This piece on Food and Phytonutrients in relation to cancer caught my eye, and is a highly interesting read, since I am frequently searching for graphics, articles and other useful content which aids people to know more about avoiding and surviving cancer. Be sure to take a look at it all. Don’t forget to include your comments so all of us can learn from your opinions:

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Food and Phytonutrients, the key to surviving Cancer

People in the past have always eaten mostly raw, natural and organic food which is an entirely different dietary concept than we have today.  Most of the food we buy these days has been processed and in the course of processing many of the nutrients that keep us healthy, have been lost due to processing.

One such nutrient is the phytonutrients, also called phytochemicals only recently discovered in the early 90s and found to be beneficial in keeping us both cancer free and even reversing cancer.

Once we thought that vitamins and minerals were all the nutrients necessary to keep us healthy but we now know there are other nutrients, essential for optimal health and they are phytonutrients. It is these powerful nutrients that give fruit and vegetables their many colors and also provide us with Mother Nature’s medicine.

These chemical compounds occur naturally in plants, their role is to protect them from diseases, injury and damage from insects. They form part of the plants immune system. It’s these same phytonutrients that have been found to have cancer fighting properties which help us not only to stay cancer free but to help us overcome cancer as well.

The different color phytonutrients are;

• Red;   tomatoes, red grapes, red onions, red apples, beetroot.
• Yellow – Orange;    apricots, peaches, sweet potatoes, melons, carrots, pumpkins citrus fruits.
• Green;    cruciferous vegetables which are broccoli, spinach, cabbage.
• White;    garlic, onions, leeks, potatoes.
• Blue – Purple;    blueberries, aubergines, boysenberries,

As you can see these phytonutrients are concentrations manly on the skin of fruit and vegetables and are responsible for the color, hue, scent and flavors. While there are many phytonutrients that have been identified, there are probably thousands more that remain to be discovered.

Clinical trials are now revealing that phytonutrients can enhance and strengthen the immune system and play an important role in keeping us cancer free. It has also revealed that phytonutrients can even slow the aging process, prevent and reverse conditions such as heart disease. Using food, especially vegetables to treat serious health challenges like cancer are a far smarter choice than using drugs.

Unfortunately we spend billions of dollars in treating cancer today yet we spend little promoting the consumption of apples, oranges, cruciferous vegetables and other healthy food that medicine well knows are helpful in preventing and overcoming diseases such as cancer. Thanks to our mainstream medicine today the public has remained virtually illiterate on nutrition for several decades.

The most powerful weapon when fighting cancer is the food you choose to eat everyday.

Alan Wighton is an experienced natural therapist specializing in nutrition. He has research all aspects of cancer and how the food we eat is related to the disease. For further information on more effective ways to overcome cancer using the powerful natural healing ability of the human body; please visit Cancer Facts & Information http://www.cancerhealed.com

Lots of readers ask about the Use of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy in Lung Cancer Treatment, so check this out. Since I am frequently searching for videos, news and other helpful information that offers advice which aids readers to have more information about the treatment of cancer, including cancer of the lung. Be sure to look closely at it all. Don’t forget to provide your comments so the rest of us can read your comments:

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The Use of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy in Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer may be treated by a variety of therapies including surgery, but chemotherapy and radiation treatments are used extensively to treat the disease whether surgery takes place or not.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy involves drug medication which is designed to kill fast growing cells in the body – cancer cells are fast growing and it is this uncontrolled growth which causes tumors to develop. Unfortunately, the medications which are administered are unable to differentiate between cancer cells and other fast growing cells, such as the red blood cells and hair.

As a consequence, there are side effects involved in receiving chemotherapy which includes hair loss and other debilitating symptoms.

Many patients do not like the idea of receiving chemotherapy because they have heard of the side effects usually associated with receiving the treatment. Management of the side effects has come a long way and in many instances, patients do not experience them to as great an extent as they originally anticipated.

