Identifying the Signs of Breast Cancer

by: Anne Wolski

Copyright 2005 Anne Wolski For more info related to this subject and others please visit All About Info Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer deaths. Every woman's breasts are different so it is important for each individual woman to be familiar with her breasts in order to recognize any peculiarities. Unfortunately, the early stages of breast cancer may not have any symptoms. This is why it is important to follow screening recommendations. As a tumor grows in size, it can produce a variety of symptoms including: * lump or thickening in the breast or underarm * change in size or shape of the breast * nipple discharge or nipple turning inward * redness or scaling of the skin or nipple * ridges or pitting of the breast skin If you experience these symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean you have breast cancer, but you need to be examined by a doctor. Breast cancer is very rare before age 20 and is rarely diagnosed in women younger than age 25. Past that age, the incidence rises steadily to reach a peak around the age of menopause. The rate of increase is lessened after menopause, but older women are still at increasing risk over time. Although a specific cause for breast cancer has not been identified, there are risk factors that increase the likelihood that a woman will develop a breast cancer. These risks include: * Maternal relative with breast cancer. * Women who start their menstruation early and/or go into early menopause, increasing the length of reproductive years, are at greater risk. * Obesity. Women who are overweight are at increased risk * Women who have never had children are at greater risk. * Women who had their first child over age 30 are at greater risk. * Previous breast cancer. * Previous endometrial cancer. Aside from the genetic predisposition, the common factor in many of these risks is increased endogenous estrogen exposure over a long time. It is recommended that women over 35 check their breasts monthly. However, it is also important that all women do regular breast checks. Your doctor can show you how to effectively check your breasts. Any lump, regardless of size, should be reported to your doctor. Many of these lumps are simply fatty lumps or cysts but it is far better to be safe than sorry. Catching breast cancer early makes a big difference in the type of treatment needed as well as the overall prognosis. About the author: Anne Wolski has worked within the health and welfare industry for more than 30 years. To see many great health-related resources, go to http://www.magnetic-health-online.com Circulated by Article Emporium MORE Info..http://female-breastcancer.blogspot.com/

BREAST CANCSER BOOKS

Fighting For Your Life

by: Royane Real

Recently the well known American news anchor Peter Jennings died of lung cancer just a few months after he publicly announced that he had the disease and that he was going to fight it with everything he had. After his death, I read some of the tributes that poured in about the life of Peter Jennings. One of the common themes that appeared in the statements made by his friends and colleagues was that they remembered what a determined, competitive man he was. They said that he took on his battle with cancer head on, and that he fought his cancer the same way he battled everything, with steely will and determination. And unfortunately he didn’t win. Reading about Peter Jennings’ losing battle with lung cancer reminded me of another conversation I had had about cancer very recently. Last week I had a meeting with one of my business associates, a man named Brian, to discuss some business matters. After our business meeting was finished, Brian started telling me about his parent’s experience of living with cancer. A lot lof what Brian had to say was very thought provoking to me. Brian told me that his mother had been diagnosed with a bad type of bone cancer and doctors had told her that she had only a very short time to live. Yet in spite of the fact that her cancer kept spreading to other parts of her body, she managed to live fourteen years longer than what her doctors had originally predicted. Brian said that he often wondered why his mother managed to live such a long time with cancer when many of his younger friends who got cancer died of it quite quickly. Brian told me “I come from a sports and and athletic background, and so a lot of my friends are athletes. My athletic friends tend to be very focussed and competitive people, and they’re used to being very aggressive. When they were diagnosed with cancer, I watched them go into their competitive and athletic mode, and they would say ‘I’m going to fight this thing’. They would fight their cancer the same way they fought their athletic battles, with gritted teeth and courage and determination. Brian said, “What I noticed about these guys who were so tough and fought cancer so hard was that in a lot of cases they burned out really soon. When my mother got cancer, Brian continued, “Her approach was kind of the opposite. She wanted to live, but she never said she was going to fight this cancer. One of the things I watched her do is that she decided to drop everything that was stressful from her life.” Shopping was stressful for her, so she dropped it. Driving a car was stressful so she stopped driving. In fact, she stopped doing everything she didn’t want to do, and she only kept the things she really enjoyed. And she made a point of becoming very relaxed and enjoying her life. Then Brian told me, “This experience made me think that maybe the idea of fighting for your life when you have cancer is like trying to fight off insomnia.” “If you decide to fight insomnia by gritting your teeth and saying ‘I’m tough, I’ve fought lots of battles, I’m going to fight this insomnia and I’ m going to beat this thing, well, you’ll never fall asleep. It won’t work.” Now I can’t say that what seemed to work for Brian’s mother in living with cancer is the miracle key for anyone else who has cancer. This wasn’t a scientific study, and many other factors are involved. But Brian’s comments about his mother’s approach to living with cancer, and his comments about trying to use will power to fight insomnia are worth keeping in mind when we are facing a problem. Not every problem can be solved with will power and determination. In such fields as business and sports, an attitude of determination and competitiveness can be very useful, and can be highly rewarded. If we have been very successful in these fields by being high powered, determined and aggressive, we may try to use the same approach to tackle every problem. Aggressively and head-on. With grit and determination. However, being aggressive and determined does not work on every kind of problem. If your mate is unhappy in your marriage, or your child has a serious illness, or if you have too much stress in your life, then using determination and aggression will not solve these problems. In these situations, aggressiveness does not work. We need to recognize those situations where another approach might work better. Sometimes what we need to do is relax more, let go of our illusion that we can control everything, become more humble, and be open to living in the moment even when we don’t know all the answers. About the author: Royane Real is the author of several self help books, including “Your Quick Guide to Improving Your Learning Ability” Sign up today for her free newsletter filled with life improving tips at http://www.royanereal.com Circulated by Article Emporium

