Archive for October, 2009
Secondary Cancers
Secondary Liver Cancer
Suffering from the secondary liver cancer or the secondary brain cancer, etc. doesn’t mean that you let go of your wish to live. But a bit of knowledge about the disease can surely help you come through the problems.
Secondary cancers are nothing but the extension of the original tumor that contains the same deadly cells. Cancer can spread to the organs and tissues far from the original site of cancer and this is called the secondary cancer site. A secondary cancer that started in the lung and moved to the liver is not called the liver cancer but is known as secondary lung cancer that has spread to the liver.
Symptoms that can be noticed in a secondary cancer include, weight change, persistent cough, bleeding or unexplained pain. If you had cancer in the past, your doctor will surely check the locations where your type of cancer commonly spreads.
Here we will discuss about the three fatal secondary cancers namely, secondary bone cancer, secondary brain cancer and secondary liver cancer.
Secondary Bone Cancer
Secondary bone cancer starts in other parts of the body and then spreads to the bones. It is a tumor which has the potential to spread to other parts of the body. It is also called malignant bone tumour. The most common symptoms of bone cancer are pain and swelling in the affected area.
Secondary Brain Cancer
Secondary brain cancer is also known as metastatic brain cancer. It originates in the other parts of the body and migrates to the brain. Secondary brain cancer signifies advanced disease and has a poor prognosis. It occurs in 20% to 30% of patients and incidence increases with age. Symptoms are vision or hearing loss.
Secondary Liver Cancer
Secondary liver cancer is a cancer that has started somewhere else in the body and has affected the liver. The most common types of cancer that spread to the liver start in bowel, breast, pancreas, stomach, lung, ovary, or skin. It may not cause any symptoms for a long time and it may only be discovered by routine tests.
The above given information is just to make you aware about the different forms of secondary cancers, but it’s always wise to consult a doctor.
Prostate Cancer Stages
Prostate Cancer Staging
Prostate cancer staging is the only way to timely diagnose your cancer and thus help you live a longer life. Normally cells grow and divide to form new cells needed by our body for survival. But, sometimes this process goes wrong and new cells form when the body does not need them. The buildup of extra cells often forms a mass of tissue called tumor. Prostate growth can be benign or malignant. However, benign growth is not as harmful as malignant growth.
When prostate cancer is diagnosed, it is detected by its stage. Prostate cancer staging is nothing but a careful attempt to determine the extent it has spread to other parts of the body.
Two popular systems for Prostate cancer staging are:
1) The Whitmore-Jewett staging ranges from A to D with sub-stages.
2) The TNM staging system describes the extent of the primary tumor, the absence or presence of metastasis to nearby lymph nodes or glands (N), and the absence or presence of distant metastasis (M).
Prostate Cancer Stages
There are basically four Prostate cancer stages, of which the prostate cancer stage 3 and the prostate cancer stage 4 are crucial:
Stage 1: This is the first stage of Prostate cancer and in this stage the tumor cannot be detected by examination but is only found incidentally during a surgery. The grade is G1 or the Gleason score is no higher than 4.
Stage 2: At this stage the tumor is more advanced but does not extend beyond the prostate. In this stage it can be found by examination either physical examination or by PSA test.
Stage 3: In this stage the tumor has extended beyond the prostate. In this stage of cancer areas like seminal vesicles can get affected, Surgery and radiation therapy may or may no be an option for prostate cancer stage 3, it depends on from patient to patient.
Stage 4: This stage can also be known as advanced stage, in this stage the cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland. Androgen deprivation therapy is usually recommended at Prostate cancer stage 4 as the initial treatment.
Behcets’s disease
Behcets’s disease
Behcets’s disease is also known as behcets’s syndrome. It is an uncommon disease, which causes inflation of blood vessels. Like all other diseases, this also has signs and symptoms. The most common behcets disease symptoms are: mouth ulcers and genital ulcers. The disease can also cause inflation of other body parts like, eyes, joints, skin, veins, arteries, nervous system, heart and digestive system.
Research is still going on, to find the cause of behcets’s disease. It is believed that the immune system has an important part to play in the development bechet’s disease. Behcets’s disease is most common in eastern Asia, Middle East and Mediterranean. Turkey tops the list of people affected with behcets’s disease, where it is estimated that between 110-420 people in every 100,000 will develop it. It is found that the behcets’s disease symptoms are more severe among men rather than women. The disease is a highly unpredictable. The main cause or reason triggering the disease is still not found out. In most severe cases of the disease for inflation of eye can cause permanent blindness, inflation in veins, arteries, nervous system and heart, can even be life threatening. Medical science is yet to find for behcets disease, but it is possible to control the signs and not allow them to turn severe.