Typically, chemotherapy will involve a combination of drugs which will target specific types of cancer cell – not all cancer cells are fast growing, and different drugs will attack different types of cancer cell depending on the stage it has reached.

Radiotherapy or Radiation Treatment

Radiation treatment uses ionizing radiation such as gamma rays to kill cancer cells. The radiation can be targeted very precisely at the area where the cancer has occurred within the body and in some instances is capable of being delivered so that it affects only the tumor and not healthy tissue.

Radiation treatment may also be used to reduce the size of a tumor so that it becomes operable.

Radiation stops cells from undergoing division and forming new copies of the DNA which they contain. If a cell is reproducing quickly, it is likely to be susceptible to radiation which will interfere in its development and as cancer cells are fast growing, they are especially vulnerable to the treatment. Unfortunately, cancer cells are not the only cells which are fast growing as we have already seen, and radiation therapy affects blood cells, hair and skin.

Side effects include hair loss, redness of the skin, itching, loss of skin through the outer layers sloughing off, pain and heightened sensitivity, skin pigmentation and swelling (known as “edema”).

Both therapies may cause a loss in appetite, changes in how your sense of taste and heart issues as well as nausea and vomiting. Patients undergoing these treatments tend to become tired very easily while receiving treatment and there is an increased risk of infection as the white blood cells are also adversely affected by the treatment.

We have already noted that radiation treatment may be used to shrink a tumor so it may be removed, but they also are used to tackle cancers which do not lend themselves to surgery in the first instance. Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) is usually inoperable and is treated by these joint therapies while operable lung cancers use these treatments both before and after surgery to ensure that any cells which have not been removed by surgery are killed off to prevent recurrence of the condition.

Find the right lung cancer doctors or mitral valve repair surgeons. Early diagnosis can lead to successful results.

I was pleased to come across some details about causes of brain cancer. As you might expect, much of my time is spent locating suitable news, articles, and other worthwhile material which aids readers to have more awareness of different aspects of cancer. Be sure to look over it all. Don’t forget to include your comments so all of us can know your advice:

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Symptoms Of Brain Cancer In Adults

Manufactures are selling us a bill of goods or, to be more accurate, a bill of bads. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have been linked to contamination of drinking water and to serious health risks to children, adults and animals.

It is a myth that chemicals are necessary to grow beautiful gardens. There were beautiful gardens long before chemical fertilizers and pesticides came into wide use after World War II. Especially hard hitting is the myth they are needed for lawns and roses. Our gardens have been free of chemicals and pesticides for 20 years and it grows lushly and naturally from a few inches of compost spread on the gardens yearly.

Nitrogen from chemical fertilizes leaches into our aquifer and runs into the bay. As a result, algae grows out of control, eventually stripping oxygen from the water which fish and other aquatic life need. Dead zones have already begun to appear, notably in the Gulf of Mexico, which is fed by nitrogen-rich water from the Mississippi river.

Canada banned the “cosmetic” use of pesticides in 96 municipalities, including Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. The Connecticut state legislature recently passed a bill that bans the use of pesticides on the grounds of primary schools. Connecticut is working to extend it further. It is a difficult fight against the big money of the chemical companies.

Modeled on a tactic of the tobacco companies, chemical companies have pushed through laws in 40 states specifying that no township or municipality can enact pesticide regulations stricter than those of the state as a whole. We cannot ban chemicals and pesticides from use on Long Island where I live. It would take a statewide law. We can only urge residents not to use chemicals and pesticides.

Pesticide Facts from Environment and Human Health, Inc.(EHHI):

*Increased odds of childhood leukemia, brain cancer and soft tissue sarcoma have been associated with children living in households where pesticides are used.

*Some inert ingredients are suspected carcinogens; others have been linked to central nervous system disorders, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, and some short-term health effects.-Attorney General’s Office of New York

* The use of household pesticides has been associated with a variety of childhood cancers. Switching to 7th Generation dish washing and laundry soaps and cleaning supplies will prevent more chemicals from draining into our water supplies.

