Cancer- Handy Facts

One in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer during our life.

The disease tends to affect older people - but can strike at any time.

Excluding certain skin cancers, there were almost 290,000 new cases of the disease in 2005.

Some cancer, such as breast, are becoming more common, while new cases of lung cancer are expected to fall away due to the drop in the number of smokers.

However, while the overall number of new cancers is not falling, the good news is that successful treatment rates for many of the most common types are improving rapidly.

BBC News has produced, in conjunction with Cancer Research UK, a guide to some of the most common forms of cancer and the treatments used to tackle them.

Primary liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or hepatoma, is the fifth most common form of cancer but the third most common caus

Primary liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or hepatoma, is the fifth most common form of cancer but the third most common cause of death from cancer worldwide. Although it is more prevalent in other parts of the world, in the United States about 19,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and most will die from the disease. Historically, the median survival rate has been about six months without therapy.
The incidence of liver cancer in the United States is currently estimated at around 3 per 100,000 persons, with significant gender, ethnic and geographic variations. However, these numbers are rising quickly and may be a gross under-estimate. For reasons that are not really clear, it is a predominantly male disease with a male:female ratio of 4:1.
Although all the causes of liver cancers are not known, we do know that the majority are caused by hepatitis B, hepatitis C and/or abuse of alcohol. Those factors typically lead to cirrhosis, which in turns leads to liver failure and/or liver cancer (HCC). Depending on the part of the world, dietary contamination may also be important. In the United States, obesity has recently been shown to be important in the development of cirrhosis, a predisposing factor to the development of HCC. (If you have one or more of these risk factors, speak with your physician about proactive screening tests.)

Lungs Cancer

The lungs are an essential life force for our bodies. The body cannot survive without the lungs ability to draw life-sustaining oxygen from the air and expel toxic carbon dioxide. The oxygen supplied by the lungs is necessary for the proper functioning of all our body's cells. Therefore, alterations in that ability affect every part of the body.Each lung is divided into lobes. Unlike other body parts, the lungs are not an exact match. The right lung is divided into three lobesupper, middle and lower. The left lung has two lobes- upper and lower. Each of these lobes functions as a mini-lung. This unique quality allows surgeons to remove one or more lobes, as is sometimes necessary for lung cancer treatment, leaving the remaining lobes unaffected and capable of sustaining life.The center of the chest is called the mediastinum. This is the part of the body that contains the heart, major blood vessels, lymph nodes and the esophagus. Pulmonary arteries and veins are responsible for carrying blood to and from the lungs. The pleura is a slippery membrane that lines your chest cavity and covers each of your lungs to allow the lungs to move smoothly.Inhalation delivers air to the lungs via the bronchial tree which consists of the trachea (wind pipe) and branches out into two bronchi leading to each lung. The branches continue into a tree like structure inside the lungs referred to as the bronchial tubes or bronchioles. There are more than 300 million alveoli, clusters of microscopic air sacs, contained at the ends of the bronchioles. The alveoli are responsible for the transferring of oxygen and carbon dioxide. As cells receive oxygen, they release carbon dioxide and other toxic substances into the blood stream. Carbon dioxide then passes from small blood vessels called capillaries into the alveoli. When we exhale we expel carbon dioxide into the air. With our next breath the entire process begins again.

WHAT IS MH?

The sudden unexpected death of a healthy individual undergoing minor surgery is a tragedy almost beyond comprehension in this day of modern medical miracles. Yet this still happens to patients susceptible to malignant hyperthermia (MH). Even when treated properly, the syndrome known as the MH crisis can cause death. In rare cases, survivors might be left with brain damage, failed kidneys, muscle damage or impaired function of other major organs.

Another cause of unexpected death during or shortly after anesthesia is a sudden cardiac arrest in a young male patient with muscular dystrophy. In some cases the patient may not be old enough to show the characteristic signs of muscle weakness. The anesthesia care team may therefore not realize that the patient may develop a marked increase in potassium in the blood sufficient to stop the heart when anesthetized. This phenomenon occurs with the use of drugs that "trigger MH," but the syndrome is distinct and different from MH. Another sign of this reaction is severe muscle breakdown manifested by brown urine and kidney failure. (See below: Are There Links Between MH and Other Diseases?)

Cancer survivor extends a hand

The terms “pancreatic cancer” and “cancer survivor” aren’t usually in the same sentence. They are for Barbara Miller.

Last week, as she sat in the cancer center recliner for 2  1/2 hours, taking in the poison of her latest chemo treatment, she was on her cell phone planning a family trip to Branson. Last summer it was an Alaskan cruise.

Traveling, occasionally with family members but mostly on her own, is one of her therapies. She returned from a solo trip to Hawaii last week.

Another is reaching out to people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Miller is a volunteer with the Bloch Cancer Hotline, which connects cancer survivors with the newly diagnosed. She knows she is giving hope to people with little to hang their hope on: Surviving pancreatic cancer as long as Miller has — her diagnosis came in 2002 — is rare.

“I’m lucky to live as long as I have, and nobody knows why I have,” said Miller, who is 64 and who will celebrate with hundreds of other cancer survivors Sunday at the Celebration of Life Rally.

