Medical Questions & Answers » Cancer

Know About Passive Smoking

medicalquestions — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:00:09 +0000

How dangerous is passive smoking? I share an office with a girl who has a cigarette in her mouth all day long, while I choke and splutter. She says I complain about nothing, but I am concerned that it may affect my health.
Almost everyone is forced to inhale fumes containing toxins such as formaldehyde, acetone, arsenic, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and nicotine at some time. You have no choice in the matter, and you have to suffer the consequences, because these chemicals are just a few of the scores of irritants found in cigarette smoke.
Fortunately for most of us, the result of passive involuntary smoking is only a minor itch of the nose, a cough or a sneeze, but some people can develop life-threatening asthma attacks, or have their heart condition aggravated by someone exhaling tobacco smoke in their direction.
In some situations, the non-smoker may be more affected than the smoker, as the smoke coming directly from the cigarette contains more toxins, nicotine and carbon monoxide than that inhaled by the smoker, as the inhaled smoke has been more completely burnt, and passed through a filter.
In the workplace, employers are required to provide a safe and healthy work environment, and this can include an area where non-smokers can work. Unfortunately, some bosses still smoke, and have little sympathy for the enforced passive smoking of their employees. This situation may change in the future, as more and more workers are successfully claiming workers compensation payments for the complications of passive smoking in their work place.
Smokers should now be aware of the health risks that they are taking every day (90% of lung cancer occurs in smokers), but they can no longer claim personal freedom to smoke where and when they like, as their habit is adversely affecting the health of those around them. In some cases passive smoking can be life threatening, and legal suits against smokers for causing bodily harm have been successful in the United States.

How Skin Cancer be Treated?

medicalquestions — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:00:43 +0000

My GP checked over my skin yesterday when I went to see him about my blood pressure, and said that I had a lot of skin cancers that would need to be treated, and he wants me to make a long appointment so that he can have time to treat them. I am very worried. How are skin cancers treated? Can they be cured?
There are many sun-induced skin sores which are not the nasty cancerous type, but there are also some which can spread rapidly enough to eventually kill the unfortunate owner of the spot!
Most of them can be very easily removed, and if the doctor is sure of the diagnosis he may burn the cancer off with a diathermy machine, or freeze it off with liquid nitrogen. Both methods are very effective in early stages of the disease.
If the skin cancer has spread, it is necessary to cut out the spot and the surrounding tissue to prevent it from spreading further. Some people are unlucky enough to have areas such as the nose or ears involved, and in severe cases these can be completely eaten away by the cancer cells.
It is often difficult for doctors to be absolutely certain about a spot when examined on the patient, and so if there is any doubt at all, the spot is cut out. This can be done very easily in a general practitioner’s surgery. The lesion is then sent to a pathologist, who will examine it further under a microscope to make the exact diagnosis.
The vast majority of skin cancers can be cured, but early treatment is vital.

Prostate Cancer Blood Test

medicalquestions — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:00:51 +0000

What do the results of the prostate cancer blood test mean?
A test for the prostate specific antigen (PSA) can be used to follow the success of treatment for prostate cancer and infection. If the levels drop, treatment is successful, if they rise it is not.
There has been a lot of controversy about the use of this test as a screening test for prostate cancer. A level of PSA below 4 micrograms per litre is nearly always normal, but unfortunately, many conditions other than cancer can cause the results to be high, and so it is not an absolute test for prostate cancer. A combination of tests for different types of PSA (free and combined PSA) may be a better form of screening, but is quite expensive.
At present the best way to determine if a person has prostate problems is to question them about their toilet habits (can they start their stream of urine easily, and does the urine come out freely and hit the porcelain, or does it dribble on their boots), and to examine the prostate gland directly by placing a finger through the anus to feel the gland.

