I have to start today’s article with an apology. I was out for an intensive course that lasted for eight weeks. During this period, there was no time to spare in order to drop some lines for my fans out there who are reading my articles. To crown up my error, I did not tell you guys that I will be away for some time. Please accept my apology.

Today, we are still going to discuss another type of cancer that attacks man. Cancer is such a terrible disease that it can attack any part of the body, except if there is no blood flow into that area.

The focus of our discussion today is cancer of the Gallbladder. This is a common type of cancer that affects man. When there is an attack of the cancer of the gallbladder on an individual, the person will begin to notice some signs of “indigestion”, and this is usually preceded by some kinds of irritation by the gallstones. Pain and tenderness in the gallbladder region will be experienced by the victim.

After this first stage, the patient will now begin to notice that he is having persistent but progressive jaundice. The abdominal cavity will now begin to collect and store fluid, which will lead to the spread of this cancer to the liver. Once there is this storage of fluid in the abdominal cavity, spreading this cancer to the adjacent lymph nodes, and to the liver usually occurs very early, and may not be noticed initially.

When the cancer of the gallbladder is fully established in the body of an individual, the first thing to notice is that the individual will fail rapidly in health, and in most cases, the patients do not live more than one year. However, if it is detected early enough, the situation can be arrested and the life of the patient saved, if the case is handled by a competent doctor, and the best way to save the situation is through surgery.

Cancer of the esophagus occurs in any part of the body, starting from the throat down to other organs of the body, however, it is commonly found in the lower parts of the body organs. A person suffering from this type of cancer finds it increasingly difficult to swallow something. When this type of cancer is noticed, it requires the attention of a specially trained doctor to handle the treatment.

In treating this case of cancer, a specially trained doctor on this field, will first of all, view this esophagus cancer through an esophaguscope, and then implant some radium “seeds” to them. This gives the patience a relief for some time. In order to get a better result after treatment, it is advised that the internal treatment be combined with X-ray radiation from the outside. When this method is applied, the results are always better.

If the esophagus becomes completely obstructed, then it will be necessary to make an opening through the abdominal wall into the stomach. The patient will now be fed through a tube that will pass through this abdominal wall into the stomach. Of course, the only food that the patient can take at this stage that will sustain his life is only liquid foods, which will pass through this tube fixed to the abdominal wall.

However, with the advancement in health care technology, there has been increasing cases of successful treatments, resulting from some radical surgical operations carried out on the victims of esophagus cancer. But the fact still remains that a specialist in this field must handle the case to avoid any error that may be fatal.

The cervix, which is an outlet of the uterus, is situated right deep inside the vagina. When there is a cancer threat in this part of the body, it might take sometime before being noticed. This is because, the cancer can lie dormant for many years inside the cervix, but when it begins to spread, it can invade the inner tissues, and spread to the lymph nodes area of the body. This makes it very difficult for this problem to be treated at this stage. In fact, the best hope of cure at this stage is only through intensive treatment such as using radium or cobalt radiation.

With the regular use of papanicolaou test, (“pap” test), it will be very easy to detect cancer of the cervix at the earliest stage. When it is detected early, and an effective treatment is carried out at this stage, there will be a successful result. But if this disease has spread into the deeper tissues, the hope of an effective treatment will be lost. That is why we always advocate that once a patient notices any sign of cancer in her body, she should report to her doctor immediately.

It is the duty of the patient to submit herself for test at intervals. There are some hospitals that carry out “pap” tests in all women from age twenty five and above. With this method, it will be easier to detect any trace of cancer at the earliest stage in the body of the woman, and treatment carried out at this stage is most times successful.

Another advantage here is that this system of testing all women from 25years and above, helps to detect cancer in the lives of younger women, which gives them the hope of a longer life, because with adequate treatment, 100 per cent success is possible here.

In order to conduct a “pap” test, the doctor will simply collects a small amount of mucous secretions that comes from the vagina, and use a microscope to examine it in order to know the type of cells it contains. If there is any trace of cervical cancer here, even in the earliest stage of development, the cells in this sample of mucus will be altered accordingly.

Stress is a normal psychological l response to stimulus precipitated by the adrinocuticle system. It makes men and women to look ugly, cause pimples, wrinkles, hair loss and receding hair lines. Stress can make a 50 year old man to look 70 years. As much deadly as this problem is, it is still amazing that millions of people are ignorant of this killer sickness. But the truth still remains that stress related diseases kills more people than the dreaded HIV/AIDS.

