of liver. Other tests include liver ultrasound scan, abdominal CT scan, liver biopsy etc.

Treatment of liver cancer

Based on the type of liver cancer, the stage of liver cancer and your general health etc, the doctor might prescribe one or more liver cancer treatment techniques. Surgical procedure to remove the affected part of liver is one of the treatments for liver cancer (especially if it has not spread elsewhere). Besides surgery there are other techniques that use laser and other procedure for removal or destruction of tumor/ liver cancer. Chemotherapy is also one of the liver cancer treatments.

Warren and Karen have been involved in the internet for a number of years and run several websites. They are most interested in providing opportunities for people to connect with information relating to business, health and creativity. Check out their Liver Cancer blog for more information.

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A History of Corporate Abuse: Mesothelioma

2008-09-12T09:14:00.001-07:00

A History of Corporate Abuse: Mesothelioma
By William Gallahue

My answer to the problem is: if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products why not die from it. Theres got to be some cause.

This quote came from a purchasing director for Johns Manville corporation in 1966. Years later the company would face bankruptcy from being overwhelmed by nearly 16,500 asbestos lawsuits in what would become an important moment in the history of asbestos litigation.

For years large corporations like Johns Manville operated their asbestos manufacturing operations with internal knowledge of health problems and tried their best to control any information that hinted to the safety risks of asbestos.

It is a sad corporate legacy and one that continues to haunt the numerous dying and diagnosed men and women who seek compensation for their exposure. Some estimates put the number of exposed patients to nearly 27.5 million between 1940 and 1979.

It wasn't until the mid-1970s that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration began to regulate asbestos exposure. By then however it was all too late. New cases of asbestos related health problems will continue to be diagnosed every year at a rate of nearly 3,000 cases for mesothelioma alone. The reason is that asbestos related illnesses have long latency periods of up to 40 years before exposure can lead to cancerous formations.

According to Adam Raphael, he best estimate of what lies ahead is a study published by the Yale School of Organization and Management in 1992. It predicts that there will be 200,000 asbestos-related deaths over the next quarter of a century at a cost to asbestos manufacturers and their insurers of $50 billion.

With such liability it is easy to see why since 1985, nearly 16 major asbestos manufacturing firms have gone out of business. When they go out, it makes it nearly impossible for families to collect compensation.

Furthermore other companies still in business like Johns Manville have set up inadequately funded pools for compensation. Just last year W.R. Grace sent a notice to residents of Libby, Montana (the site of a once booming asbestos mine where 1 in 8 residents is infected with a lung disorder of some type) telling them that they were no longer sick and should seek other forms of medical assistance.

Its a sad corporate legacy where millions of average Americans worked long hours to provide a better life for their families only to get nothing in return from the employers who benefited.

Please visit this site for Mesothelioma Information.

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10 Secrets to Becoming the Happiest Guy or Gal in the Block!

2008-09-10T14:36:00.001-07:00

10 Secrets to Becoming the Happiest Guy or Gal in the Block!
By Richard Bousseau

To be happy, all you need is the simple ABC of wellbeing solutions. That would prevent depression, and loneliness. In return; you'll have the following positive results:

Gain peace of mind. Worries free from side effects. No addiction from substance abuse. Live longer - healthier - happier lives. Defeat depression, and loneliness. Defeat fear of change. Improve your life. Feel and look good.

Secrets

1. - Avoid discussion.

2. - Prevent argument.

3. - Do not get irritated.

4. - Avoid rushing.

5. - Take one thing at the time.

6. - Quit smoking. Plan your daily activities.

7. - Smile. Try to smile more.

8. - Laugh. Relax. Be cool.

9. - Control your emotions.

10. - Visit your physician regularly on a follow-up basis to check:

a) Your blood pressure.

b) Your blood sugar.

c) [Your prostate (have a PSA ) to see if youre prostate gland was inflamed or not. By doing this; you won't have painful urination (dysuria), frantic surgery, impotence or death. That gland is like a balloon ready to pop due toits inflammation. It is the male invisible menstruation.Why? Because it has only one function - to grow.[Watch out male 40yr and over!

So, tomato juice (Lycopene) plus Zinc 50mg supplement -1 tablet per day will be very helpful. Dont just sit there. This is serious. The more you wait is how much youll cryyour tears out from pain. Discuss this with your doctor today.I dont want you to suffer.

d) Have your mammogram test (female)if you're 40yr and over. You'll avoid the breast cancer. Folks, listen, whatever how tough your problems are; don't give up. Life is worth living. Think it could be worse. Tomorrow will be better. You got to believe it.

Turn your radio or stereo ON to 94.9FM to listen to (TheOldies). Lets spread this word out. Be happy. 2/09/07

About the Author:

Richard Bousseau, Author, Philosopher has been helping humanity to cope with their afflictions of life through E-Books, CD's, Workbook with his background in Philosophy, Sociology, Ethics, Business Ethics, Business Communications -with help of personal life experiences of burden ordeals he survived.

He has been devoted his life to helping others to cope with their tribulations of life, in order they can be free from side effects; and they could live a healthier/happier lives better.

http://www.abcwellbeingsolutions.com; info@abcwellbeingsolutions.com

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10 Home Remedies for Chemothery Side Effects

2008-09-08T16:46:00.001-07:00

10 Home Remedies for Chemothery Side Effects
By Donna Parra

This is my second go round with cancer and chemoptherapy, this time I'm much more educated in helping myself deal with side effects and would like to pass my remedies on to others.

Chemotherapy affects the stomach in a very devastating manner from the top to the bottom and though the prescribed Katrill was a life saver, it doesn't do it all. Here are a few home remedies your oncologist will not tell you about...he's busy with the chemical aspect of treating the disease and not much into home remedies....I am!

1. Ginger
Ginger has long been known as an anti-nausea agent....I used fresh ginger, sliced it up thinly and put it in the freezer. I would put a few slices from the freezer into a cup of hot water and sip it as tea. I was surprised to read that they have a clinical trial going on using ginger in capsule form to treat nausea in chemo patients...worked for me!