The Best Way To Prevent Cancer

by: Novi White

It’s not unusual matter if you are asked to consume fresh fruit and vegetables to prevent cancer. Once you took those foods rich with antioxidant, you are preventing various kinds of diseases from your body. Okay, so what’s the correlation between cancer and antioxidant? Have you got information on those two subjects? Of course you know that cancer is very dangerous, and that it may take your life away if it’s not treated well or earlier. One of the ways of preventing cancer is by taking antioxidant. Now let us see further details about antioxidant and how it’s going to make our body healthy. Our body naturally produces chemical elements (reactive molecules) called free radicals. They can cause permanent damage to our cells. Cancer, aging, and cardiovascular disease are the causes of this damage. To protect us from these diseases, antioxidant plays a great role. Antioxidant protects body cells from the bad impacts of free radicals, such as pollution, exhaust fumes, radiation, certain drugs, chemical exposure, and even processed food. How can you get this antioxidant then? Actually, our body has built natural methods of antioxidant in order to neutralize the free radicals. However, today’s environment is hazardous and has increased more free radicals which our body may not maintain anymore. Luckily, we have the nature to help us live longer. Yes, the nature produces many important substances that function as good antioxidant. Food nutrients and botanicals they produce have great roles in improving body’s health. To be exact, fresh foods like fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants other than those you can get from pills. Thus, eating them will prevent you from cancer and many other diseases caused by free radicals. Talking about fresh foods, oranges, peas, and cauliflower contain a very high capacity of antioxidant. What you might not now is that antioxidant may prevent prostate cancer, which is mostly found in men. There is a study that finds a good, protective effect in selenium. High blood levels of selenium decrease the risk of advanced prostate cancer. Thus, men who consume high levels of selenium significantly decrease prostate cancer risk. Selenium is mostly found in most plant foods and in some meats and shellfish. If you are nuts lovers, you are very lucky, as they are good sources of selenium. So now you have gathered information about the correlation of antioxidant and cancer. Will you start a healthier lifestyle now? Yes? Great! About the author: Novi White writes health articles on various publications. She has been working with doctors for their research publications. You can visit her Website MyAntioxidantGuide.com at http://www.myantioxydantguide.com Circulated by Article Emporium

