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In this essay, I will talk about how cancer creates in our bodies and the different ways that it can be treated. We will learn that scientists find some ways to prevented after continue researches throughout the years. Then in the end, we will see how cancer affects population and at the same time our way of life. 2. Cancer facts and Classes Nobody knows when cancer originated, but thanks to scientists and new researchers every year we find new things about cancer, and the more we know about it, the more that we are going to understand it.
Cancer is the accelerated growth of abnormal cells. In normal cells the grow rate is controlled and new cells are used when the old cells die by means of apoptosis or cell suicide. When the cells do not die and continue to growth, it becomes cancer. This can be cause by mutation in the genes, radiation, etc. Cancer can be benign or malign. Benign cancer occurs when the growing of the cells stays in one location and malign cancer occurs when the cells destroyed the layer that covers them, then they enter the blood stream and can spread in other parts of the body, this is called metastic.
Normal cell division Cancer cell division Cancer can appear in any part of the body and affects infants, children and adults, even the fetus. Because of this, there are different classes; we will show the most common kind of cancers. a) Prostate cancer: occurs in adult males, in a glandule (prostate) situated in the male reproductive organ. b) Breast cancer: occurs in adult females, in the breast tissue. c) Lung cancer: occurs in the lungs of adults. d) Colon cancer; occurs in the colon, rectum and appendix of adults. ) Bladder cancer f) Ovarian cancer g) Leukemia; is a cancer that occurs in the blood, when the abnormal growth of white blood cells occurs (leukocytes). Affects adults and is the most common cancer in children. h) Skin cancer 3. Diagnosing cancer Cancer can be diagnosed when a biopsy (tissue sample) is extracted from a patient that shows any kind of symptoms or signs of cancer like pain, lumps, etc. The doctor after analyzing the cells can tell what kind of cancer is, how fast is growing and it is spreading throughout the body.
You never should wait for the cancer to spread, if something is wrong with your body, go to your doctor, the early that cancer is detected the lower the rate of mortality. One of the principal reasons that scientist research cancer cells is to discover some ways to detect cancer as soon as possible. Some screening and ways to detect some kind of cancer are already in use, for example: Women have to take the Pap smear to detect cancer in the cervix and a mammogram (x-ray) for the breast cancer, screening tests are used for men in the detection of prostate cancer, and blood test can be used for leukemia.
Patient with lung cancer in the left side. Lung cancer has the highest mortality in the U. S. 4. Methods of treatment There are different kinds of treatment for cancer, all depends in what kind of cancer the patient has, his age, and the advance in which the cancer has spread it throughout the body, the benign or malign side of the cancer. Doctors can decide to use one method or another or a combination some examples are chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, etc. We will talk about some of them. a) Surgery: this method can only cure cancer is the tumor is removed and it did not affect other parts of the body.
Sometimes whole parts of the body are necessary to remove. For example in breast cancer sometimes is necessary to surgical remove the breast (mastectomy). b) Radiation therapy: this therapy use radiation called ionization, the purpose is to destroyed and cancer cells and tumors. The treatment can be external and internal; all depends in the position of the tumor. The majority of the patients are treated with this method and combined with others. Radiation can affect normal cells too, but the cells recover all the time. c) Chemotherapy: it is the used of drugs to kill the cancer cells.
These drugs can stop or slow down the acceleration growth of the cancer cells. Like any of this therapy, there is always the risk in side effects, since these drugs can affect normal cells too. These are the most common treatments for cancer. There are more methods of treatment that affects the molecules, proteins and hormones that cancer cells use to continue growing. Some of these treatments are experimental like the gene therapy, that it is the use of genes to altered the DNA of the patient and help him combat the disease.
We have to remember besides all methods the pain medicine that it is used in patients plays an important role in the combat against cancer, since almost all of these treatments are painful, especially children suffer the most. 5. What cause cancer? Cancer can appeared without any reason, but scientist found some causes in which cancer can occur like chemicals, viruses, radiation, hereditary, hormones, etc. let’s talk about some of the causes of cancer. a) Chemicals: Of all the chemicals that produce cancer, the cigarettes have the most chemicals combine in one smoke.
There have been studies that prove the close relationship of cigarettes and lung cancer. Not only that, cigarettes can create other kind of cancers too. Some chemicals that cause cancer, that is include in cigarettes. b) Radiation: the most common kind of radiation is ultraviolet rays that come from the sunlight. People that spend too much time in the sun without protection can develop skin cancer. Other kind of radiations came from some atoms that cause ionizing radiation. One example will be x-ray radiation; it is used in hospital but in small doses. ) Viruses; some virus can cause cancer cells to develop. Since viruses can enter a healthy cell and transform his genetic code. Some of these viruses are the cause of leukemia and liver cancer. Researchers found that some bacteria could cause cancer too. One of these bacteria causes stomach cancer. d) Heredity c; some cancers are transferred from generation to generation by the genes carried in a family tree. These genes can alter the genetic order of the person affected. The mutation can become different kind of cancers. One common cancer that is caused through inheritance is the breast cancer. . Types of prevention There are numerous ways to prevent cancer some of them required to change lifestyles or move to another environment and taking some testes to stop the cancer in the early stages. Let us see some of them — stop smoking cigarettes; cigarettes is the principal cause of cancer, researchers found that your chances of cancer risk free increase. — Decreasing Alcohol consumption is another way to stop cancer — protect from the sun, by using sun block and covering your skin. Some people change their place of residence. — Overweight has been linked with some cancer.
A healthy diet (reducing fat and calories) and exercise can help you prevent the risk of getting cancer. The use of vitamins can help you too. — Stay away from viruses and bacteria. Hygiene is important, the same can be said with protective sex intercourse, since most of these viruses are sexual transmitted. Do not forget that vaccines are important to help fighting the viruses and give strength to your immune system. –remember to take screening test and blood test. Do not waste time, only you know how your body feels. The early you go to the doctor, the better.
These are some steps that you can used to prevent cancer. Researchers are still looking for better ways to detect cancer as early as possible. The environment in which your life is a great contributor of cancer, pollution, the people around you, affects your system, use awareness all the time. 7. Conclusion: What do we learn? , How cancer affects our world? We learn to appreciated more our body and be aware that nobody free of cancer. The knowledge of cancer is important in our way of lifes since the more that we learn about it, understand it, the more steps that we can use to prevent from happening to us.
Scientists keep looking for more cures and ways to stop cancer, and the impact in medicine is enormous. The creation of different ways to control our genes and create new mutation s that will prevent cancer, the search for that cure, has make scientists understand more about our bodies, genes and DNA. The government has to take part in this fight against cancer, by funding new researches, controlling the use of unhealthy food, and passing bills that will change the future of society. 8. Bibliography American Cancer Society. (2007). Cancer Facts & Figures 2007. Retrieved January 09, 2008, from http://www. ancer. org/downloads/STT/CAFF2007PWSecured. pdf Wikipedia. (2008, January). Cancer. Retrieved January 09, 2008, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cancer President’s Cancer Panel. (2006-2007). Promoting Healthy Lifestyles: Policy, Program and Personal Recommendations for Reducing Cancer Risk. Retrieved January 09, 2008, from http://deainfo. nci. nih. gov/advisory/pcp/pcp07rpt/pcp07rpt. pdf National Cancer Institute. (2006, September). Understanding Cancer Series: Cancer. Retrieved January 11, 2008, from http://www. cancer. gov/images/understandingcancer/PDFs/UNDERCAN. PDF