2. Aloe
Aloe is another soothing agent to the stomach and intestinal tract and aloe water is tasteless and can be found in any supermarket in the produce department. It's inexpensive and helpful...I personally know a man that cured himself of bleeding ulcers with aloe juice, his doctor was amazed.

3. White food
Now for eating....I read many years ago that eating white food was a good idea as most white food doesn't have a strong smell or strong taste....I can't say that it worked for me but it could work for you. I'm a believer in organic food and foods made from scratch....we have enough chemicals racing around our body, we don't need more. You might want to check out the Budwig Diet on the internet.

4. Baldness
Your oncologist will tell you if you will lose your hair....for me it was somewhat of a blessing, not having to shave my legs, no blow drying etc. Cut your hair very short and once it starts falling out, shave it! The American Cancer Society will give you wigs free of cost....I prefer my baldness as I live in Florida and I also have a nicely shaped head. My eyebrow are very sparse and rather than pencil them in, I use eye shadow that I apply with a brush....it's more natural looking.

5. Attitude
Should you experience depression...fight it, talk to yourself, convince yourself that depression will not help you and imagine yourself healthy again....and smile as you talk to yourself...I don't know why, but it works.

6. Acupuncture
I went to an acupuncturist during my first experience with cancer....it helped so much with the horrendous headaches and the nausea. I don't know why I didn't do it through this battle.

7. Water
Drinking water is of the utmost importance and I'm sure your doctor will tell you that, but he doesn't tell you to drink mineralized water which will put your body in an alkaline state...for more info on this subject you can e-mail me at donnaparra595@bellsouth.net

8. Exercise
DO NOT let yourself become a couch potato....even if you must force yourself to walk around the block, it will be helpful. Somedays you must force yourself to put one foot in front of the other....but do it. Exercise helps your body, but it also helps your mind. You will feel good about yourself and proud.

9. Grooming
Keeping yourself well-groomed can be an effort on some days, but it's a must! I found on the days I HAD to go out and groom myself with make-up etc....something magical happened and I'd feel better....the effort was great but well worth it......I try and do that everyday now. I mean beyond taking a shower and brushing my teeth.

10. Power of Prayer
I think one of the most important remedies is prayer....it has such power and has gotten me through some really rough times. I don't know how it works, IT WORKS.

Oops! Forgot something.....dealing with constipation. I hate the thickness of prune juice and read on the internet to combat that... put dried prunes in a cup, pour boiling water over them... drink the liquid while warm and then eat the prunes. One woman told me her nurse told her to add a bit of butter to it... I chose to pass on that one but the woman found it quite effective. Flaxseed is also quite effective and you can add them to your cereal or mix them in a salad or just eat a teaspoonful... of course, taking laxatives work but they are not a good idea unless it's an emergency as your body will come dependent of them.

Good luck to all you warriors and I hope that I've helped you in your battle... it's a tough battle but it can be won... keep positive... it's the attitude that will get you through this... fight on and beat it!

I'm a single woman battling cancer for the second time....and winning. I feel if I can help someone in anyway, then I must. My computer has been a blessing through all of this and I have researched the internet and have gained so through all the knowledge compiled. If you'd like to contact me you can do so at donnaparra595@bellsouth.net

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Breast Cancer You and Your Medical Team

2008-09-08T06:02:00.001-07:00

Breast Cancer - You and Your Medical Team
By Michael Russell

We all know that doctors are busy, pulled in many directions and pressed for time. As a breast cancer patient, when you are dealing with people you might otherwise find intimidating, you may be a bit reluctant to make demands. But remember, they are people just like you and you can bet they'd want someone to pay close attention if you were in their shoes. Never lose sight of this fact - and never chose a doctor who has. You should expect doctors to hear you. As a way of showing they are listening and caring, it is not unusual for doctors to pull up a chair and sit face-to-face while discussing your diagnosis and options for treatment of your breast cancer. You need to feel your doctor sees you as a person. If only one of you is talking, there's a problem. You will want to make certain that your doctor not only answers any questions you may have, but also provides you with information that will allow you to make decisions, or know where to look for answers.

Each of us has a comfort level when it comes to facing what will lie ahead in terms of breast surgery, cancer adjuvant therapies, prognosis and possibilities. You may want to know every detail. If this is the case, you should expect the doctor you select to explain tests and procedures you will be undergoing. On the other hand, you should decide in advance how much you really want to know. Some of us need the hard, fast facts of breast cancer; others just want a broad overview; still other want only the information they will need to take their first step. One size does not fit all, so feel free to ask about anything that comes to mind.

Because you may be nervous or frightened - or simply because you may be asking questions that require lengthy or complicated answers - you may want to tape-record conversations with your doctor. Don't be afraid to ask. This is a great way to make sure you aren't missing anything important. It provides you with the opportunity to review what you discussed and also allows you to absorb what was said at your own pace, in your own time. If you run into a doctor who doesn't want to be taped, you should seriously consider whether this is someone you will feel safe and confident with, or if it's time to move on.

In this day and age, it is not uncommon for women with breast cancer to seek out therapies that may be considered outside the realm of Western medicine. A growing number of patients feel they need to approach breast cancer on more than one level. You may try acupuncture, massage, Chinese herbs, vitamins, or many other therapies currently classified alternative or complementary medicine. Your doctor should want to know about these and you will want to pay close attention to reactions when you discuss other therapies you may be trying or want to try. If your doctor dismisses these therapies without evidence that a specific therapy is harmful or ineffective, you may want to leave that doctor and find one who acknowledges that alternative treatments can help you to improve you physical and emotional well-being.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

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Breast Cancer Basics

2008-09-08T05:48:00.001-07:00

Breast Cancer Basics
By Matt McMillan

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women today. Among the types of cancer that are being experienced by women, breast cancer comes second after lung cancer, claiming the lives of more than 40,000 women in the country.

By the end of this year, more than 200,000 women are predicted to develop invasive breast cancer in the United States alone. Right now, statistics put a 1 is to 8 possibility ratio of developing breast cancer on women. There is about a 1 out of 28 chance that the breast cancer diagnosis will lead to death. Fortunately, because of the efforts of womens groups to increase the awareness about the problem and the efforts of the government to address the issue, death rates are actually going down.