Behcets’s disease symptoms
Behcets’s disease symptoms tend to change, depending upon which part is inflated. Symptoms of eye inflation are: painful red eyes, sensitive to light, blurred vision. Symptoms of inflated nervous system may include: headache, uncontrollable twitching or shaking, partial paralysis on one side of the body, changes in behavior – people become either unusually apathetic or unusually uninhibited, and loss of bowel and bladder control. The diagnosis of behcets’s disease can either be done by identifying the pattern of symptoms or by blood tests, urine tests and X-ray. There is no known treatment for behcets’s disease, but several medications can be used to control the symptoms, for example; immunosuppressants: cyclophosphamide, and azathioprine. Monoclonal antibodies: alemtuzumab, infliximab, and interferon alpha.
There are various medical organizations researching on behcets’s disease. The most active association which not only does the research on the disease but also help the people infected by this disease is American behcets disease Association. Their mission is locating people with the disease and providing them with information and support. Providing current and pertinent educational information to the medical community and to aid in diagnosing and treating this disease is the main aim of all organizations. Decreasing isolation and stress from the lives of people with Behcets’s Disease and their family members.
Let us all make sure that we are aware of the signs which may lead to behcets’s disease and will take necessary steps to prevent and control it.
Diabetes Tester
Diabetes Testers
There are many people suffering from some or the other diseases today especially from diabetes and take the help of the diabetes testers. Of which diabetes is a very common. Diabetes is the inability of body to appropriately handle sugars. It is when we drink or eat something our pancreas produce a hormone called insulin, which is released into the blood and helps regulate the amount of sugar in the blood. Diabetes is the result when this process is not maintained. There are many diabetes testers available to test the diabetes if you suspect from the symptoms.
The danger is that if it is not immediately life threatening the long terms effects of high blood sugar can be harmful to health. And it cause problems in organs like kidneys, nerves, eyes and heart. The easiest way to check if you have diabetes is to have diabetes blood tester by doctor. Wherein, a sample of blood is obtained by pricking a finger using small electronic tester. The diabetes tester involves a kit to test the diabetes at home. When you buy such kits, you need to ensure that it is easy to use. When you think you have symptoms of diabetes; do not ignore it and make sure that you check it out. And these kits will help you to do the needful.
Diabetes Tester
In case of already having diabetes, one should check with the test kit daily for the amount of glucose in the body. The diabetes tester kit is battery operated, test strips for glucose, lancets and a manual. The strips will be inserted into a meter, then you need to wipe your finger using rubbing with alcohol. After the area is sterilized, the finger will have to be picked and squeeze until you see some blood drops. The blood is placed on the area of test strips and the meter will show the results immediately.
These diabetes testers are easily available in the market so you can have the frequent test using these blood testers. And stay healthy.
Info on Diabetes
Info on Diabetes Type 2
Today diabetes is most commonly found in many people, especially Type 2 diabetes. And, so many doctors and website give lot of info on diabetes type 2 and type 1 also. In diabetes, the human body becomes inefficient in producing proper amount of insulin and thus increases the glucose level in the blood.
Three important types of diabetes are there – diabetes type 1, diabetes type 2 and gestational diabetes. And, info on diabetes of every type is very necessary for the precautions. All the three type of diabetes affects people in different ways.
Type 1 diabetes is a type of autoimmune disease, in which the body’s immune system acts against the body. The immune system starts attacking the pancreas that produces the beta cells. And, so a person with type 1 diabetes has to take injections daily to survive. Diabetes type 1 usually appears in the people below 30 years of age. The actual info on diabetes type 1 causes or why the body immune system attacks the beta cells is still now not known. Around 5 to 10 percent of diabetes patients are suffering from type 1 diabetes.
Around 90 to 95 percent of diabetes patients are suffering from type 2 diabetes. In most people it is seen that type 2 diabetes is caused due to this disease carrying on from family generations. Other main causes of Type 2 diabetes are due to obesity in 45 years of age or more, having history of the gestational diabetes in generations, ethnicity and physical inactivity. It is seen that over 80% of type 2 diabetes patients are overweight. In this type of diabetes, the pancreas is producing the insulin hormone but the human body does not response to it. Most patients suffering from this type of diabetes may also suffer from Type 1 diabetes in future. The most common symptoms of type 2 diabetes are urinating in small intervals of time, fatigue, weight loss, feeling thirstier, different types of infections, slow healing and blurred vision.
Only during the pregnancy time, the gestational diabetes may develop. Like type 2 diabetes, the gestational diabetes also has some ethnic and genetic indicators. Women who develop gestational diabetes during their pregnancy have more chances of developing type 2 diabetes in later age.
Whenever any patient is diagnosing by any type of diabetes, it makes him frightened. But, with proper info on diabetes they can able to learn how to live with this disease.