Also, it is worthy to note that among the wealthy and the middle class, stress related ailments are more prevalent than any other type of sickness. This issue of stress problem is deeper than the mere words that you hear from people always “I am stressed up”,

The feelings and emotions of a man are controlled, read and managed by a system in the body called the adrinocuticle system. The brain and the corresponding nerves make up this system So, whenever you feel an emotion, this is the system that is responsible for reading it. This means that stress is a normal to the body system. This is because, there is a system that is put in place by nature to control and manage it. But when this management system is overused, problem occurs.

There are some external stimuli that impact on the life of man, and these are absorbed by the adrenocuticle system, which tries to read and respond to these problems. These problems range from death of loved ones to work overload, financial loss, job security, marital problems, traffic, etc. When the adrenocuticle tries to read and respond to these situations, a system known as flight response is triggered. This will try to combat these problems, but it requires a lot of energy to do this, but if these external factors keep bombarding you, the system becomes overloaded and will find it difficult to concentrate on other parts of the body that needs help, and when this happens, it becomes a problem.

With this situation, the flight response becomes confused, and will not understand how to return to the normal state again because of the constant stimulation.

SALIENT POINTS ABOUT STRESS:

1)      Stress is normal

2)      When it becomes too much, the body become overworked.

3)      An external stimulus causes a response, and when this becomes constant, the body will not function normal again, but will become stressed.

When next you feel tired, try to check your system, it might be a sign of stress, and this means that you need some rest, so as to put your system back to normal functional state again.

In the previous discussion about breast cancer, I pointed out that cancer of the breast, which usually manifests at the early stage as a lump that may look harmless are of two types. They are the benign tumor and the malignant tumor. In treating these tumors, the doctor must first understand the type of tumor he is about to remove in order to get the desired result.  The approach here is to first remove a small portion of the abnormal tissue, and send it to a pathologist for a microscopic examination, in order to know the exact nature of the tumor. All these will take place while the patient is still lying down on the operating table. When the result is out, the doctor will now know the next line of action to take.

If it is a case of a benign tumor, which is a relatively harmless tumor, performing the remaining operation will be very easy. But if the result shows that it is a malignant tumor, it might require removing the entire breast, including some of the muscles on the wall of the chest, and also removing the lymph nodes in the arm pit.

A lump in the breast may develop very fast and without attracting any attention.  It may even occur in between the time of the yearly routine check up. So in order to take care of this emerging dangerous situation, it is now being advocated that women should learn how to check themselves. This self examination which should be carried out monthly should complement the yearly check up, and if the woman discovers any questionable growth around her breast, whether painful or not, she should report to her doctor immediately.

To carry out this self examination, the woman will lie down on her back and use the flat area of her fingers to press every area of her breast against the rib and the muscle.

When a malignant tumor in the breast is detected early and treated within days and not months, the prospect of five year survival are said to be about 95 per cent. When a woman has passed the age of menopause, and she begins to notice some discharges from her nipples, (whether watery or bloody discharges), it is a matter that requires serious attention, and should be reported immediately to a doctor. This is a sign of the beginning of breast cancer.

Okay, I am happy to back again on this platform. Remember we have not exhausted the topic we started last about the common cancer locations in the body. We are starting from where we stopped last time, so read on.

The breast is another area of the body that you can locate cancer. In U.S.A   breast cancer related deaths annually is about 25, 000, and there are more than 60,000 reported cases of breast cancer. This makes breast cancer the most common case of cancer among women today. Thanks to the awareness to this problem, there has been a remarkable improvement in the reduction of the deaths from breast cancer because a lot of people now turn up for medical check up, and when this problem is detected early, treatment can be successful. Cancer of the breast usually appears in the form of lumps in the breast area, and this will later spread to the nymph nodes of the armpit, then to other parts of the body. Because of this spread, qualified surgeons while operating on this disease, tends to remove a substantial part of the tissue. This is done in the hope that if there are some virus of the breast cancer that has spread to these tissues, they will be cut off through this system, and also prevent a re-occurrence of the cancer.

There are two types of lumps that can be noticed in the breast of a woman. One is called benign tumor. This is a harmless tumor, and the other type is the malignant tumor which breeds cancer. So it is important to really identify which type is noticed when there is a tumor to avoid any costly miscalculations. If the lump is just a benign tumor, only a small quantity of tissue will be removed, unlike when the case is discovered to be malignant.