Breast cancer for beginners

by: Mansi gupta

Introduction Because of the social changes, which has brought increased number of workingwoman and hence delayed childbearing, there has been a steep rise in the number of breast cancer patients in the last few decades. But as the incidence of the patients has risen so has raised the modality of treatments and the success rates. Also scientists have devised methods by which the cancer can be detected in an early stage and it has been convincingly proved that early detection and treatment bears a better prognosis than the later stage. Myths There are many myths attached to breast cancer. Some think that any lump in breast is a breast cancer but to the contrary most of them are benign. Similarly it was a popular belief earlier that breast-feeding decreases one’s risk of the cancer but that has been now found to be untrue. Some say that mammography makes the breast cancer widespread but it’s not true. Similarly there are many other myths, which need to be cleared in mind of the general mass for the proper detection and management of the tumor. Early detection Breast cancer can be detected in an early stage if women are taught to self-examine their breast. In case of detection of any breast lump or of any slightest suspicion, mammography should be done to rule out any tumor. Mammography is a good tool to diagnose this type of cancer. Statistics The incidence of breast cancer is increasing at an alarming rate. It is said that every 2-3 minutes one American woman is diagnosed a breast cancer. Cause Although the cause is not fully understood but it is hypothesized that there are various factors such as genetic and environmental. The environmental factors are increased age, obesity, smoking and having the first child at late age. Diagnosis The findings that denote a cancer are single, non-tender and firm to hard mass with ill-defined margins. This can be later confirmed by mammography and biopsy. After the cancer has been diagnosed staging is done to find out the best treatment option as well as the prognosis. Management The management of breast cancer rests basically on two things. The first is the treatment and second is the counseling. The treatment can further be divided into three: medical, radiation, and surgery. The medical treatment consists of drugs such as tamoxifen, which is an anti estrogen, aromatase inhibitors such as aminoglutethimide and monoclonal antibodies such as trastuzumab. But similar to other drugs they have their own side effects profile. The side effects associated with tamoxifen are increased vaginal bleeding, endometrial cancer and cataracts. The aromatase inhibitors have the side effects of leg cramps, jaundice and weight gain while the monoclonal antibodies may cause sterility or certain birth abnormalities. Generally the radiation and surgery are the modalities, which are needed for the treatment to ward off the body of the cancerous growth. Counseling This is one of the most important parts of the treatment both before and after the surgery. The patients are to be taught that this is only another disease, which has treatment available, and persons can lead a normal life after that. Latest research Latest research is being done on both the surgery and the medicine. For the surgery, surgeons are trying to find out the best way of surgery so that post surgery the patients have minimal disabilities. Similar medicines with lesser side effects are being researched. About the author: Mansi gupta writes about breast cancer topics. Learn more at http://www.breastcancerassistance.com. Circulated by Article Emporium

Breast Cancer Testing and Diagnosis

Breast Cancer, what you should know about Testing and Diagnosis

by: Fritz Frei

The chance, that breast cancer is found early, it is more likely to be treated successfully. Checking for cancer in a person who does not have any symptoms is called screening. Screening-Tests for breast cancer include, among others, clinical breast exams and mammograms and there is a very important base in the health-service for women. The doctor or other health care professional can check the breasts and underarms for lumps, during a clinical breast exam, which could be a sign of breast cancer. What is the “mammogram”? “The mammogram is a special x-ray of the breast and that can often detect cancers that there are too small for a woman or her doctor to feel them. “ A lot of studies show's that mammography screening has reduced the number of deaths from breast cancer. But also, some other studies have not shown a clear benefit from mammography. So- you can't get a 100% results! But, to day there are no other ways to check out the breast cancer with a good percentage. Concerning that, the Scientists are continuing to examine the level of benefit that mammography can produce. The National Cancer Institute recommends the following: • you are a woman in your 40s, you should have mammography screening every one to two years. • you are a woman age 50 and older, you should have mammography screening every one to two years. • If you are a woman who is at higher than average risk for breast cancer, you should seek expert medical advice about whether to begin screening before age 40 and how often to have screening mammography. The results are between 5 and 10 percent of mammogram not normal and require more testing. The one good information - the most of these follow-up tests confirm that no cancer was present. What will be this "more testing"? The doctor will call it a “Biopsy”. The procedure which is needed is to take a small amount of fluid or tissue must remove from the breast to make a diagnosis. A doctor might perform fine needle aspiration, a needle or core Biopsy, or a surgical Biopsy. This tissue goes to in the lab, this tissue will be checked on the pathologist examines under the microscope and the results let him see if any of the cells are cancerous. In the last time, the Doctors are studying another new type of surgical biopsy that removes less breast tissue. This new type is called an image-guided needle breast biopsy, or stereotactic biopsy. With this new system - If approved for general use, we can await, that the result's are much more efficient and clearly, so that the doctors would become an important surgical tool. Please take note, that eighty percent of U.S. women who have a surgical breast biopsy do not have cancer! ***But take also note, that women who have breast biopsies are at HIGHER RISK of developing breast cancer than women who have never had a breast biopsy.*** If you know that “- you will have perhaps a second opinion of the doctor's information's. The last technical review - With the magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, and ultrasound we have two other techniques which the researchers think might detect breast cancer with greater accuracy and with lower risk! What's can help you? Other new techniques used to find cancer include a new way of reading mammograms called digital mammography. Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, and ultrasound are two other techniques which researchers think might detect breast cancer with greater accuracy. Fritz Frei, director of public relations Health-Service-Online Phone - +41 71 630 06 86 E-mail: support http://www.cancer-info.info About the author: Fritz Frei make it easy to check out the important details about the diagnoses and test's of the breast-cancer. To receive more information's about all cancer -questions - Links and last research NEW's - visit the http://www.cancer-info.info Circulated by Article Emporium

