Cancer Awareness Day

Cancer is a malignant growth or tumour resulting from an uncontrolled division of cells. It can start at any place in the body. It starts when cells grow out of control and crowd out normal cells. This makes it hard for the body to work the way it should.

Cancer can affect all living cells in the body, at all ages and in both genders. The causation is multi factorial and the disease process differs at different sites.

It is known that over one-third of cancers are preventable, and one-third potentially curable provided they are diagnosed early in their course. The control of cancer requires the effective implementation of knowledge with awareness.

Some facts, risks and preventions about cancer:

• There are 2-2.5 million cases of Cancer Prevalent in India at any point in time.
• 7-9 lac cancers are detected each year in India- on an average 8-10 cancers are detected daily.
• Cancers are the 2nd leading cause of death in India that is likely to double by 2015 and triple by 2030.
• More than 2/3rd of cancer cases are related to life style factors, hence preventable.
• More than 1/3rd cancers (2 out of every 5) are tobacco related and other due to faulty diet habits and social habits.
• The unhealthy lifestyle that increases the risk of cancer is tobacco consumption (cigarette smoking, chewing tobacco etc.) increased consumption of animal fats & oils, sedentary life style, obesity, alcohol consumption and exposure to toxic chemicals.
• The early the cancer is detected the better is the cure rate and prognosis.
• Most of the cancers are silent for long time and give no initial warning.
• Once cancer produces evident symptoms and signs, it is already in advanced stage and usually difficult to treat.

Being aware about Cancer is the need of the hour. In majority of the cases, cancer is detected in the advanced stage. Treatment of any cancer in advanced stage is difficult, prolonged and expensive. Treatment results in India are about 20% less than what is observed for similar conditions in more developed countries, mostly due to late diagnosis and inappropriate treatment. Sadly, 2/3rds of the cancers are detected in the advanced stage.

Get yourself checked by a doctor if you have any of these symptoms:

• Change in bowel or bladder habits
• A wound that doesn’t heal
• Unusual bleeding or discharge from any natural orifice or weight loss
• Thickening or lump in breast or elsewhere
• Ingestion difficulty in swallowing
• Obvious change in wart or mole
• Nagging cough or hoarseness of the voice

How can we help raise awareness about Cancer?

• Make healthy food choices.Cancer risk can be reduced by following a fresh healthy plant based diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Consumption of salty, fatty and processed food items.
• Say No to Tobacco. Tobacco chewing or consumption of cigarettes drastically increases your chance of developing cancer. While chewing tobacco causes oral and pancreatic cancer,smoking causes cancer of the lungs, bladder, cervix and kidneys.
• Make a conscious effort to reduce your sugar intake. Experts believe that sugar is a major cancer fuel Cancer cellsderive their power from sugar hence the risk of this deadly disease can be minimized drastically by cutting down your sugar intake.
• Always safeguard yourself before stepping out in the sun. Exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays can damage your skin and eyes. Always wear a sunscreen and sunglasses to protect yourself.
• Research suggests that approximately 30 minutes of physical activity on a daily basis can decrease your cancer risk.
• Water is the true elixir. Always keep yourself hydrated as it helps to flush out toxins through urine.
• Try to limit your use of Mobile phones as excessive radiations damage the nerves in your brain.

Meet our team of doctors at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital for any cancer related queries. Our Centre for Cancer is equipped to handle all kinds of cases at various stages. The centre has sub-specialists proficient in dealing with different types of cancers. For further details please visit below link:

https://www.kokilabenhospital.com/departments/centresofexcellence/centrefor_cancer.html

October is celebrated as Breast cancer awareness month every year worldwide. Breast cancer organizations work hard to inform the masses that breast cancer exists, assist women to take steps for early diagnosis and support women suffering from breast cancer.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) was started by a pharmaceutical company that had ties to tamoxifen, an anti-cancer drug still used widely today. The aim of NBCAM was to make sure every woman was aware of this disease, and to promote mammography as the most powerful weapon in the fight against breast cancer. With changing times and increased knowledge women are no longer shy or afraid to discuss breast cancer or visit a doctors for screenings.

When it comes to breast cancer, we must understand two important facts: that the only people who die of breast cancer are the people whose cancer has spread outside the breast (when it’s contained in the breast, it can’t kill), and that one is not necessarily safe from that spread after treatment—even after a mastectomy to remove the cancer.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer starts when cells in the breast begin to grow out of control. These cells usually form a tumour. The tumour is malignant or cancerous if the cells can grow into surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. Breast cancer occurs almost entirely in women, but men can get it, too. Breast cancers can start from different parts of the breast.

How Breast Cancer Spreads

Breast cancer can spread through the lymph system. The lymph system includes lymph nodes, lymph vessels and lymph fluid found throughout the body. Lymph contains tissue fluid and waste products, as well as immune system cells. Breast cancer cells can enter lymph vessels and begin to grow in lymph nodes.

Breast cancer is always caused by a genetic abnormality. However, only 5-10% of cancers are due inheritance. Others are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and the “wear and tear” of life in general.

Breast Pain or Lump: Is It Cancer?

A sharp pain in your breast, possibly with some tenderness, can be scary. It may keep you wondering. A breast lump is often the first thing that women and rush to a doctor. Although breast cancer generally shows no symptoms in the early stage, timely detection can turn a story of breast cancer into a survivor’s tale.

Surprisingly, most of the times a lump in the breast isn’t cancer. From hormonal changes in teens to damaged fat tissue, more than 90 percent of all breast lumps in women in their early 20s to early 50s are noncancerous. A lump that is hard with irregular edges is more likely to be cancerous.

Some early signs of breast cancer include:

• Changes in the shape of the nipple
• Breast pain or a new lump that doesn’t go away after your next period
• Nipple discharge from one breast that is clear, red, brown, or yellow
• Unexplained redness, swelling, skin irritation, itchiness, or rash on the breast
• Swelling or a lump around the collarbone or under the arm
• Dimpling anywhere on the breast
• Unexplained swelling or shrinking of the breast
• A change in the skin texture or an enlargement of pores in the skin of the breast

Nature of breast cancer

• Noninvasive (in situ) cancer is cancer that has not spread from the original tissue. This is referred to as stage 0.
• Invasive (infiltrating) cancer is cancer that has spread to surrounding tissues. These are categorized as stages 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Some common types of Breast Cancer

• Ductal carcinoma is a cancer that forms in the lining of the milk ducts. This is the most common type of breast cancer.
• Lobular carcinoma is cancer in the lobules of the breast. The lobules are where milk is produced.
• Sarcoma is cancer in the breast’s connective tissue. This is a rare type of breast cancer.

New Delhi: It is said, true friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Gerdi McKenna’s friends stand testimony to this. In February 2014, one of her friends wrote an e-mail to all her friends requesting a photoshoot for Gerdi who was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months before. You are already going ‘aww’, right? But wait, this was no ordinary photoshoot.

The soul-stirring video ‘Anything for love …’ captures every beautiful moment of this photoshoot, which looks nothing short of a convivial champagne brunch. Laughs, hugs, pink t-shirts and ribbons – hardly what you’d expect at a photoshoot for a friend diagnosed with cancer.

“Okay girls, show time,” announces a man. You expect the photoshoot to start but there’s something else lined up before that, and this is what makes these friends the world’s best set of best friends.

“I am very nervous but I know this is the right thing to do. I am giving up my pride for a friend who is going through much more,” says a friend.

This heart-warming video is sure to make you weep.

Watch:

Article from: NDTV