Cancer And How Can I Prevent It

Cancer is not one disease. Most cancers are named for the type of cell or organ in which they start. While skin cancer is the most common type of malignancy for both men and women, the second most common type in men is prostate cancer and in women, breast cancer.Cancer frequency does not equate to cancer mortality. Skin cancers are often curable. Benign tumors are NOT cancer; malignant tumors are cancer. Cancer is NOT contagious.Cancer is the Latin word for crab.

ORIGIN OF CANCER

All cancers begin in cells, the body’s basic unit of life. To understand cancer, it’s helpful to know what happens when normal cells become cancer cells.When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor.

COMMON TYPES OF CANCER

A. Bone Cancer

B. Brain Cancer

C. Breast Cancer

D. Endocrine Cancer

E. Gastrointestinal Cancer

F. Gynecologic Cancer

G. Head & Neck Cancer

I. Lung Cancer

L. Prostate Cancer

M. Skin Cancer

CAUSES OF CANCER

• Gender.
• Cirrhosis.Cirrhosis (suh-row-sis) is a disease in which liver cells are damaged and replaced with scar tissue. This can often lead to cancer. In this country, the major causes of liver cirrhosis are alcohol abuse and hepatitis B and C. Another cause is a disease that results in too much iron in the liver.
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Aflatoxins.These cancer-causing substances are made by a fungus that can contaminate peanuts, wheat, soybeans, groundnuts, corn, and rice. Long-term exposure to aflatoxins can increase the risk of liver cancer. In the United States and Europe, these foods are tested for aflatoxins.
• Vinyl Chloride and Thorium Dioxide (Thorotrast)
• Anabolic Steroids.These male hormones are used by some athletes to increase their strength. Long-term use of these can slightly increase the risk of liver cancer.
• Arsenic

In some parts of the world, drinking water contaminated with arsenic increases the risk of liver cancer. This is a concern in some areas of the United States.

Less Certain Risk Factors for Liver Cancer

1. Birth Control Pills.Birth control pills may slightly increase the risk of liver cancer. Most of the studies linking birth control pills and cancer involve types of pills that are no longer used. Birth control pills are now made in a different way, and it is not known if they increase liver cancer risk.
2. Tobacco

CANCER SYSTOMS TO NOTE

1. Local Symptoms
2. Unusual Lumps
3. Swelling
4. Hemorrhage/Bleeding
5. Pain
6. Ulcers
7. Jaundice
8. Systemic Systoms
9. Weight Loss
10. Poor Appetite
11. Fatigue
12. Cachexia (Loss of weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness, and significant loss of appetite)
13. Excessive Sweating
14. Night Sweats
15. Anemia
16. Thrombosis
17. Hormonal Changes

HOW TO PREVENT CANCER

1. Food: Eat organic produce, especially fruits whose peels are eaten, and avoid red meat. Eat low on the food chain, choosing more fresh produce and grains and less meat.
2. Cleaning products: Look under the kitchen sink, and avoid using anything that carries a skull and crossbones. Buy baking soda and vinegar instead – they’re just as good.
3. Cellphones: Limit your calls as much as possible, to lower direct microwave penetration to your brain.
4. Non-stick cookware and stain repellents: Throw out any old, cracked non-stick pans, since the chemical, PFOA, used to make the non-stick coating has been linked to cancer. It is also presernt in stain-resistant clothing, and waterproof fabrics. Rain-proof gear is OK,, but not next to the skin.
5. Personal care items: Avoid anything that contains parabens – butylparaben, methylparaben – which in some studies have shown estrogenic activity, and which have also been found in human breast tumours. “We have to create political change so young mothers and fathers don’t need to be chemists to decide on a shampoo for their baby.

Source by ezinearticles.com