Risk factors for breast cancer

It is actually not known exactly why women develop breast cancer. Unlike other health problems that are rooted from a bacterial or viral infection, breast cancer is not caused by any organism. The problem only occurs when cells in the breasts begin to grow out of control and start to spread even to the other tissues in the body.

But while there are no exact known cause of breast cancer, there are some risk factors that increases the chance of some women to develop the condition. This is according to numerous studies that have correlated the presence of these factors to the occurrence of the condition. Although there are some factors that are already inherent in you, there are some who you still can do something about. Those factors have been the focus of womens groups informational campaign, designed to teach women how best to prevent the problem from developing.

Factors that you cannot change

One of these risk factors is gender. Surprised? Unknown to many, breast cancer also occur in men. There however have been considerable emphases on women breast cancer in recent years because of the alarming growth of cases every year. Ones age is another factor. As one grows old, the higher is the chance that one will develop breast cancer. The same goes with people, who already have a family history of the problem. In fact, studies have shown that people with relatives with breast cancer actually doubles their risk for developing it.

Women who have gotten their periods early, before they were 12 years old and those who menopaused after they were 50 are also at risk for developing the condition.

Compared to Asian women, Caucasians seem to develop the problem more often. The same was also found with women who never had children or those who had children after they 30 years old. Women who had radiation therapy in the chest area are also at risk.

Factors that you can change

It is not of course all bad news. While there are factors that are beyond our control, there are things that we can do to lessen the chance of developing the condition. Breast cancer can actually be prevented by clich as it is eating right and living healthy.

According to studies, women who drink about two to five alcoholic drinks every day seem to have an increased rate of developing breast cancer. The same was also found with women who are overweight and those who do not exercise regularly. People who take birth control pills and those that underwent some sort of hormone-replacement therapy will also develop the problem.

Breast Cancer Information Breast Cancer Care

Matt McMillan

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Practical SpiritualitySurviving Prostrate Cancer

2008-09-08T05:34:00.001-07:00

Practical Spirituality--Surviving Prostrate Cancer
By John Gilmore

Theres nothing like discovering that you have cancer, especially if no one in your family ever had it. Cancer is a very dangerous disease, as anyone knows. It is only dangerous on the physical lever, but probably even more devastating on the emotional and mental level. Especially the forms of cancer that seem not to be taken seriously by those who dont have it. This is especially true of prostate cancer.

As soon as anyone discovers that you have prostrate cancer the first thing they tell you is how common it is, and then they move onto the success rate of its treatment. This is a bit comforting, but when you begin to hear about the procedures involved, that comfort flies out the window. Cutting out parts of your body, eradiating your body to shrivel your prostate, planting hundreds of radioactive seeds in the prostate, or freezing the prostate until it dies, and the left over affects of decreased potency and the need to use stimulates for intercourse, if that is even possible, are devastating.

These are not good things. They are all loses that must be grieved. Even if you dont want to, any of these treatments mean that you will never be able to father another child. You will always know that a part of you is missing; the part that created the seeds that bring forth life. If you are a survivor of prostate cancer, or you have just been diagnosed, and all of the speeches about the success rate dont quite comfort you on all levels, you may be dealing with the last issue of which I spoke. Procreation is more than a physical act. It is an issue that is somewhat primordial and spiritual. It is at the root of what it means to be alive for just about every species on Earth. Most people do not really think about it like that.

People around you hear cancer and panic, thinking that you should do anything to keep it from spreading. The cancer patient, some of them anyway, however, often looks deeper, looking for the meaning behind the fact that parts of ones own body has declared war on you, and thinking of the most beneficial ways of dealing with it.

If you are diagnosed with prostrate cancer, or any other type, and are thinking of getting treatment, or if you are having treatment, or have completed treatment, it is important for you to look for a deeper meaning. It is important for you to begin to explore your life deeply and to find a meaningful way to participate in life that is satisfying and enjoyable. Many say that modern civilization is a toxic, cancerous environment in itself. Is it any wonder that our bodies should become like the toxic environment in which we live? Find ways to be healthy. Create sacred spaces where you can step outside of the toxic environment to strengthen yourself. You will then give birth to new things on a different levela spiritual level.

If you can find a group where you can talk about what has happened, the shock that has happened to your mind, body, and spirit, find one. Several hospitals have prostate cancer survivor support groups. Many other people will not know what you are talking about and what you are going though on the inside. Dont try to force yourself to get over it and to go ahead with life. You will do this, and life will go on. The truth is, however, that you have been injured, even if it doesnt show on the outside, and you can never get back what you have lost. You have to heal from the injury on all levels. This is something that we must learn to live with. A greater understanding of who you are and why things like this happen are the only help. It is also important to work to gain some insight, or lifestyle that is worth all of the fear and suffering. When you have done this you will be able to move on without pushing. It will be natural and you will be a greater person. Dont ignore practical spirituality and healing methods like meditation, Tai Chi, Yoga or Chi Kung. They can be very good for dealing with the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of the injury if you go very deep in their application.

Dr. John W. Gilmore is a writer, spiritual director, and certified healer in many alternative health traditions. For more information on how to apply practical spirituality to your life visit our free Practical Spirituality Journal at http://www.dswellness.com Explore our website for more information geared to the healing of the greater community. Also visit our school at http://dswellness.htap.net

Reunion of Souls, Dr. John W.Gilmore. A book of deep spirituality in Sci-fi form.

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Peritoneal Mesothelioma Information

2008-09-07T16:47:00.001-07:00

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Information
By Christian Louis

Peritoneal Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the peritoneum of the human abdominal cavity. Hence, this medical condition is also called as abdominal mesothelioma.

But before seeing more about peritoneal mesothelioma, let us first take a look at the classifications and functions of the peritoneum membrane.

Peritoneum is classified into visceral and parietal peritoneum. The visceral peritoneum envelops the abdominal organs and forms the periphery of the intestinal tract. On the other hand, parietal peritoneum covers the abdominal cavity. The purposeof these layers is to protect the internal organs and to secrete a lubricating fluid that eases the movement of internal organs in the abdominal cavity.

