CANCER OF THE BRAIN

                 Cancers in the brain tissue frequently are the result of metastasis from other body organs. They travel through the bloodstream, primarily from cancers of the
lung, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and breast. They become implanted in both the cerebrum, and cerebellum, and although there is wide distribution of the cancer cells, they are clustered mainly near the surfaces of the brain tissues. Primarily brain tumors are more common among children than among adults; in children, other cancer sites are not likely to have had time to develop to the stage of metastasis of malignant cells to the brain.

                  A cancer that seems to originate in the brain tissues is known as glioblastoma multiforme, a malignant growth that strike at any age but is more likely occur during middle age. The glioblastoma may develop in nearly any part of the brain structure, including the brain stem, and spread extensively into a large tumorous mass.

                   

                   Symptoms of brain cancer may include headache, dizziness, nervousness, depression, mental confusion, vomiting, and paralysis. The symptoms sometimes are interpreted as those of a psychiatric disorder, and treatment of the organic disease may be postponed until too late.

                   
Source: The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

COLON-RECTUM CANCER

                                                     
            Cancer of the colon (large intestine) and rectum is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It afflicts men and women about equally.The five-year survival rate from this form of cancer, usually after surgery, is 60 to 70 percent where the cancer was localized and 30 to 40 percent where there was regional involvement. However, authorities now believe that this rate could be upped substantially through early diagnosis and prompt treatment.

             Early symptoms of colon cancer often produce changes in bowel habits that persist longer than normal. The change may be constipation or diarrhea, or even both alternating. cancers of the colon also often produce large quantities of gas, which cause abdominal discomfort ranging from a feeling of overfullness to pain, intermittent at first and then coming as regular cramps.
              Both colon cancer and rectal cancer may also cause bleeding. Sometimes such bleeding is evidenced in the stool or on the tissue (the most frequent first sign of rectal cancer); but if  the bleeding is slight and occurs high enough up to colon, it may not be visible at all. After a period of weeks, however, the persistent bleeding causes anemia in the patient.

              All such symptoms should be investigated promptly. Unfortunately, many persons tend to ignore them. Chronic constipation, for example, or gas, is easy to dismiss for the nuisance that is  usually is. Even rectal bleeding, which demands immediate medical consultation, is often ignored by hemorrhoid sufferers, who fail to realize that hemorrhoids and cancer, though unrelated, can and sometimes do exist in the same persons at the same time.


 Source: The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

LUNG CANCER

           Lung Cancer is one of the most preventable of all malignancies. Most cases, the majority of medical experts agree, are caused by smoking cigarettes.

           Smoking accounts for 90 percent of all lung cancer deaths. It is known that the lungs of some cigarette smokers show tissue changes before cancer appears, changes apparently caused by irritation of the lining of the bronchi-the large air tubes in the lung. This is why a heavy smoker who has been puffing away for many years but then stops smoking has a better chance of avoiding lung cancer than one who continues smoking. The evidence linking cigarette smoking and lung cancer was purely statistical, although overwhelming. Cigarette smoking has also been implicated in other kinds of lung disease, including the often-fatal emphysema, and in cardiovascular diseases.
           To any sensible person, then the options would seem clear: If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, STOP, CUT DOWN, and switch to a brand low in TARS and NICOTINE- suspected but not proved to be the principal harmful agents in cigarette smoke. Other agents are known to produce lung cancers- URANIUM ORE dust or ASBESTOS FIBERS.

            Source: The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

SYMPTOMS OF LEUKEMIA

Common symptoms to all leukemias include fever, weight loss, fatigue, bone pain, anemia as expressed in paleness, and an enlarged spleen or masses under the skin caused by an accumulation of leukemic cells.There may be skin lesions and a tendency to bleed.Infections may become more common and less responsive to treatment because of a loss of the normal blood cells needed to resist disease. Acute leukemia may be fatal within a few weeks of the onset of symptoms. But chronic cases receiving proper treatment have been known to survive more than 25 years.Biopsies of bone marrow and careful blood studies usually identify the disease. Source:The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

LEUKEMIA

Leukemia is sometimes not considered a true cancer, because leukemia involves blood cells circulating through the body rather than a fixed mass of tissue. However, leukemia cells, when studied under the microscope and in cells cultures, behave like cancer cells found in tumors. There are both acute and chronic forms of leukemia, such as acute granulocytic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia,named after the particular kind of white blood cells that are most affected. Leukemia affects the blood-forming tissues,such as the bone marrow, resulting in an overproduction of white blood cells.The disease is particularly lethal to children under the age of 15; more than 10 percent of the leukemia deaths each year is among children. The acute granulocytic leukemia can occur at any age, but the chronic lymphocytic leukemia usually does not appear before the age of 40. Source: The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

PROSTATE CANCER

              Cancer of the prostate is one of the most common cancers among men. It is a disease noted for its secondary symptoms. It is usually detected because a physician begins analyzing symptoms that could suggest other disorders. There may for example, be blood in the urine, indicating a serious problem that could be located anywhere along the urinary tract. Because the prostate encircles the urethra, which is the outlet from the bladder, any prostatic problem can cause disturbances in the normal passage of urine, including increased frequency of urination or discomfort in urinating. however, these also could be the symptoms of ailments other than cancer of the prostate.
               Diagnosis of prostatic cancer usually begins with an examination of the prostate through the wall of the rectum. If during the examination  of prostate for men over the age of 40, the physician feels a lump or hardened area, further tests are ordered. The presence of a lump in the prostate need not be evidence of cancer; about half of the lumps and nodules are caused bt fibrosis, calcium deposits, or other noncancerous bodies. Transrectal ultrasound is a newer detection method used in conjunction with the traditional digital rectal examination by a cystoscope, which is inserted through the urethra to provide a view of the tissues of the area, plus a laboratory examination of tissue samples and prostatic fluid samples. A microscopic study of the samples may reveal the presence of cancer cells. In the search for evidence of cancer of the prostate, diagnostic clues may be found in blood chemistry tests and by the examination of a urinary pyelogram that could indicate obstractions from the prostate walls.

              Source: The New complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

ENDOMETRIAL CANCER

              Cancer of the body of the uterus, or endometrial cancer, is more common than cancer of the cervix. Uterine cancer is the most common type of cancer of the reproductive organs. Cervical cancer primarily affects women before middle age; uterine cancer occurs more frequently among women beyond the menopause, with its highest rate occuring among women between the ages of 50 and 70.

               Survival rate for cancer of the uterus is high, with 82 percent living 5 years after diagnosis. Risk factors for uterine cancer include obesity, diabetes, and ovarian cysts.Other potential risk are for women who have taken estrogen-only pills for menopausal symptoms and women who have taken tamoxifen for breast cancer. 

               Symptoms usually include bleeding between menstrual periods or after menopause, and occasionally a watery or blood-stained vaginal discharge.Most patients experience no pain in the early stages, although pain is a symptom in advanced uterine cancer or when the disease is complicated by an infection.Unfortunately,there is no simple test, like the pap smear for cervical cancer, that provides a good diagnostic clue to the presence of endometrial cancer.the pap smear does occasionally pick up cells sloughed off by the endometrium, and laboratory tests can tell if they might be malignant. The best chance for early diagnosis is for a woman to report to her gynecologist or physician any signs of abnormal bleeding between periods, or post-menopausal bleeding. 

             Source: The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia