Breast Cancer Prevention Still Needs More Attention

Breast cancer prevention is important for women to learn about, especially since breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women
. The American Cancer Society's web site reports that over two-hundred thousand women were diagnosed with this disease in 2006 and there are over two million women in the United States who have received treatment for breast cancer. With numbers this staggering, preventing cancer should be a priority for all women.

The first and easiest step in breast cancer prevention is knowing what you are up against. This means learning all about the risk factors that may affect you. Family history and genetic make-up are two risk factors women cannot control, but must be aware of when it comes to prevention. If your mother, grandmother or even sister has been diagnosed with breast cancer, your risks go up too.

The choices you make in life also become risk factors. Women who take oral contraceptives could have a greater chance of developing this deadly disease. Having children before the age of thirty can put women at a higher risk for breast cancer. Although some risk factors are easier to control than others, familiarizing oneself with plenty of information will only make fighting cancer easier for you.

There are certain medications available to women who fall under high risk factors for breast cancer. The drug Tamoxifen has been used in the United States for over twenty-five years to help in the fight for breast cancer prevention. The drug is taken once daily as a pill and interferes with the female hormone estrogen
, preventing it from attaching itself to cells in the breast tissue.

This medication can also be used to treat women already diagnosed with breast cancer because it can slow down or cease the growth of cancerous cells. Tamoxifen has even been associated with helping prevent a recurrence in women who previously suffered from breast cancer.

A more common way to prevent breast cancer is through mammograms. A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast and is the most common form of prevention. Women who are over forty years of age should get mammograms on a yearly basis. For women in their twenty's and thirty's, the American Cancer Society's web site recommends getting clinical breast exams at least every three years from a medical professional.

This test is performed using the tips of the fingers to check the entire breast area and under the arm. In addition to mammograms and clinical breast exams, women should also perform breast self exams each month to recognize any signs of lumps or abnormalities in the tissue.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is able to help women who fall within the lower poverty levels, are uninsured or underserved gain access to screenings for breast cancer. This program is called the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. The CDC's web site touts it has served more than two million women under this program since its inception in 1991.

In 2000, Congress expanded this service by opening it up to women who are on Medicaid. This breast cancer control act, formally titled the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, is a way to help women, who may have little access to quality health care, have a chance at breast and cervical cancer prevention
.

For anyone who has suffered from breast cancer, maintaining prevention is critical. It should be just as important for those who never have experienced this disease. Breast cancer prevention is about learning your genetic make-up and if anyone in your family suffered from cancer.

Prevention is also about making healthier lifestyle choices by eating right, exercising and avoiding cigarettes. Be smart and make the right decisions to ensure you will have a long and healthy life
.

Cancer Prevention is Not Rocket Science

Cancer prevention is not some kind of rocket science. It is easier than you may think. Cancer prevention involves changing habits, especially the bad ones. It means making significant lifestyle changes. Cancer prevention is an important and active area of public health research. Cancer Prevention and risk-reduction strategies can greatly lower the physical, emotional, and financial burden of cancer and improve the overall health of cancer survivors, including lowering the risk of the cancer coming back or the formation of a second cancer. Cancer prevention research in the Department of Foods and Nutrition has been ongoing from many years, however recently the strength of this area has grown.

Cancer

Cancer is not something that happens to someone else. Cancer is not something to pussyfoot around with. Cancer has been around as long as mankind, but only in the second half of the 20th century did the number of cancer cases explode. Cancer thrives on sugar and refined grains. Cancer grows rapidly where there is low oxygenation of cells. Observational evidence shows associations between alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and obesity and increased incidence of certain cancers. Remember, the more underlying conditions causing cancer that you correct, the better your chances of beating it.

Prevention

Prevention offers the most cost-effective long-term strategy for the control of cancer. Prevention means avoiding the risk factors and increasing the protective factors that can be controlled so that the chance of developing cancer decreases. Prevention of cancer is always better than spending lots for its curing.