* The use of pesticides often harms wildlife and their habitats. Both dogs and cats are known to eat grass. There have been many cases of pets’ deaths from lawn treatments. Commonly used lawn-care chemicals can persist in soil, the air we breathe and water for weeks, which can lead to the contamination of aquatic resources and local wildlife.

*In addition to contaminating surface water, pesticides can contaminate ground water, potentially causing health problems for people drinking it.

Suzy Bales has turned her lifelong passion for gardening into a career. She had a weekly gardening column in Newsday before joining Family Circle as their contributing garden editor. She wrote for the New York Times before joining Better Homes & Garden as a Senior Editor in 2004. She is the author of 14 books including, Garden Bouquets and Beyond, The Garden in Winter and Suzy Bales Down-to-Earth Gardening. lung cancer treatment breakthroughs Click here

I was really pleased to come across something significant and interesting on Facts About Breast Cancer. One of the  tasks for this site is keeping an eye open for news, videos and other worthwhile material which assists readers to have more awareness of cancer, including  its prevention and treatment. Be sure to peruse it all. Don’t forget to offer your advice so the rest of us can learn from your thoughts:

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Facts About Breast Cancer You Should Know!

This article deals with a few facts you should know about breast cancer. It helps you understand that you are not alone in your endeavour against this disease. Armed with knowledge you can make informed decisions and asking your doctor is the next best thing you can do for yourself or for your loved one suffering from cancer.

A few Facts about Breast Cancer

• What is it? It is a cancer that develops in the cells of the breast.
• It affects both the sexes. It is 100 times more frequent in women than in men, but the survival rates are the same for both.
• In 2004, breast cancer caused 519,000 deaths worldwide, which is seven percent of cancer deaths and one percent of all causes of death.
• One in eight women, or 12.6 percent of all women, will be diagnosed with breast cancer once in her lifetime.
• Every 13 minutes, a woman dies of breast cancer.
• The risk of getting breast cancer increases with age.
• Every woman is at a risk of getting diagnosed with breast cancer.
• Around 70 percent of the women diagnosed with breast cancer are over the age of 50.
• More than 1.7 million women who were diagnosed with breast cancer are still alive in the United States.
• Breast cancer is the first cause of death in women aged between 15 and 54 and is the second cause of death in women aged 55 to 74.
• Increased breast cancer risk depends upon family history, delayed pregnancy until the age of 30, never becoming pregnant, atypical hyperplasia, early menstruation, i.e. before the age of 12 years, late menopause (after 55), modern use of oral contraceptive pills and the daily consumption of alcohol.
• The first signs of breast cancer show up in the mammogram before any other symptoms surface or can be felt.
• 71 percent of black women diagnosed with breast cancer show a five year survival rate, while 86 percent of white women show a survival rate of five years.
• 96 percent of women who find, detect and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years.
• Self examination for breast cancer every month and a yearly mammogram after the age of 40 years offer the best chances of survival.
• Over 80 percent of the breast lumps that are detected are not cancerous and are benign, such as fibrocystic breast diseases.
• It is said that oral contraceptive may increase the risk of getting breast cancer. Though, ten years after discontinuation of the pill, the risks are same as of a woman who has never taken the pill.
• The risk of breast cancer is said to increase with the estrogen replacement therapy that goes on for over five years. Though, the risk disappears five to ten years after discontinuing the use of estrogen replacement therapy.
• Remember, you are never too young to get breast cancer, so self examination must be started at the age of 20.

Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be a very difficult experience to go through. This is a time when the patient requires all the support and love they can get. A helpful resource is cancer books.