The Cause Of Cancer

by: canro dicausa

Cancer is the disease of the cells. It is an abnormal growth of cells, which tend to reproduce in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, spread or metastasize. A cancerous growth or tumor is also known as a malignant growth or tumor. A growth or tumor, which is non-malignant is called benign. Such tumors are not cancer. Cancer is not a single disease. It is a group of more than hundred different and distinctive diseases. It is not contagious. Cancer can involve any tissue of the body and have many different forms in each body area. Most cancers are named for the type of cell or organ in which they start. If a cancer spreads (metastasizes), the new tumor bears the same name as the original(primary) tumor. Cancer is the Latin word for crab. The ancients used the word to mean a malignancy, doubtless because of the crab-like tenacity a malignant tumor sometimes seems to show in grasping the tissues it invades. Cancer may also be called malignancy, a malignant tumor, or a neoplasm (literally, a new growth). In medicine, common term for neoplasms, or tumors, that are malignant is known as Cancer. Like benign tumors, malignant tumors do not respond to body mechanisms that limit cell growth. Unlike benign tumors, malignant tumors consist of undifferentiated, or unspecialized, cells that show an atypical cell structure and do not function like the normal cells from the organ from which they derive. Cancer cells, unlike normal cells, lack contact inhibition; cancer cells growing in laboratory tissue culture do not stop growing when they touch each other on a glass or other solid surface but grow in masses several layers deep. Cancer results from mutations of certain genes that allow the cells to begin their uncontrolled growth. These mutations are either inherited or acquired. Acquired mutations are caused by repeated insults from triggers (e.g., cigarette smoke or ultraviolet rays) referred to as carcinogens. There is usually a latency period of years or decades between exposure to a carcinogen and the appearance of cancer. This, combined with the individual nature of susceptibility to cancer, makes it very difficult to establish a cause for many cancers. The most significant avoidable carcinogens are the chemical components of tobacco smoke. Dietary components, like excessive consumption of alcohol or of foods high in fat and low in fiber rather than fruits and vegetables that contain antioxidants and necessary micronutrients, have also been linked with various cancers. Some cancers may be triggered by hormone imbalances. For example, some daughters of mothers who had been given DES (diethylstilbestrol) during pregnancy to prevent miscarriage developed vaginal adenocarcinomas as young women. Aflatoxins are natural mold byproducts that can cause cancer of the liver. Certain carcinogens present occupational hazards. For example, in the asbestos industry, workers have a high probability of developing lung and colon cancer or a particularly virulent cancer of the mesothelium (the lining of the chest and abdomen). Benzene and vinyl chloride are other known industrial carcinogens. Risk to humans from carcinogens depends upon the dose and a person's biologic susceptibility. Factors influencing a person's biological susceptibility to cancer include age, sex, immune status, nutritional status, genetics, and ethnicity. About the author: canro dicausa is the owner of RUS Cancer which is a premier resource for cancer information. for more information, go to http://www.ruscancer.com Circulated by Article Emporium

Cancer Alternative Medicine

ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF MEDICINE FOR CANCER PATIENT

by: John D.Samara

John D.Samara http://www.childcancerandyou.org Alternative forms of medicine like: Acupuncture can be used for providing pain relief. Herbal Medicine helps strengthen the body's ability to eliminate cancer cells. They do not however cure cancer, but can definitely prolong the life of a person suffering from cancer. Homeopathy is effective in providing relief from the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. Mind and Body Treatment focuses on a persons emotions, behaviour and faith. It is believed that a person must maintain a positive attitude and live a life free of mental and emotional stress. Massage and reflexology have also been found to be effective in strengthening cells and promoting the release of anti-cancer hormones in the body. The Mind and Body treatment has been found to be very effective and powerful in dealing with cancer, and perhaps even preventing it. Nutrition and Diet has been found to be effective in preventing tissue and cell damage and ensuring the proper immune function of the body. Traditional Chinese Medicine has been found to be effective in providing relief from the side effects of the conventional treatments of cancer. Practitioners of this form of medicine recommend the use of herbs like Asian Ginseng, Astragalus and Dong Quai. Article submited By John D. Samara On the behalf of www.childcancerandyou.org Global cancer concern india is a ngo in india serving cancer suffering people for cure of different types of cancer like child cancer, throat cancer, breast cancer, bone cancer, prostat cancer etc. For making donationskindly visit www.childcancerandyou.org Donation for Cancer Patients , Online Donations, Donate Online for Cancer Patients, NGO india About the author: John D. Samara is a journalist and presently working in remote areas of asian sub continents for awareness on Cancer. Circulated by Article Emporium