Research

Researchers have found that carotenoids in dark green leafy vegetables are effective in inhibiting the formation of breast and skin cancer tumors, and preventing lung and stomach cancer. Research shows that you can greatly reduce your risk of developing cancer by not smoking/stopping smoking, being sun smart, eating healthy and being physically active Drinking less. Research suggests that up to 35 percent of cancers are related to poor diet. According to research, only 60 percent of women follow breast cancer screening guidelines, 30 percent of men and women follow colon cancer screening recommendations, and only 40 percent of men regularly get tested for prostate cancer.

Supplements

Supplements aid your body to make it more healthy and leave it up to the body to take care of the cancer. Supplements can make up for this by giving the body a consistent supply of essential compounds. Supplements While some supplements may help, nutrients from foods prove more effective. If a doctor is not tied in and blinded by the medical/drug industry, he or she finds that a comprehensive approach to fighting cancer using powerful supplements that deal with the many different issues in cancer, works much better than only using drugs and other treatments that harm the body. Not using natural supplements to fight cancer is like being in a life and death struggle, and choosing to fight with one hand tied behind your back.

Cancer prevention does not have to be a hard task. Cancer prevention is a lifelong plan including smart choices in our day to day lives. Cancer prevention is important to having a long and healthy life

, and it is something not to take lightly. Cancer prevention and early detection begins with knowing your cancer risk; then, doing something about it. Cancer prevention is a life- long commitment to a long- life of healthy living and it's never too late to start.

Early Symptoms of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer takes time to produce chronic and severe symptoms. Therefore, it is important that one knows the different early symptoms of lung cancer in order to recognize the disease early and prompt treatment can be given. All of these signs and symptoms which appear on the early stages of cancer should be noticed in no time so that treatment can be given at once. Once these signs and symptoms are experienced, it is best to consult with a medical specialist or your physician.

According to statistical reports, lung cancer ranks first in the majority death rate in either male or female. This is one main reason why medical practitioners and people involved in maintaining the stability of people's health are eager to lessen the occurrence of the disease by manipulating the environment. Usually, cancer becomes evident from the age of 40 going to 70. In fact, women are now also being affected with the disease and is gaining in number in terms of affectation compared to men.

The moment cancer cells becomes malignant, it is termed as lung cancer in the primary stage. If a person gets lung cancer and he or she is not a smoker nor is exposed long-term to chemicals and lung irritants, it is deemed that the cancer may have come some place else from the body. This means that aside from that affected side, it has also reached the lung which is known as metastasis. The spread on the lungs commonly comes from the bone, stomach, lymph nodes, breast, kidneys, skin, colon, cervix and even testis.

Some of the common signs and symptoms of cancer are: nagging cough which doesn't go away in weeks or month's time, chest pain, recurrent bronchitis or pneumonia problems, hemoptysis or coughing blood-stained sputum, easily fatigued, weight loss which is caused by anorexia or loss of appetite, and lung manifestations like Dyspnea, hoarseness and wheezing.

Cancer can be quite hard to diagnose because the earliest symptoms can often become tolerable that makes the person think he or she is just experiencing a simple cough or a normal chest pain. Once the early signs and symptoms occur, oftentimes the cancer is diagnosed as severe or has metastasized to a nearby body part like the lymph nodes. Once the diagnosis of this metastasis happens, it is too late because of the advancement the disease has become.

Some evident symptoms seen in patients having lung cancer are:

• Dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing – which is considered as one of the serious symptoms of lung cancer for it may not allow the cancer patient to ingest food and even liquid. Sometimes, this leads to asphyxiation.

• Abnormalities affecting the fingers or the fingernails like overgrowth of tissues in fingertips that result to clubbing

• Gynecomastia or the development of breasts in men

• Atrophy or shrinkage of the muscles

Above all, the three main symptoms related to lung cancer that must not be set aside are the following:

• Chest pain that is a result from persistent coughing or even at the extent of abnormal breathing.

• Hemoptysis or coughing out of blood-streaked sputum which may indicate that trauma is now being experienced by the respiratory system.

• Shortness of breath can happen if there is a blockage in the bronchioles or tubes which serves as a passageway for oxygen.

If more than one of these early symptoms of lung cancer are now occurring on you, it is best that you consult your doctor immediately most especially if you are aged 40 and above.