How can blood tests determine if you had a particular infection years ago? I am pregnant and my doctor said after doing tests that I had German measles in the past, but I cannot remember this.
If you get an infection, or a vaccination against an infection, your blood produces antibodies to fight it. These antibodies remain even after the infection has cleared, and usually prevent most viral infections from developing again, in other words you are immune to it. Rubella (German measles) and chickenpox are examples of infections which, once suffered, will not usually recur.
A doctor may order a blood test to find out if a patient is at risk from a particular disease. For example, the doctor will want to know if a woman has had rubella (which can harm the foetus if the mother develops it during early pregnancy) or whether she should be immunised against it—although immunisation during pregnancy is not advisable. Sometimes tests are carried out to detect the presence of antigens themselves (antigens are substances that the body regards as foreign and to which it will develop antibodies). The presence of particular antigens in the blood indicates that the organism is still active and that, even though the symptoms have subsided, the person may be a carrier of a disease such as hepatitis B.
The progress of certain diseases can be assessed by testing the blood for specific immunoglobulins (antibodies) which differ according to whether the disease is current or past. Many infectious diseases such as glandular fever, AIDS, various forms of hepatitis, Ross River fever and measles can be diagnosed and followed by this type of test.

Radiotherapy – Treatment in Cancer

medicalquestions — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:00:55 +0000

It helps more than 70 per cent of all cancer patients to get cured or obtain relief from pain or bleeding in advanced stages. It consists of either external therapy with X-rays or Gamma-rays or internal therapy called ‘brachytherapy’, where radioactive needles are directly implanted into the tumor. External beam therapy takes a few minutes daily and about five to six weeks to complete an entire course during which, besides the tumor, a large number of normal cells also receive radiation. While the latter suffer only temporary harm due to their capacity to recover, cancer cells are damaged permanently. In due course of time, the normal cells not only regain their function completely, but also re-grow to cover up the gap left by the destroyed cancer cells. Today, radiotherapy is planned and executed with the help of dedicated computers to get an optimum ratio between therapeutic and undesirable effects.
The side-effects of radiotherapy result from its action on the normal cells in the treated region. Hence, patients with mouth, throat or food-pipe (esophagus) cancers develop soreness or ulcers in their inner lining, leading to difficulty in swallowing while abdominal reactions manifest as diarrhea, cramps or vomiting. Majority of these effects are temporary and would subside within three to six weeks of completion of therapy. The skin of the treated area may show hair loss without any other damage.
Although different cancers respond variously, nearly 80 per cent of all cancers can be completely cured with standard therapy, if detected in stages I or II. Unfortunately, most of our patients come with advanced disease due to personal neglect or poor awareness on the part of primary care physicians. While most of these cases cannot be cured, the quality of their remaining life can be improved with modern palliative and rehabilitative care. Multipronged efforts including media support are desirable to create greater awareness among the people and care givers to promote early detection and prompt therapeutic intervention. Well-equipped facilities for cancer treatment are few in India and exist mainly in only about a dozen Regional Cancer Centers, besides a few medical colleges.

Treatment of Cancer

medicalquestions — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:00:55 +0000

Question: My mother is on methotrexate for treatment of cancer. It is having terrible side effects. Is it worth continuing?
This is an extremely difficult and delicate question of ethics, medical technology and common sense. The treatment of a cancer can include surgery, irradiation and drugs. The type of treatment will vary depending on the type and site of the cancer. Methotrexate is a drug that kills cancer cells. Unfortunately it, and other cancer drugs, can have severe side effects, as they damage some normal cells while destroying the cancer. The usual problems are loss ot hair and vomiting associated with constant nausea and a sense of being unwell.
Ethically, all doctors ate required to do everything possible to prolong human life, and cure disease. If statistics indicate that methotrexate, or any other drug, is likely to be the best treatment, a doctor is ethically obliged to prescribe it. Medical technology may also indicate that certain treatments are sometimes successful, and that a combination of several treatments may give a slightly higher chance of success, but with a dramatic increase in side effects.
This is where common sense is required. If a patient is likely to be cured in 50% or even 25% of cases with the use of a course of Treatment that may be most unpleasant, most doctors and patients would proceed. If the success rate was only 1%, most doctors would consult with the patient and relatives and not proceed, leaving the remainder of the patient’s life as calm, peaceful and free of side effects as possible.
The problem arises between these extremes. Should the patient be given a slight chance of survival after a few months ot drug-induced agony, or should nature be allowed to take its course? There is no simple answer. Frank discussions between the patient, doctor and relatives is the only way for a consensus to be reached in solving the dilemma.