Causes of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Even though not a definitive explanation, it is widely considered that asbestos is the main cause for peritoneal mesothelioma. According to medical experts, in two ways asbestos dust could reach the intestine lining one through involuntary ingestion during working long hours and days amid asbestos, and secondly, through the lungs while breathing and hence along the lymph nodes to the peritoneal cavity. Either way, it is injurious to the human body, and may invariably lead to this cancerous condition if exposed to for a longer period of time.

Symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Peritoneal mesothelioma, like the other forms of mesothelioma, shows a very long latency period and it wont be until 20-30 years since the asbestos-exposure days before any typical symptoms becomes apparent. But by then it will be too late to check the disease or provide any constructive medication or treatment. Further, a delay in diagnosing the disease can happen due to the fact that most of the symptoms of mesothelioma is not-specific and may resemble that of some other common and less serious diseases. For example, the common mesothelioma symptoms include anemia, fever, weight loss, abdominal pain, and bowel obstruction, and it is highly likely that the doctor initially may consider other options than contemplating cancer. Therefore, the patient telling the doctor about any previous asbestos exposure in the first one-to-one interaction itself is very crucial, and that helps the doctor to think of a possible mesothelioma threat even before considering other possibilities.

Treatments

Once the disease has been diagnosed, the doctor recommends the treatments based on several factors such as the extent of the damage, age and medical history of the person and overall health. The traditional treatments for mesothelioma include surgery if the tumor has spread out and is beyond radiation-curable radiation therapy (external and internal radiation), and chemotherapy, which includes using a pill or needle to insert anti-carcinogen drugs into the body.

With the advancement in science and technology, newer treatment techniques have been introduced, and some of it is looking promising as well.

Intraoperative photodynamic therapy is one such newer method that uses special drugs and light to destroy cancer cells. This method is used to study the earlier phases of mesothelioma in the chest.

Further, Immunotherapy is a way of boosting the immunity of ones own body against the spread of cancer. Also, recently, researches have found that Gene Therapy is effective in correcting the faulty genes causing mesothelioma. But these two methods are still in the clinical trials and are yet to be implemented in hospitals.

Even though a wide range of treatments are available for mesothelioma, clinical experiences reveals that none of this alone is capable of checking the disease effectively. Therefore, it is a selected combination of some of these treatments called the multimodality approach that is commonly followed and the different modes of treatments to be used are decided by the doctor based on the given medical condition of the patient and his/her age.

Tail Piece Passive exposure to asbestos can also lead to mesothelioma. This happens when asbestos fibers reach the domestic setup through clothes dirties with asbestos dust. Therefore it is advisable that those handling asbestos may change their clothes before returning home or going to any public place.

Christian Louis is the author of this article.Check out the nr. 1 resource on Mesotheliomahttp://www.online-mesothelioma-information.com

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10 Great Tips to Win the Fight of Cancer for our Loved Ones!

2008-09-07T01:24:00.001-07:00

10 Great Tips to Win the Fight of Cancer for our Loved Ones!
By Lucy Wong Moi

What are the things that we should do when a family member is found to have cancer?

[1 Show your love and concern

This is the most important thing we ought to do. Gather your strength and faith and to stand by her no matter what happens. Tell her, and emphasize that we all love her and care for her. Standing by her means that we are not leaving her alone to fight cancer. Let's do it together. Her tears are our tears, her sorrow our sorrow too. Let her know and confide in us. If you really care for her, spend more time with her. Just make sure that you are there when she needs us. Be determined and strive only to WIN!

[2 Be positive. Look at the bright side of life!

Why should we be positive? this is the AQ that I always share with my friends.. Pass the test, yes, past the test! Fear not! Adversity Quotient is a skill that we all have to master. Face all challenges with unwavering courage and be strong. Rid of unnecessary FEAR! Be confident that all will be fine and well. Most patients are killed by 'fear', not the real illness. People gave up hope too soon! Give relevant encouragements. Know that cancer is not incurable! There are also so many people out there who survived cancer! Show her confidence! Don't be distressed yourself. Stress kills too.

[3 Pray for forgiveness together.

Miracles do happen if one prays and believe enough. Have 100% faith and believe in your faith. Everything happen, happens for the good. Let God be our guide, our strength. Set a timetable for constant purposeful prayers with her/him. Recite our Lord's prayer and understand the meanings. 'Our father in heaven, holy be thy name...... Your will be done, on earth as in heaven..'

From here, we must acknowledge that God is our father... our father! Our father will know what is best for us, leave everything to HIM, His will be done, not ours! Can you really believe that 100%?

[4 Stop eating carcinogeous foods. Stop poisoning our body. Review your food, a change is needed immediately.

The difficulty in this is that not people are educated with the knowledge of food toxemia and acidosis that makes our blood acidic. Another problem is that the majority are eating them! Facts are facts, read more health conscious articles and be aware of all those foods that might cause cancer when taken in excess!

Stop eating those food that one have been consuming all those while that might caused cancer, so it is advisable to stop and change immediately. Since there are certain foods that cause cancer, there are also foods that can cure and prevent cancer. Wake up! There are plentiful of foods and herbs that one can eat to put cancer at bay. Change our diet, change our lifestyle!

Since air, water and food is directly affecting our immune system, it is of great importance that we review the quality of air, water and food that we take. Start from drinking clean water and food.

[5 Learn more about cancer. Knowledge is confidence.

At the same time, spare some time to really understand what cancer is. Look for appropriate knowledge, proven and relevant knowledge on preventive cures and treatments. Read to understand why people get cancer and how to prevent them. It might happen to just anybody!

[6 Immediate revision of choice of food

I suggest immediate and revised food timetable for the patient. I won't allow any animal protein foods. I will draft a 100% vegetarian diet, with 60% raw vegetables and fruits to be taken 3 to 5 times a day.