A simple lump in the breast can have some tragic consequence if ignored, and that is the reason why a lot of women don’t take it lightly when they notice any lump in their breast. They have to report to their doctors immediately who will diagnose them to know whether it is a case of cancer or not, and this has saved many lives. If  this level of awareness is maintained or improved upon and women becomes more conscious of any change in their breast area or even other parts of their body, we will achieve a considerable result in this war against breast cancer. And I have the hope that this battle must be won by us, and not by cancer.

1) BILE DUCT: When there is a case of cancer development in the bile duct, one of the earliest symptoms is jaundice. This is caused by a disturbance to the flow of the bile. With this type of cancer, surgical treatment does not always prove effective because the symptoms usually develop late.

2) URINARY BLADDER:  When there is cancer in this area of the body, there will be bleeding in this area, and it is caused by a fragile growth in the bladder. This is one of the most common form of cancer. At the early stage of development, this cancer will appear like a sea-weed which normally floats. There are times that this can flow to the outer part of the bladder, and when this happens, it will stop the flow of the urine. When there is this type of urinary retention, it is a sign that there is a case of cancer to deal with. This may even occur abruptly. If this is detected early enough, it can be treated, either by surgery or by a combination of surgery and irradiation.

3) BONE:This is a common type of cancer. For cancer to develop in the bone, two factors will be responsible. either it is carried into the bone through the blood stream, or it will grow there through some adjacent organ or tissue. Bone cancer usually comes with pains, which sometimes may be severe, swelling around the bone area, and equally causes weakness of the bone. At this stage, the bone cracks at the slightest contact with any hard object.  When this cancer is detected early in the limb, the best treatment is to amputate the limb, but if it has spread to other bones in other parts of the body, treatment can be very difficult.

There are other parts of the body that cancer can easily be located, like the breast, which is the commonest area to be affected, colon, gallbladder etc. We shall discuss these other locations later. What we just have to know is that cancer can attack in the different parts of the body, and no matter the area it occurs, it has the potential of causing death, and that is why wee should not joke with it.

Yes, we suggested yesterday that the best way to achieve a maximum result with the treatment of cancer is when it is treated early, and this comes by detecting the symptoms early enough and carrying out treatments immediately, without any delay. This, no doubt is the best way to handle this ugly situation in our lives and the lives of our loved ones, but the unfortunate thing here is that some cancers develop “silently”, and by the time the least symptom appears, the cancer itself has really gone far, and the prospects of getting adequate result from treatments will be very minimal. So the question now is, in matters like this, what are we expected to do, in order to adequately stamp our authority in handling this disease?

Societies like the American cancer society and the National cancer net work, are suggesting a routine cancer check for individuals, at least once in a year, to check pre-symphonic cancer and tissue changes which are leading in the direction of cancer. In order to get the best results, a thorough examination is necessary. This includes taking details of one’s personal history in order to discover facts of heredity or about the environments that are susceptible to cancer. On many occasions, clues have been obtained in the course of this examination that has led to the detailed examinations of some particular organs or tissue.

When history is being used to test or examine an individual about cancer, the entire body system will come under scrutiny to find out if there are changes that is susceptible to cancer. These include testing the breast, lungs, abdomen, colon, genitals, etc. The urine, blood and stool will equally come under x-ray examination, before arriving at a conclusive end.

When this type of test is carried out thoroughly, if there is any trace of cancer, it will be detected at the earliest stage, and if treatment is carried out at this stage, there will be a reasonable hope of cure, even if the case is that of lung cancer, which is a stubborn type of cancer that is difficult to deal with. If people will heed to this advice, it is believed that about 40 percent of cancer deaths will be averted.

Immediately cancer is detected at the earliest stage, treatment should be arranged for, and carried out immediately without any further delay. The prospect of delaying the treatment to really know what is going to become of it, has always been unfavorable.  For the malignant types of cancer, the prospect of cure decline day by day as treatment is delayed.  So this tempting attitude of “want and see” what will become of this problem, before carrying out treatment, should be discourage.  Once it has been established that there is cancer, treatment should be carried out immediately.

Statistics show that some cancers like the lung cancer, has mortality rate of 92% even after treatment but when it is treated at the  earliest stages, the result can be amazing. So the best bet for an early detection of cancer is by going for a routine medical check-up, even when you feel that you are not in any danger of having cancer. Remember that this disease can come unannounced, and hide in the body without any sign   

Cancer occurs in different ways, but most or all of them appears as tumors. This is the reason some doctors are of the opinion that it is better to have all tumors examined, whether they show signs of cancer or not, and that they should be removed at the earliest stage if there is any sign or trace of cancer in them. Any long-continued sores on the skin or on the mucous membranes of the body must be examined with the appropriate methods, and if it proves malignant, should be treated immediately without any further delay. Some of the signs to watch out for as signs of cancer are:

1)      A persistent lump or thickening in tissue, especially in the lip, tongue or breast.

