Cancer is a disease of abnormal cells in which they divide uncontrollably and can eventually metastasize throughout the body. Cancer actually is not just one disease; there are over 100 types of cancer and are usually named after the type of cell/organ that they began in. Brain cancer can be classified into two groups: metastatic and primary brain tumors. Metastatic brain cancer begins in another organ and ultimately spreads to the brain. Primary brain tumors begin when malignant cancer cells arise in brain tissue. The long term prognosis of brain cancer varies from less that 10% to 32%. Children usually have a better projected outcome as 75% will survive longer than five years. Without proper treatment of the cancer it can result quickly in death. Brain cancer is a very harsh disease and only has a few effective treatments.
Brain cancer can be caused by many things. Environmental risk factors are a major cause of brain cancer in many patients. Some of the occupational factors include oil refinery workers, chemists, and rubber-industry workers. Reason for these occupational risk factors is inhaling possible carcinogenic vapors. Other causes that have been suggested (not proven) include smoking, radiation exposure and HIV. Heredity however has not been proven to be a cause. Also, the World Health Organization has classified mobile cell phone use as a possible cause for brain cancer.
Symptoms of brain cancer include (most common) difficulty walking, seizures, weakness, headaches, vomiting, blurry vision, and changes in alertness or mental capacity. None of these symptoms in combination can predict a diagnosis of brain cancer. There are, however, multiple other ways to diagnose brain cancer. Beginning with an interview...
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...ormal functioning brain cells. Chemotherapy is one of the most common forms of treatment for many cancers including brain cancer. Chemotherapy uses drugs designed to “kill” the cancer cells. Chemotherapy is very effective at doing so but in the process can damage normal cells. Side effects of chemotherapy include fatigue, hair loss and mouth sores. There are more less common treatments such as hyperthermia (heat treatment), immunotherapy (insertion of immune cells that are intended to kill certain cancer cells) and steroids.
According to the American Cancer Society, there will be approximately 1,655,540 new cases of cancer in 2014 along with 585,720 cancer deaths in the U.S. This means that is the second most common cause of death behind Heart Disease. Brain Cancer is not one of the most common forms of cancer but if diagnosed it can quickly become a killer.
After seeing his physician, he told him that he had some of the common symptoms of a brain tumor. Brain tumors have a variety of symptoms ranging from headache to stroke. Seizures may be the initial manifestation of a brain tumor, and eventually as many as 30% of patients with brain tumors will develop seizures. Gradual loss of movement or sensation in an arm or leg may occur. Unsteadiness or imbalance, and double vision may occur, especially if it is associated with headache.
Popular beliefs and opinions of the masses in society often become societal norms. Challenges to these societal norms can cause large-scale societal shifts or transitions. Examples of such occurrences include woman’s suffrage, the occupy movement, and falsified racial stereotyping. However, popular opinions, influenced by media, corporations, and members of the community, are sometimes flawed. “Welcome to Cancerland,” written by Barbara Ehrenreich, and “Beautiful Brains,” written by David Dobbs share a similar purpose of debunking common myths and stereotypes of specific social groups. Ehrenreich’s essay states that corporations and community members are popularizing the celebration of the “breast cancer sisterhood,” while stemming the drive
Glioblastoma Multiforme is the most aggressive and malignant form of brain cancer, with an average survival of less than 12 months.
The distribution of the type of brain and CNS tumors is shown in Figure 2.
I have chosen to write about the constellation Cancer (The Crab). I chose Cancer because it is one of only a handful of constellations that I am actually able to identify in the night sky. Cancer is one of the twelve Zodiac constellations; people whose birthdays fall between June 21st and July 22nd have Cancer as their sign. Cancer is the Latin word for crab, and despite the fact that the constellation looks more like a lobster then a crab, it is still referred to as a crab. The constellation is visible from the northern hemisphere from late winter to early spring.
A Brain Tumor is a mass of abnormal cells that vary in size. They can also be classified as Benign or Malignant. Benign Tumors are non-cancerous, and have definite borders that make removal of the entire mass possible. On the other hand, Malignant (Cancerous) Brain Tumors spread, aggressively invading nearby tissue, and have a higher chance of recurring after surgical removal.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the diagnosis and staging of cancer, complications of cancer, the side effects of the cancer treatment, and methods to lessen the physical and psychological effects of cancer.
There are more than a million people suffer from cancer in the United States every day. Lung cancer is not the only type of cancer but it affects many people and families every day. Lung cancer makes the lives of its patients and the families. Lung cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer and also one of the most common. Hundreds of thousands of people get diagnosed with lung cancer every year in just the United States. Also close to just as many people die from lung cancer in the US every year. I am going to talk about lung cancer and what it is, how to lower your risk of getting it, statistics of it, and the research and treatment of it.