[7 Eat plentiful of rich anti-oxidants food

I will blend a 8V to be taken twice a day. 8V is a combination of some natural green herbs, vegetables and some fruits to be taken immediately after blending. 8 means eight types of food. [types of herbs used depend on the type and seriousness of cancer

[8 Make sure that they are taking higher doses of anti-oxidants supplements from relevant sources and drink plentiful of clean water

I will give higher doses of anti-oxidants especially A, C, E and high quality plant protein to boost his/her immune system.

[9 Rest their body system [esp. their liver and kidney

I will grow sprouts from different types of beans. I will let the patient take it twice or thrice a day and best taken when raw. It is a miracle food, a superior food to be exact.

[10 Appropriate nursing place [in the embrace of Mother Nature and relevant breathing exercise

The above is taken from my personal column on alternative health at http://submitarticles.biz.

I will also work out a breathing exercise with him/her and emphasize on self-affirming of speedy recovery. I will make sure that I will nurse him/her back to proper health personally.

I would also like to arrange a resort and to spend with her/his recovery period away from city life, away from the crowd, but near or in the embrace of nature at its best, where one can hear birds singing, dragonflies and butterflies flying, clear ripples of waterfalls, and breathe in cool, fresh air and be at ease with Mother Nature....

Prevention is much better than cure, believe me. Go for detoxification too. I have written and posted the article on how to keep cancer at bay, read to understand. Cancer can be prevented! Your brothers are also my brothers, your sisters are also my sisters too. We all are, it is never too late!

Lucy Wong is a health and nutrition consultant. Her interest in health related issues include the development of mental health. She is also keen in sharing Multiple Qs, she is also an educator and has written many articles on this subject in her personal column under alternative health in http://submitarticles.biz Read more about mental health articles in her personal column and discover the secrets of maintaining good mental health.

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10 Commonly Asked Prostate Cancer Questions

2008-09-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

10 Commonly Asked Prostate Cancer Questions
By Donald Saunders

For the millions of men who encounter prostate problems each year and, in particular those who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, we have picked out ten of the most frequently asked questions about the prostate and prostate cancer.

Question 1. What is the prostate gland?

The prostate gland, which when healthy is about the size of a walnut, lies between the rectum and the bladder and forms part of the male reproductive system, making and storing a fluid contained within semen. The prostate gland partially surrounds the urethra and, when it becomes enlarged, it can slow or even stop the flow of urine.

Question 2. What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is the second commonest form of cancer in the United States today. In 2006 approximately 235,000 men in the US were diagnosed with prostate cancer and some 27,000 men died of the disease. In most cases prostate cancer appears relatively late in life and is slow growing and, for this reason, many men with prostate cancer die from other unrelated causes.

Question 3. Who is at risk of contracting prostate cancer?

The simple answer is that all men are at risk of contracting prostate cancer. This said, prostate cancer is age related and so it is more likely to appear the older you get. In addition, prostate cancer is more likely to appear in men with a family history of the disease and in black men. There are also quite marked differences seen between countries with the United States having the highest incidence and Japan the lowest. While these differences are not entirely understood it is believed that diet may play an important role.

Question 4. What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

It is possible to suffer from prostate cancer for many years without displaying any symptoms at all. However when symptoms do appear they are likely to include the need for frequent urination (particularly during the night), difficulty in urinating, a weak flow or urine which tends to stop and start, pain when urinating, blood in the urine or semen, painful ejaculation and frequent pain in the lower back as well as in the hips or upper part of the thighs.

It is important to note that while these can indicate the presence of prostate cancer they can also be symptomatic of a number of other conditions and you should check with your doctor and not simply assume that because you are experiencing these symptoms that you have prostate cancer.

Question 5. What other conditions are associated with prostate cancer symptoms?

It is very common in older men for the prostate gland to enlarge placing pressure on both the bladder and the urethra and interfering with both the flow of urine and with sexual function. This condition is not cancer but is a benign condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH.

In addition, symptoms similar to those seen in prostate cancer can also be experienced as the result of a prostate infection known as prostatitis which causes inflammation of the prostate.

Question 6. Is it possible to screen for prostate cancer before symptoms appear?

There are currently two commonly performed tests which are carried out to detect the presence of prostate cancer. Although neither test is in itself a definitive test for prostate cancer, both tests can indicate problems developing with the prostate gland and thus indicate the need for more specific testing.

The two tests currently used to detect the possible presence of prostate cancer are the digital rectal exam (DRE), in which a doctor feels the prostate through the rectum to find hard or lumpy areas, and a blood test used to detect a substance made by the prostate called prostate specific antigen (PSA).

Question 7. How reliable are the present screening tests?

Neither the digital rectal exam nor the PSA blood test are perfect and the DRE can easily miss prostate cancers while it is also possible for men with prostate cancer to show normal levels of PSA in the blood.

The two tests used together do produce reasonable results and are certainly better than not screening for the condition at all, but more accurate screening is required and studies are underway to improve screening in the next few years.

Question 8. How is prostate cancer diagnosed?

The only sure way to confirm the presence of prostate cancer is to carry out a prostate biopsy during which a number of small samples of tissue are taken from various parts of the prostate gland for microscopic laboratory examination.

Question 9. How is prostate cancer treated?

Provided the cancer is localized (confined to the prostate gland) there are currently three main forms of treatment available.

The first is simply to watch and wait. This may seem a strange form of treatment but in older patients who may have other serious medical problems it may be best to simply leave prostate cancer untreated as long as it remains confined to the prostate gland.

The second form of treatment is radiation therapy to kill the cancer cells delivered either using traditional radiotherapy techniques on an outpatient basis, or by implanting radioactive seeds into the prostate gland.

Finally, prostate cancer can be treated by simply removing the prostate gland surgically.

Question 10. What is the best treatment for localized prostate cancer?

There are a large number of factors which need to be taken into consideration before deciding upon the treatment that is right for you and the options need to be carefully considered and discussed with both your family and your doctor.

In most cases prostate cancer is slow to develop and there is rarely any need to rush into treatment. Take your time, collect as much information as you can about the disease and the options for treatment and make your decision based upon the information you have, the advice you are given and your own personal feelings on the matter.

ProstateCancerExplained.com provides information on a variety of different prostate gland problems including an enlarged prostate gland, prostate symptoms, prostate surgery and finding a prostate cancer cure.

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'MustKnow' Mens Health Tips for Those Concerned About Their Prostate

2008-09-05T16:34:00.001-07:00

'Must-Know' Mens Health Tips for Those Concerned About Their Prostate
By Susan Bishop

Men dont get it do they? They avoid the very foods that can help them live longer. More so than women. And despite the fact that many studies show eating a diet heavy on fruits and vegetables can protect you from all manner of cancers - including prostate cancer. Not to mention such foods are good overall defenders of your health.

So the most obvious of mens health tips to apply is to simply eat more fruits and vegetables.

Especially since it all counts. Whether you eat it fresh, drink 100% juice, or whatever. Frozen, canned, dried or fresh. Its all good and all good for you.

To assist here are some documented mens health tips that simply involve eating smarter.

For starters, did you know each fruit or veggie is packed with its own special blend of minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals. Its true. These tasty and colorful foods are loaded with disease fighters.

Is weight a problem for you? Fruits and vegetables are high in fiber while low in calories and fat. So they naturally help you control your weight. Besides being mostly water they give you a feeling of fullness that helps you eat less.

While there are no specific fruits or veggies to eat that eliminates your cancer risk completely, numerous studies have shown that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables daily cuts your overall risk.

Another painless way to consume more fruit is to kick start each day with a smoothie. Tropical fruits like pineapple or kiwi add vitamins, blend with anything, and give you an easy way to get in a couple more varieties into your diet. Plus they jump start your morning in a flavorful way.

Least I forget in this list of mens health tips, were talking just nine servings a day. Alas only 4% of men manage to do that. 4%! Pitiful. But heres how you can improve.

Pack a box of raisins with your lunch bag. Thats one.

Apple sauce is another idea.

V8 is also a tasty change pace.

Add a salad with your lunch or a bowl of vegetable soup.

Chickpeas have a nutty flavor that goes with anything.

Slice bananas into your cereal bowl.

I also love frozen raspberries. Or frozen grapes - which you can freeze whole or cut in half. Simply pop them into your mouth instead of popcorn. Youll find you cant eat just one.

If price is a concern buy whats in season. Or buy locally grown at a farmers market. Or buy frozen on sale.

Anything frozen is just as packed with nutrition. You dont lose anything by freezing.

So see? Its easy to give your body the means to keep you healthy.

To bottom line it, almost half of what you eat should be something grown on a plant. Half! If you learn nothing else from this list of mens health tips and eating - learn that. You need to eat more fruits and vegetables starting today.

While talking nutrition were you aware that tomatoes contain lycopene? Thats something thought to be good for your prostate. In fact youre just a click away from learning more about prostate health and other facts about prostate cancer treatment

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Diagnosed With Breast Cancer? Here Are Some Resources To Help!

2008-09-05T16:28:00.001-07:00

Diagnosed With Breast Cancer? Here Are Some Resources To Help!
By Mike Herman

There are more and more organisations and groups around the world who will offer support and advice to not just women but men as well who have been affected by breast cancer.

Many of these groups and organisations not only spend time counselling people but they hold many fund raising events and campaigns to help pay for further research into the disease.

In some cases some of these groups or organisations will offer treatment to those patients diagnosed with the disease who can not actually afford to pay for the treatment themselves.

Below is a list of the various organisations and groups that can be found in the USA which have been specifically set up to fight this disease and provide support to those who have been diagnosed with it.

One such group in the USA is the American Cancer Society (ACS) who are a community based health organisation and which helps to fight all the various types of cancers that now seem to affect the population.

They also spend vast amounts of their time not just focusing on treatment of cancer but also its prevention and how to reduce the suffering felt by the patients and their families and saving lives.

They also help with costs for carrying out further research and educating people on the disease and making the population more aware of its effects.

Another organisation is Cancer Care Incorporated who provide a telephone support service for all cancer issues, and this includes medical information, cancer terms and definitions, counselling, guidance on local services, free information material, as well as information on local support groups to the patients area as well as an abundance of educational programs on cancer matters.

Now we come to CRFA (Cancer Research Foundations of America) which is a national group and which focuses on the prevention of cancer both through educating people and scientific research.

It is also able to provide people with information on other forms of cancer as well as breast such as prostate, lung, colorectal, skin and cervical.

Then you could if you wish contact The Living Beyond Breast Cancer Foundation which has been set up and provides a helpline where you are able to obtain support after being diagnosed with the disease.

You will discover that the people at the other end of the phone talking to you will have previously been diagnosed with the disease and survived.

They are able to provide you with first hand information on the treatments offered, the way in which it is diagnosed and how to survive it.

But don't forget the people at the other end of the phone can only offer you emotional support and not actual medical advice, for that you will need to see your doctor who will then refer you to a specialist.

Then there is the Medicare Hotline which is another breast cancer foundation and this one can offer the patient information on mammography and the way it is used in helping to detect breast cancer during the early stages.

Also we have the NABCO (National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organisations) who can provide people with answers to the many questions that they will have relating to the disease and they can either call them or send them an email to obtain the information they require on breast cancer and the many issues relating to it.

If you would like to obtain a more individual response regarding a question you have in respect of the disease it may be a case of you contacting the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service, which can provide patients with answers to any specific question they may have relating to the disease.

Also a number of years ago a Foundation was set up called the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation which helps to fight breast cancer and are well known for organising lots of awareness programs as being a huge contributor in raising funds through various campaigns they have organised such as breast cancer walks.

This foundation also has a helpline where they have trained volunteers who can talk to individuals regarding the disease as they have suffered from it themselves.

The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has been set up and is specifically committed to offering people with the latest information that is available concerning breast cancer and breast health to those that contact them.

Lastly we have the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organisation which helps fight against both breast cancer and provides support to those suffering from the disease by providing them with a helpline that is operated by trained personnel only.

These people are volunteers but who have all survived breast cancer and are not only prepared but have the experience to answer the various types of questions that will be posed by the caller regarding breast cancer.

They can also provide emotional support to the men and women who have been affected by this disease.