2)      When there is an irregular bleeding or blood-tinged discharge from any body opening, including the nipple.

3)      Any sore that does not heal, especially when it is located in the mouth, tongue or lips.

4)      Constant indigestion or loss of appetite, especially in people over fifty years of age.

5)      When you notice a sudden or rapid changes in the form, appearances or rate of growth of a mole or wart.

6)      When you notice a constant change from normal in a bowl action.

7)      Persistent hoarseness, cough, soreness deep in the throat or finding it difficult in swallowing things.

One thing to note is that pain is not common at the early stages of cancer development, but when the nerve tissue is invaded, or pressed upon, pain will occur. We are not trying to say that one should wait till he or she begins to notice pain before treating a case that looks cancerous, this might result in treating a case very late. Ulceration and secondary infection are common in many cancers, and this causes fever and other general symptoms of infections. Increased anemia, pallor, weakness and emaciation are the most common characteristics of these late signs of cancer, and they are not always easy to explain. They all come late, in the part of the body where there is an attack of cancer. So, waiting to notice them before taking action can really be disastrous.

When cancer is detected early and treated, on time, there is usually the prospect of achieving a better result, but what we are asking here is, how early can cancer be detected, and one can say that it is detected early enough? This is an important question that needs answer. Ability to know the earliest period of is a panacea for success in this war against cancer, but that is going to be the subject of discussion for another day.

Till I come your way next, be cancer wise and comment on this issue. I will be glad to hear you views.

Presently, there is no known factor that can be said that is the basic cause or causes of cancer. There are some facts that have long been held about cancer that has been discovered to be false, but new facts about this deadly have equally emerged. The lists below are however, some of the facts that are widely believed to be the true facts about cancer.

1)      Heredity is among the factors that influence the occurrences of cancer in human life. However, the hereditary lines in an individual cannot be used to diagnose a cancer victim. Rather, this makes it difficult if not impossible to actually say what will become of a cancer patient. There has been striking similarity in the development of breast cancers in the life of people of the same family, especially with identical twins.

2)      Cancer is not contagious. There is no proven fact that shows that one can contact cancer by taking care of another cancer patient.

3)      There is no scientifically proven influence that diet has on the development of any type of cancer. There are people that believe that some diets has some contributing factors towards the development of cancer, but since there is no scientifically proved evidence presently either in support of it or not, there is no basis also to say that such belief is wrong.

4)      A repeated injury or a long term irritation has the potential to cause cancer.

5)      Cancer sometimes behaves like infections, and certain animal experiments of malignant tumors seemed to stimulate cancer formation.

6)      Certain hormones in the body, like the estrogenic hormones of the ovary stimulate the growth of cancer in the body. The implication of this is a suggestion that the existence of unbalanced hormone formation or growth in the body can lead to the development of cancer.

These are the basic facts one should know about cancer. However, we need to know that everyday, discoveries are coming out and new facts are equally coming out, so one should not take the above as the only things or the only facts that is worthy to note about cancer. There are other important things that we need to take note of about this deadly disease called cancer. Let’s discuss some of them as they will equally make some meanings in the topic of our discussion today.

A)    One of the recognized causes of the cancer of the lower lip is smoking, especially pipe smoking. Also, it can be said authoritatively that one of the major causes of lung cancer is inhaled cigarette smoke. So if we can do away with this, we are doing a whole lot of good for our health.

B)     Cancer of the tongue is mostly preceded by either jagged teeth, rough filling of the teeth or even syphilis of the tongue.

C)    Cancer of the skin is not common except when this part of the body comes under undue or severe burns on the skin.

D)    Cancer of the mouth is more common with those that chew often or hold objects long in their mouth thereby putting the mouth to undue pressure.

E)     Excessive exposure to sunlight and wind can lead to skin cancer.

Cancer used to be classified as a disease that is more prevalent to the women folk, due largely the high incidence of breast cancer and other types of cancer that has to do with the sex organ, but there is a reversal of the trend today. More men suffer cancer these days than women. This is due largely to the increase of lung cancer among men. Avoiding all the causes mentioned above will guarantee 100% prevention of cancer, but will greatly reduce it. This is because there are other factors not mentioned here that can equally lead to cancer development in the body. So we should always be on the look out for any symptom that suggests that there is a development of cancer, then go me medical check and if it is discovered to be cancer and treated early, there will be better chance of success than when it has actually grown very large.