Cancer

What Is It?

Cancer is a class of diseases that disrupts the DNA in your body's cells. This tends to disrupt the process of cell division and leads to rapid, uncontrollable cellular growth well beyond the normal limits. This invasion or intrusion and destruction of adjacent tissue can spread to other areas of the body. The spread to other locations in the body is usually via the lymphatic system or blood stream.

Most cancers are caused by abnormalities normally caused by the effects of carcinogens. Some of these come from sources such as tobacco smoke, chemicals, radiation, or infectious agents. Most cancers form a tumor but others like leukemia, which is seen as a disease of the blood do not. These tumors can be benign or malignant.

What Consequences Can Come From This?

Lung Cancer is commonly caused by cigarette smoking. More than 25% of all Cancer deaths in America are due to lung Cancer and cigarette smoking causes 85% of these. Smoking causes malignant tumors to form in the lungs and leads to emphysema and usually a slow painful death. According to a recent article published on www.tobacco.org/articles the number of deaths in the  United States due to lung cancer rose to 90,828 in 1977 from 18,313 in 1950 and is still increasing.

Who Can Be Affected?

Cancer can affect people at any age, even fetuses in the womb. The risk to people for most varieties increases as we get older. About 13% of all human deaths are caused by cancer of some sort. In 2007 about 7.6 million people died from cancer according to the American Cancer Society. The medical branch concerned with cancer studies, diagnosis, cancer treatment, and prevention is known as oncology. The medical term for cancer is malignant neoplasm.

What Treatments Are Available?

Cancer treatments vary depending on the type and severity of the disease. Chemotherapy, also known as chemo, radiation and surgery are some of the medical procedures used to treat Cancer while others may prefer to opt for natural remedies.

What Signs Should We Be Looking For?

Often the signs of Cancer go unnoticed but if you know what to look for it can be identified. So if you have any abnormalities such as lumps, unexplained bleeding or unexplained weight loss you should get checked by a doctor. Avoiding carcinogens such as cigarette smoke, eating a healthy diet and having regular exercise is said to help prevent the onset of Cancer.