According to SEER Statistics, 23,380 people are estimated to get a brain or nervous system cancer diagnosis. Out of those people, 14,320 people are estimated to die from their brain or nervous system cancer diagnosis (National Cancer Institute). Cancer is a type of dangerous tumor, or a buildup of extra cells that form a mass of tissue, that can be life threatening (National Cancer Institute). The term for a tumor that is cancerous is a malignat tumor, whereas a benign tumor does not contain cancer cells (National Cancer Institute). According to the National Cancer Institute, the causes of brain cancer are unknown, but risk factors include family history and excessive radiaton exposure. Although they are not always due to a brain tumor, comon symptoms include headaches, nausea, speech, hearing, vision, and mood changes, problems with balance and mamories, seizures, and numbness in arms and legs (National Cancer Institute). MRI and CT scans as well as surgical biposies (or the removal of part of the tumor to be examined) are used to diagnose brain cancer (National Cancer Institute). Different types of treatment options include radiation therapy, surgery to remove the tumor, and chemotherapy. According to Charles Davis, MD, PhD and Nitin Tandon, MD of WebMD.com, chemotherapy is “ the use of powerful drugs to kill tumor cells”. There are a few different types of chemotherapy, but all of which bring out the same kinds of side effects. Although the physical side effects of chemotherapy are commonly known, few people know of the emotional toll chemotherapy can take on a patient and his or her family as they go though this process.
I was a child when my aunt got sick, and my fascination about the field of medicine began. She had brain cancer. While I watched the disease progress I was flooded, not only with sadness and grief, but with questions. With two psychologists for parents I had a lot of support and understanding of my feelings, but I was left curious about the medical aspect of the disease and why there was no cure. The notion that the brain could change someone’s entire personality and physical function was amazing to me. Spending a lot of time in hospitals, I observed so much about the impact of a cancer diagnosis on patients and their families, and about what happens to people through the disease process. I noticed the enormous influence that the medical professional’s
The leading cause of death in America is lung cancer. Lung cancer is ranked top 10 fatal cancers in the United States. There are many types of ways to get lung cancer. There is radon gas it occurs outdoors naturally. Then there is second hand smoke that comes from other people smoking. People are even getting lung cancer from cancer causing agents, this happens from carcinogens. You can also get it from air pollution indoors and outdoors. Also there are gene-mutations that form cancer causing cells. Then there is the one everyone blamed lung cancer is smoking.
Processes of exogenous and endogenous are likely to result in mutated genes leading towards cancer. (Schulz 2005, Knowles & Selby 2005). There are three known classifications of carcinogens, which are described to be cancer-causing agents based on the fact that they directly boost effects and thus cause mutations of the alterations already in place. The three classifications include: Chemical carcinogens which can be related to cigarettes and the mutations created as a result of the chemicals involved; Physical carcinogens which involves...
Most of the body’s functions such as, thinking, emotions, memories and so forth are controlled by the brain. It serves as a central nervous system in the human body. The mind is the intellect/consciousness that originates in the human brain and manifests itself in emotions, thoughts, perceptions and so forth. This means that the brain is the key interpreter of the mind’s content. Jackson and Nagel seem to resist identifying what we call “mental events” with brain events, for different reasons, while J.J.C. Smart takes the opposing view.
How does one see the symptoms for childhood cancer? First one must know that there are many different types. There are forty different types of children’s cancer, including: Leukemia, Lymphoma, Sarcomas, cancers of the nervous system, liver cancers, kidney cancer, and more. Out of these cancers, the two most common childhood cancers are Leukemia, and brain tumors. What is leukemia? It is a cancer in which the bone marrow and other organs that produce blood produce and increased amount of immature or abnormal white blood cells. The symptoms of leukemia are paleness, excessive bruising, pain in the joints, and fatigue. Brain tumors are formed when a massive amount of cells are produced on the brain. The symptoms for this are frequent headaches, vomiting, seizures, decreased coordination, weakness, and problems concerning vision.
What exactly is Chemotherapy and why would it also kill “good” cells? Cancer could be described as the disease that sends cells out of control, rapidly multiplying the cells, until it harms the body. Chemotherapy is an effective drug treatment intended to treat individuals with various forms of cancer. Generally, this type of treatment is nonspecific, and non-molecular that uses chemical agents to break down all dividing cells. Chemotherapy, or chemo for short, destroys cancer cells, and can also cease the reproduction or spreading of these cells. Despite having apparent benefits, this type of treatment comes at a cost, presenting several disadvantages and side effects. Chemotherapy comes with a heavy burden, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, anemia, infections, and fatigue is a few of the short-term side effects. This analysis examines chemotherapy as a type of cancer treatment, as well as evaluating complimentary and alternative medicines.