Her recent hot line “visits” include talking with a patient in Canada and, mostly by e-mail, with a patient in Israel. Miller doesn’t deliver medical advice, of course, but she listens and offers information about her own experience. And encouragement.

She recalls fondly a firefighter from Maine who was diagnosed at 38 and died at 41. They talked often over those years and even met when he visited the area to spend some time with an old friend.

“He told me that talking to me did him more good than any of the doctors,” she said. “He was young. He wanted to live so badly.”

Miller is a survivor but also a patient. She learned in January her cancer was back, the same news she got in January 2006. And so she’s undergoing chemo a third time.

“Some of the patients I talk to say, ‘I couldn’t go through chemo again,’ ” Miller said. “You don’t know until you get there. You don’t know what you can do, what you want to do.”

By EDWARD M. EVELD

The Kansas City Star

Her plans are to continue chemo and her travels. Last year she took a driving trip to New England and a Danube River cruise. Her scrapbooks from her many trips are so extensive that friends borrow them as guidebooks.

Where next? She has been all over the world but never to India or Thailand.

“I have my ‘bucket list’ of places to go, and I’m checking them off,” she said.

Miller retired in 1999 after 31 years as a teacher and librarian with the Center School District. She lives in Kansas City with her husband, Dean. They have two daughters and three grandchildren — her inspiration, she said, and the reasons for the family trips.

“Life goes on,” she said. “I figure the more time we spend together the better, not knowing what will happen tomorrow — for any of us.”

Skin Cancer - Understanding the Three Types of Skin Cancer

These days thousands of cases of skin cancer has been reported. Skin cancer is increasing day by day with the increasing rate. The skin cancer can be defined in three parts. All of these skin cancers are dangerous for humans. These three skin cancers are as follows:

Melanoma- This is the first amongst three types of skin cancers. This can start with a point that is in the moles and this rapidly spread all over the body and this can lead to the death of the infected person. It is advised that if anyone has moles which have irregular borders and are of multiple colors must get checked through a specialist.

Usually people takes it lightly, some takes it as the season changing effects and some takes it in any other way but this has to be treated well because if this is take n lightly then this can lead to the death of the patient. The moles which are extremely opposite to these that is the moles with the regular borders and with the single colors are out of the reach of the skin cancer threat.

Squamous cell cancer- This is also a very dangerous skin cancer type. This type of skin cancer does not spread regularly as it shows its impact occasionally and when it spreads all over the body it could be much more dangerous that melanoma even. It is again advised that whenever one feels that with a very low speed he is receiving some sorts of infection then he must consult a specialist before it gets uncontrollable.

Basal cell skin cancer- This is the third, last and the most common type of the skin cancer. This type of skin cancer does not spread through the body and there are very rare chances that if this spreads from the body also this is the only type of skin cancer which can be cured by the 100% of the lesion. These cancers can not be stopped if they reach their speed and the only way to stop them is to wait until they get through with their entire activity and up to that period the patient will not survive.

Therefore, it is recommended that people must take care of them because if they get trapped by any of this type then this would be very difficult even for the doctor to cure them.

The symptoms for the basal cell skin cancer are that it develops some scaly surface on the area which is usually exposed in the light. There are special creams available to remove this kind of infection which is known as actinic keratosis and the special cream which is advised to remove this is imiquimod. Usually what people do is that they leave that red area as it is and that infection gets enough time to make his own way and this is the reason why the person get trapped by this skin cancer.

Always keep in mind that early detection is your best weapon against any types of cancer.

To Your Health!

Florida Abortion Clinic. Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women, including Florida abortion clinic, physical examinations, family planning, counseling, laboratory services and sexually transmitted disease screening and counseling

Mesothelioma Cancer Settlements

Mesothelioma cancer is a unique type of cancer that can develop in the human body in certain places like the pleura, the peritoneum and pericardium. The pleura refer to the outer membranes that surround the lungs and have some protective functions.

The peritoneum are the membranes that surround all internal organs in the abdominal cavity as well as the internal wall of the abdominal cavity. These membranes have some protective functions and help in the movement processes.

The pericardium is also membrane or a sac that surround the heart and its great arteries. Every place cause a different type of mesothelioma and we can differentiate every type as following. The pleural mesothelioma when the tumors are detected in the pleura.

The pericardial mesothelioma when the tumors are detected in the pericardium. And the last type is the peritoneal mesothelioma when the tumors are detected in the pericardium. If you or one of your family has working in any manufacturing company that was producing construction relate products and has diagnosed as a mesothelioma patient, that company almost was the cause of this mesothelioma.

In the past, those construction companies were used Asbestos and these materials are the main reason for mesothelioma. Then, you can make a lawsuit against this manufacturing company asking for a suitable compensation due to your unmeasured suffering whether it a pain suffering or an inability of working suffering. The settlements of mesothelioma can be millions of dollars and there are many cases have succeeded and get great compensations.

Get a mesothelioma help now: http://www.mesotheliomaactivists.net Mesothelioma settlements tips Sean Shahin