What breast cancer information do you need to know more about? Click on over to http://www.ResourcesForBreastCancer.com and be sure to visit http://CancerReport.info.

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Chemotherapy's Effect on the Brain Only Temporary New Research Shows

2008-09-04T22:27:00.001-07:00

Chemotherapy's Effect on the Brain Only Temporary - New Research Shows
By Ron Swerdfiger

New research shows that chemotherapy may be responsible for the shrinkage of key brain areas, but that the effect is only temporary.

The short-term changes could explain the impairment of thinking, memory, and focus that many cancer patients complain of after treatment, according to a Japanese research team.

The changes are marked by a temporary dimunition of certain brain areas that control concentration and focus, problem-solving, execution, and memory. This shrinkage can bring on a general cognitive malaise often referred to as chemo-brain.

However, these reductions in the brain were no longer evident three or four years after chemotherapy, the Japanese team reported Monday in the online edition of Cancer.

These findings can provide new insights for future research to improve the quality of life of cancer patients, concluded a team led by Dr. Masatoshi Inagaki of the Research Center for Innovative Oncology, part of the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Chiba, Japan.

The current study both supports and contradicts prior research into chemo-brain.

For example, a study released last month by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggested that the adverse affects experienced by chemo patients are largely due to blood-flow changes in the brain that can endure for a decade or more.

The UCLA findings also suggested that anywhere from 25 percent to 80 percent of breast cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy are subject to chemo-brain.

The condition is poorly understood and is often accompanied by a range of other chemo side-effects, such as gastrointestinal disturbances and weakened immune systems.

However, it is widely known that chemotherapy has greatly improved cancer survival rates in recent years.

So, to better understand the treatments negative implications, the Japanese team analyzed three years of MRI scans from breast cancer survivors who received follow-up care at the Chiba hospital. The women were between 18 and 55 years of age and none had experienced recurrent breast cancer or had a history of any other type of cancer. Furthermore, none of the patients was still undergoing chemo at the start of the study, and none had had any cases of dementia in their family history.

Over 100 patients underwent an initial MRI brain scan one year after cancer surgery. About half of this group had also undergone chemotherapy.

According to the researchers, patients who had received chemotherapy had smaller brain volumes in areas that control cognitive function, compared to those who had not been exposed to chemo and its radiation.

However, imaging taken at the 3-year mark from 130 patients showed no remaining brain size differences whatsoever.

The authors stressed that cancer, on its own, did not explain the reductions in brain volume. Cancer patients often displayed brain volumes that were similar to healthy controls, they said.

Instead, the short-term changes seemed likely linked to chemo and not to malignant disease, they said.

Inagakis group cautioned that their finding is just an observed association and does not confirm a cause-and-effect relationship between chemotherapy and brain changes. They called for additional MRI imaging to further investigate the issue.

Dr. Claudine Isaacs, an associate professor of medicine and the director of the Clinical Breast Cancer Program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., described the findings as encouraging.

The problem with chemo-brain is that it is often hard to tell what it is related to, because there are so many factors involved chemotherapy, the medication that goes with it, the fatigue, and everything else that goes along with a diagnosis of cancer, she said. They all play in together.

Although this study is relatively quite small, it is a good attempt to look at ways with MRI, functional PET scans of trying to get a better handle on a real phenomenon in a structural kind of way, Isaacs added.

But we need to be careful, she cautioned, because we still dont have the perfect study yet. So we really cant tell patients exactly what the parameters are at this point.

For more Health News and other Breaking News, visit http://www.ecanadanow.com

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What Causes Brain Cancer?

2008-09-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

What Causes Brain Cancer?
By Lloyd Perry

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.

Lloyd Perry is the founder of Infoservice.us An Online Health & Fitness Resource. Where you'll find all your Health Info and Resources all in One Place.

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Brain Cancer

2008-09-04T22:12:00.001-07:00

Brain Cancer
By Darren Dunner

Two types of known brain cancer exist, namely: Primary brain cancer (these generally initiate in the brain), Primary brain cancer almost never moves to any other part of the body, so death is brought on by uncontrollable tumor growth within the brain cavity. Then you get metastatic brain cancer or otherwise known as secondary brain cancer (this type of cancer originates in other parts of the body and get transported or should we say it migrates to the brain thus causing the person to circum to secondary brain cancer.

In some cases the patient will not know they have brain cancer until its too late, so know what symptoms to look out for is vital when it comes to any type tumor or cancer.

However, before we go there, let's take a look at the know causes of brain cancer. The main known cause of brain cancer is the continuous contact with vinyl chloride. Then there are things like pipes, car parts, furniture, wire coatings, and other house wares that contain a substance called carcinogen. Patients who suffer from a long standing battle with melanoma, colon cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, and lung cancer are all at risk of being or getting secondary brain cancer.

If you think that you might have brain cancer here are some things to look out for, be sure to do a check regularly and please get yourself to a doctor for a detailed check at least once every three months (or as directed by your doctor). A brain tumor has the tendency to obstruct the flow or the brains cerebral fluids, or cerebrosinal fluid (this have the devastating result of the buildup hydrocephalus and can thus increase intercranial pressure, which leads to vomiting, nausea and sever headaches.

Brain cancer also leads to impaired judgment, memory loss, reduced mind capacity, vision loss; sever behavior changes, swelling of the optic nerve and impaired smell sense. If you suffer from any of these get yourself to a trained doctor immediately.

Darren Dunner is the author of this article on Brain Cancer. Currently writing on http://www.polymva.com , Visit today http://www.polymva.com for more information on the subject.

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A Total No Brainer

2008-09-04T21:26:00.001-07:00

A Total No Brainer
By Steve John Cowan

People facing cancer are naturally concerned about what the future holds. Strange then that the most common cause of one of the most lethal cancers of all, lung cancer, is generally of peoples own doing and pretty well avoidable.

Nine out of ten people who develop lung cancer are smokers and the bad news is that the diagnoses of lung cancer are rising. Whilst some rare types of lung cancer are not related to smoking, most certainly are directly attributable, and the figures for survival rates from lung cancer are poor throughout the world.

The two main types of lung cancer are small cell and nonsmall cell, and patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survive for variable lengths of time, even when adjustment is made for the pathological stage. Each and every year, 31000 cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in the UK, whilst lung and prostate cancer are the top cancer killers for men in the United States.

Want more scary news? Only 1 in every 10 people with lung cancer are alive 5 years after diagnosis, and for reasons not yet well understood, a greater proportion of women who develop lung cancer are non-smokers compared to men who get the disease.

Now, a new study finds tobacco may act as an environmental trigger for patients with an inherited genetic predisposition to pancreatic cancer.

Treatment for any cancer will depend on the type of cancer; the size, location, and stage of the disease; the person's general health; and other factors. Nanotechnology promises new methods for noninvasive treatment of cancer with minimal side effects.

While we can't do anything about risk factors that are out of our control, it's been shown that all aspects of our daily lifestyle can have a huge impact on cancer risk. Stopping smoking greatly reduces a person's risk for developing lung cancer, whilst exposure to tobacco smoke clearly multiplies the risk of developing lung cancer.

It's a no brainer, really. Stop smoking and increase your chances of a long and enjoyable life!

Steve Cowan is an Asia based businessman and writer. Get two free reports dealing with Self Help and Natural Treatments Cancer at http://webbiz99.com/cancer/freereport.html

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Ocular Lymphoma A Major Indicator of Brain Involvement in Patients with NonHodgkin's Lymphoma

2008-09-02T10:03:00.001-07:00

Ocular Lymphoma A Major Indicator of Brain Involvement in Patients with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
By Groshan Fabiola

Ocular lymphoma, also referred to as intraocular large cell lymphoma, is a subtype of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma that primarily affects the central nervous system. The incidence of ocular lymphoma among the global population has known a pronounced decrease since 1960, although paradoxically it has slightly increased in the last few years. Although there isnt enough evidence to support this theory, medical scientists believe that the recently increased incidence of the disease is mainly caused by prolonged treatments with immuno-suppressing drugs. However, in the absence of conclusive findings, this supposition has been disregarded by most oncologists.

Ocular lymphoma has the highest incidence among the male gender, and predominantly affects people with ages over 50. The categories considered to present the highest risk of developing this subtype of lymphoma are patients diagnosed with AIDS, patients who have suffered complicated surgeries and persons with native impairments of the immune system especially people affected by the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. The implication of lymphoma at ocular level generally occurs in the incipient stages of the disease at brain level. Recent studies have revealed that in the majority of cases, ocular symptoms precede the occurrence of symptoms at the central nervous system level.

Patients diagnosed with Non-Hogkins Lymphoma at the level of the central nervous system may either present with intracranial nodules, meningeal or periventricular lesions, retinal affections or localized spinal malignant excrescences. Ocular lymphoma generally produces symptoms such as decreased vision, and inflammation of the eye. Despite the fact that ocular lymphoma may cause serious decreases in visual acuity and pronounced inflammation, pain is a rare symptom of this variety of lymphoma. Ocular lymphoma may at first affect only one eye, affecting both eyes in later stages of disease. Although this lymphoma subtype can be overcome with the aid of existing treatments, its occurrence often announces the occurrence of serious impairments at brain level, problems that are more difficult to cure. Thus, ocular lymphoma can be considered a major indicator for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at brain level, allowing doctors to timely intervene in order to minimize the development of further complications.

Patients with suspected ocular lymphoma need to go through a series of neurological investigations. The presence of symptoms such as headache, reduced vision, poor concentration, confusion or memory loss, corroborated with clinical signs of ocular lymphoma clearly point to involvement of the central nervous system in the disease. In order to slow down the progression of the lymphoma and to reduce the risks of complications, doctors often prescribe a series of medication treatments and therapies. Radiation therapy is generally recommended to patients with ocular lymphoma and in more severe cases, this form of therapy is combined with chemotherapeutic drugs.

So, if you want to find out more about non hodgkins lymphoma or even about mantle cell lymphoma please visit this link http://www.lymphoma-center.com/

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Your Cancer Resource

2008-08-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

Your Cancer Resource
By Morgan Hamilton

It seems the news has become virtually unwatchable and the print media, too painful to read. With death, sickness and disease plastered across most nightly news programs, it may be unavoidable. One of the worst of the worst is a horrible disease that we call cancer. Our collective knowledge of this disease is scarce to say the least. This is why it's important to acquire cancer facts from a reliable cancer resource. In the best resource you have right now is at your fingertips, your computer.

Have you ever has it that need for a solid and cancer resource? There is a plethora of valuable information that is available to us. The most important resource is also the most convenient as a cancer resource. I'm talking about the Internet. Cancer is so prevalent that I believe we should all take the time to learn a little, and by doing so we may educate ourselves and how to avoid getting cancer.

Are you aware that cancer is a genetic condition in many cases? It's true; while most individuals people don't realize this, they nevertheless are susceptible to cancer like the rest of us. But just because there are cancer genes with MS doesn't mean we have to succumb to them. To start, our diets play a big role in our health.

That's why it is so important that we take care of ourselves by heating right and exercising. When you subject yourself to poor eating habits and gaining extra pounds, you in turn better your chances of acquiring some kind of illness. We must play an active role in protecting our bodies from those agents that may do us harm.

Are you watching your diet? You can certainly turn to a credible cancer resource such as the Internet to learn more about eating right and avoiding processed foods. And of course it goes without saying that cancer can be avoided in many cases by simply not smoking. By now, virtually all of us should know and understand the negative effects of smoking and what it does to our lungs. Although I personally know someone that smokes who was in denial of this fact. If you are a heavy smoker, then you may want to get online and browse a few websites that deal with lung cancer.

In this day and age it's definitely not difficult to find a cancer resource. We would all be well served to become better educated in this area. There are numerous types of cancer that can affect different areas of the body. It may very well be impossible to completely prevent cancer, but at the same time there are plenty of things that we can do to protect ourselves from contracting it to begin with. Having a quality cancer resource at your disposal is an excellent first step in battling this hideous disease.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning men's health. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting Cancer Resource

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