You can avail one by author Elizabeth Gould called Secrets of Cancer Survivors. For more information, please click here: http://www.secretsofcancersurvivors.com Danielle Summers works as a counsellor specialising in helping the patients of life threatening diseases such as cancer. She also likes to talk about her work through her articles over the internet. Please visit www.secretsofcancersurvivors.com

Many people are looking for information about Colon Cancer Prevention Methods, so have a look at this. s I am often searching for graphics, videos and other beneficial information which aids people to have more details about preventing cancer. Be sure to look over it all. Don’t forget to include your thoughts so the rest of us can be aware of your opinions:

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Colon Cancer Prevention Methods

Most people develop colon cancer rather slowly, over one or two years. The 1st stage of development happens when a mass of tissues, growths or polyps ( a cluster of benign growths ) grow in the colon walls. Polyp type cancers can grow into the wall of the gut, occupy nearby lymph nodes and spread to other organs in the body.

This is named “metastatic colon cancer” due to its mobility. In a few cases, the lining of the bowel might be irregular and inflamed, that may also lead to cancer.

To stop colon cancer, regular testing is important after the age of 50. Before talking about colon cancer prevention, let’s rap a little about what colon cancer is, precisely. Both the bowel and anus are a part of the gut. The 1st part of the gut, which is the esophagus and stomach, breaks down food to be processed into energy.

Next, the broken down food travels to the small intestines / bowel, which is a narrow, 20-foot section that continues breaking down food and soaking up almost all of the nutriments. The small intestine then sends the leftover material to the five-foot-long colon ( which is also known as “the huge intestine” ), where it absorbs salt and water and stores waste.

The 1st part of the bowel is the rising colon, which is attached to the small intestines and the appendix on the right side of the stomach. The cross colon runs from a right to the left side of the higher stomach. The descending colon travels downward on the left side and the sigmoid colon is an S-shaped portion that passes food matter down to the lower colon, the final 6 inches of the guts, that may pass food out of the body through the anal sphincter.

Nobody is truly sure what precisely causes a colon cancer cell to develop in the 1st place, or why some experience a colon cancer recurrence, but research commends a selection of life-style, hereditary and environmental components are at play. It could be not possible to fully forestall cancer of the bowel, but the North American Cancer Society announces that catching colon cancer symptoms early through screening tests is the key. Regular colon cancer screening should begin at age fifty for the majority, unless they are in a serious risk class.

Every year, people should get a fecal occult blood test, which is done by sending a stool sample. A stool DNA test might also be done at that very same time, since it also uses a stool sample to collect results. Then, each 5 years, patients should get a flexible sigmoidoscopy, which involves a long, flexible tube that checks the last few feet of the gut for colon polyps, and a double-contrast barium enema that uses an xray and dye to test the higher portion of the bowel.

A virtual colonoscopy employing a CT scan machine also should be done each five years. A colonoscopy process involves the insertion of a long, flexible tube, light and camera to view the whole colon and should then be done each ten years, or each 5 years if any irregularities have been found during the other screenings. Ultimately , life changes are a crucial way to stop colon cancer. It doesn’t need to be said that smoking, indolence and exorbitant alcohol consumption are contributors to many varieties of adversary health conditions.

Cancer of the colon prevention involves eating the proper foods, including cabbage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, beets, onions, potatoes, broccoli, artichokes, celery, beans, peas, multi grain products, berries, cantaloupes, mangoes, persimmons and dried apricots, for example. Limit the quantity of red beef ( meat, pork, lamb ) and processed meats ( hot dogs, luncheon meats ), cooking meats at extremely high temperatures ( frying, sauting and barbecuing ) and saturated fats.

Learn more about Colon Cancer Early Symptoms. Stop by Author Willie DeJarnette’s site where you can find out all about Colon Cancer Early Symptoms and what it can do for you.

This piece on Ovarian Cancer Survival Rates caught my eye, so I thought it would be an interesting read. One of the major tasks for this site is keeping an eye open for news, videos, graphics, articles and other useful content which assists visitors to be better informed about different aspects of cancer. Be sure to peruse it all. Don’t forget to provide your advice so all of us can read your opinions:

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Ovarian Cancer Survival Rates – The Truth

Ovarian cancer survival rates are as ambiguous as a weather report that says such and such percent chance of rain today. Everyone knows it’s a hundred percent chance of rain when it’s raining, and zero when it’s not.

However to throw out the statistics in the standard way, according to the American Cancer Society more than 20,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year, and 15,000 will die from the disease.

Does that mean that three quarters of the women who receive an ovarian cancer prognosis are going to die? Not necessarily. On an individual basis it’s just like the weather prediction for rain.

It really all depends on how a women wants to go about treating her cancer whether she survives, dies, or if she has an ovarian cancer recurrence. Of course there are innumerable variables to be factored in such as her age, the type of cancer, how soon she discovered it, and how quickly she began dealing with it.

If you want to be technical there are more than 30 different types of ovarian cancer all of which are categorized by the type of cell where they originate.

If you want to be brutally honest and I want to, cancer is cancer. Regardless of the type or stage, it’s manifest due to a weakened immune system and the only hope to overcoming it will be by freeing up and assisting the body’s own immune responses. There are so many excellent remedies for performing both those task in the world of holistic cancer treatments, and more being uncovered all the time.

To start, besides stating the obvious of avoiding all foods that feed cancer such as sugar and foods or substances that weaken the immune system, a good cleansing fast is initially recommended.

A juice fast is standard, drinking only fresh carrot, beet, apple, and ginger juice for example, to cleanse the colon and rejuvenate the liver. Periodic colon and liver cleanses are similarly helpful as is a diet of green foods along with other super foods.

There are so many herbal remedies such as Essiac tea and amazingly effective diets such as The Budwig and Hallelujah Diet. The list is all but endless. Why not take advantage of all of them? If you do the research into alternative cancer cures and become seriously committed, your chances of not being one of the more than seventy-five percent of women who according to ovarian cancer survival rates succumb to the disease, are as good as a zero chance of rain when the sun is shining.

Jay Geary is a retired organic horticultural consultant who for over thirty years has dedicated much of his time and energy to the study and practice of integrative and complimentary health. Jay is currently the host of http://www.TheElementalMiracle.com a website that reveals hundreds of different alternative treatments for diseases such as ovarian cancer.

I came across these interesting thoughts linking a form of cancer with yeast infection. As you might expect, much of my time is spent locating suitable graphics, articles and other useful content which aids visitors to have more  information about aspects of cancer which might affect them. Be sure to take a look at it all. Don’t forget to add your thoughts so all of us can read your comments:

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Yeast Infection And Cancer

The yeast can multiply under circumstances such as the use of medications for other medical problems such as a urinary tract infection. There are also those women that are predisposed to candidal infections due to immune systems that are suppressed.

Certain oral contraceptives used by these women can cause infection. Medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus can predispose women to yeast infection, as can pregnancy.

Use of certain hygiene products can predispose women to female candidal infection as well. Women that use products such as douche can cause themselves to develop candidal infections. The use of perfumed hygiene spray that a woman may choose to use can cause the infection to worsen.

A yeast infection does not fall in the category of a sexually transmitted disease, although it can be transmitted in this manner. Comparatively; however, a yeast infection can be cured since it is candida is the cause of candidal infections and it is naturally present in the vaginal area.

Yeast is naturally present in the vagina, but when there is an increase it causes the female yeast infection. Ways to determine whether there has been an over increase in vaginal yeast to cause an infection include specific symptoms that the woman can experience. However, one should be aware that many of the symptoms of a yeast infection are similar to those of other medical issues.

Particular symptoms of a candidal infection include itching in the vaginal area, burning, pain (particularly during intercourse), and an unscented vaginal discharge of the cottage cheese color and consistency. It is best diagnosed when a doctor scrapes the infected area and the culture is examined under a microscope.

If you want to figure out on your own whether you have a female candidal infection, you can place a glass of water by your bed at night. When you get up the next morning spit a couple times into the water. If after sitting a while your spit clears into the water, you do not have a yeast infection. However, if the spit sinks to the bottom looking stringy and cloudy, you quite possibly could have a yeast infection. The longer it takes for the spit to show signs of a yeast infection, the more mild a case it is.

Finally after more than a year of research we had a breakthrough. Click here

The Danger of Chronic Yeast Infection

There has been a lot of comment about the effect of Green Tea on Lung and other cancers, so check this out. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time searching for articles, news and other useful content which aids readers to have more awareness of cancer treatments and prevention tactics. Be sure to consider it all. Don’t forget to provide your advice so everyone can know your thoughts:

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Green Tea- A New Chance to Reduce Lung Cancer from Smoking

A new study says that drinking green tea could reduce the risk of lung cancer from smoking cigarettes.

“Lung cancer is the leading cause of all cancer deaths in Taiwan,” said I-Hsin Lin, a student at Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan, who conducted the study.

“Green tea, is considered to be a very good drinking for those that are smoking especially. This kind of tea has received a great deal of attention because tea polyphenols are strong antioxidants, and tea preparations have shown inhibitory activity against tumor genesis (production of new tumor),” added Lin.

Lin and colleagues have tested 170 patients with lung cancer and 340 healthy patients as controls.

They administered questionnaires to obtain demographic characteristics, cigarette smoking habits, green tea consumption, dietary intake of fruits and vegetables, cooking practices and family history of lung cancer.

Among smokers and non-smokers, those who did not drink green tea had a 5.16-fold increased risk of lung cancer compared with those who drank at least one cup of green tea per day.

So we can already see some differences in drinking and not drinking green tea. This tea is great for all the inside organs, not only for the lungs.

Among those who did not drink green tea at all had a 12.71-fold increased risk of lung cancer compared with those who drank at least one cup of green tea per day.

These are important numbers that shows us what a big effect green tea has on us.

“Our study may represent a clue that in the case of lung cancer smoking-induced carcinogenesis could be modulated by green tea consumption and the growth factor environment,” said Lin.

The study was presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer.

For something really interesting on Liver Cancer Prevention you need to see this. One of the key tasks for this site is keeping an eye open for news, videos, graphics and other helpful material which aids visitors to know more about cancer. Be sure to look over it all. Don’t forget to include your thoughts so everyone can know your comments:

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Liver Cancer – How To Prevent It

Liver cancer (Hepatocellular carcinoma) is a deadly cancer. It will kill almost all patients who have it within a year.

The World Health Organization estimated approximately four hundred thirty thousand new cases of liver cancer worldwide and a similar number of patients died as a result of the disease.

The most common areas of the world with high rate of people being affected by the disease are the sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

The liver is the largest organ in the body, which is found behind the ribs on the right side of the abdomen and it has two parts: the right lobe and the smaller left lobe. It has many important functions that keep a person healthy; it removes harmful materials from the blood, it makes enzymes and bile that help us digest food, and it also converts food into substances needed for life and growth.

The liver gets its supply of blood from two vessels, the hepatic portal vein where most blood comes from, and the rest comes from the hepatic artery.

Hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver, which can be benign or malignant (cancerous). Tumors of the liver occur when there is an inaccuracy in the normal regulation of growth of any cells in the liver, including the liver cells themselves (hepatocyte), the bile duct, or the blood vessels within the liver.

Initial symptoms of liver cancer are unpredictable. In countries where this disease is very common, generally the cancer is discovered at a very advanced stage of the disease because of several reasons; one of them being the areas where there is high frequency of the disease are usually developing countries and access to healthcare is limited, another is screening examinations for patients at risk for developing the cancer are not available in these areas.

As well, patients from these regions actually have more aggressive liver cancer diseases therefore reaching the advanced stage more rapidly. Symptoms of this disease include pain in the upper abdomen on the right side (the pain may extend to the back and shoulder), swollen abdomen (bloating), weight loss, loss of appetite and feelings of fullness, weakness or feeling very tired, nausea and vomiting, yellow skin and eyes, dark urine from jaundice, and fever.

The best way to prevent liver cancer is avoiding the risk factors that are linked with it. Keeping away from the excessive use of alcohol and quitting smoking can reduce the risk of liver cancer. Preventing and treating HBV and HCV infections is also important.

In other parts of the world, changing the way that foods are stored and processed can decrease the risk of aflatoxin exposure. Proper treatment of water can reduce the risk of arsenic in drinking water. Right treatment of inherited diseases associated with cirrhosis and liver cancer can reduce the risk of developing either of the disease. Although the risk of liver cancer can never be diminished to zero, it can be significantly reduced by avoiding known risk factors.

I am often considering graphics, articles and other helpful information on cancer, including this informative article on Signs Of Kidney Cancer which readers might appreciate as it helps you to be more aware of how to identify kidney cancer. Be sure to peruse it all. Don’t forget to add your opinions so we can all learn from your advice:

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Signs Of Kidney Cancer – How You Can Tell

Kidney cancer occurs in approximately thirty one thousand Americans per year and most patients diagnosed are between the ages of fifty and seventy. It affects men about twice as often as women. At present, the causes of kidney cancer are not well understood and can seldom be explained why one person gets the disease and another doesn’t.

Many factors are linked with the increased probability of kidney cancer; one major risk factor is cigarette smoking. Smokers are twice likely to get the disease more than non-smokers.

Renal cell carcinoma, also known as gurnistical tumor, is the most common form of kidney cancer arising from the renal tubule, and the most common type of kidney cancer in adults. The most common warning sign or symptom of this disease is blood in the urine. In some cases, the person can actually see the blood.

It may be there one day and not the next. A urine test done as a part of regular checkup called urinalysis may also find traces of blood in the urine. Another symptom is lump or mass that can be felt in the kidney area. The tumor may cause a dull ache or pain in the back side. Symptoms may develop abruptly.

However, as with other cancer types, kidney cancer can cause a general feeling of poor health. Weight loss, fever, feeling very tired, and loss of appetite can be some more symptoms felt by someone with the disease. Though most often, these symptoms do not mean cancer. Other conditions may be causing the symptom that is why consulting a doctor is best advised when one experiences any of these problems.

To diagnose a kidney cancer, the patient’s personal and family medical history is taken and a thorough physical examination is conducted. The doctor usually orders blood and urine tests and may do one or more of these exams:

IVP (Intravenous Pyelogram) is a test that lets the doctor see the kidneys, ureters, and bladder on x-rays. The x-rays are taken after an injection of dye that shows up on the x-ray film.

CT or CAT Scan is another x-ray procedure that gives detailed pictures of cross-sections of the body. The pictures are created by a computer.

Ultrasound is a test that sends high-frequency sound waves, which cannot be heard by humans, into the kidney. The pattern of echoes produced by these waves creates a picture called a sonogram. Healthy tissues, cysts, and tumors produce different echoes.

Arteriogram is a series of x-rays of blood vessels. Dye is injected into a large blood vessel through a narrow tube called a catheter. X-rays show the dye as it moves through the network of smaller blood vessels around and in the kidney.

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) uses a very strong magnet linked to a computer to create pictures of cross-sections of the kidney.
Nephrotomogram is a series of x-rays of cross-sections of the kidney. The x-rays are taken from several angles before and after injection of a dye that outlines the kidney.

When a person is diagnosed with kidney cancer, it is important to know the extent, or stage of the disease because it can spread to the bones, lungs, liver, and brain. Staging procedures may include special x-rays and tests to check these organs.

If the disease is only in the kidneys, which is about forty percent of cases, it can be cured roughly ninety percent of the time with surgery. But if it has spread outside of the kidneys, often into the lymph nodes or the main vein of the kidney, then it must be treated with chemotherapy and other treatments.