Spread of Cancer

medicalquestions — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:00:51 +0000

Question: Where does cancer spread to when you have a secondary cancer? I have had cancer in the breast, and I have been told that surgery has been successful and I have no secondaries, but I would like to watch out for any problems.
The liver, lymph nodes, and bones are the most common areas involved in the spread of cancer, but cancel can spread almost anywhere in the body from its original site. The type of cancer will also determine where it may spread, as some types of cancer cells appear to spread more easily to one part of the body than another.
The lymph nodes are responsible for dealing with waste products and infection, and there are direct channels from them to every part of the body. Cancer cells can spread very easily along these channels, and so with most cancers, the nearest group of lymph nodes is often surgically removed, irradiated or treated with cancer-killing drugs.
The liver is responsible for processing the blood to remove abnormal and dying cells, waste products and toxins. This too can therefore be easily affected by cancer cells. Bone marrow is responsible for producing many of the infection- and cancer-fighting cells in the body, and may itself be infilttated by cancer cells that destroy its correct function.
Secondary cancer is certainly harder to treat than primary, but it is not an inevitable death sentence because modern anti-cancer drugs, the new radiation techniques available and delicate surgery can still remove and control many of these growths.

Control over Cancer

medicalquestions — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:00:06 +0000

Question: Does a person who is terminally ill have to suffer excruciating pain, or can it be controlled?
This can be a very difficult problem for doctors, patients and their families particularly when the patient is dying from a very aggressive form of cancer. There are undoubtedly medications available that will control the most sever pains, but the patient may be so stuporous from the side effects that they are unable to function effectively, and may end up completely unconscious. To keep a patient alert and pain free is the challenge.
Medications, including self-administered doses of narcotics by tablet or injection, can play a part in this process, but in many cases there are other options. The use of a TENS (trans cutaneous electrical nerve stimulator) machine, which through pads on the skin stimulates nerves in a way that blocks pain, may give some patients relief.
The most radical options include injecting into the nerves that are responsible for the pain to temporarily shut them down, or permanently destroy them. Surgery ro cut these nerves may also be undertaken. The wishes of the patient must always be taken into consideration by doctors, and a discussion of the available options allows the patient to remain in control of his/her pain in the way that s/he desires.

Causes of Cancer

medicalquestions — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:08:56 +0000

Question: Several members of my family have had cancer of different sorts, and this scares me. What causes cancer? How can I avoid it?
Cancer, the crab of astrology, is so named because the ancients could see the cancer clawing its way into the normal tissue, destroying everything in its path. Doctors now understand a great deal about cancer, but we do not fully understand what starts the process.
Although the specific cause of cancer is unknown, sun exposure, a low-fiber diet and smoking are well-known precipitating factors.
Cancer occurs when otherwise normal cells start multiplying at an excessive rate, and the cells made by the rapid process of reproduction are abnormal in shape, size and function. Although they may have some slight resemblance to the cells around them, cancer cells cannot perform the correct work of that type of cell, and they prevent the normal cells around them from working properly, thus enabling the cancerous cells to spread.
Cancer is not just one disease process; dozens of different types of cancer occur in different parts of the body, and each type causes different problems and responds differently to treatment. Several different types of cancer can be found in the lungs for example.

Early signs of Cancer

medicalquestions — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:05:37 +0000

Question: What are the early signs of cancer? When should I see a doctor?
The early signs of cancer are:
• a lump or thickening anywhere in the body
• sores that will not heal
• unusual bleeding or discharge
• change in bowel or bladder habits
• persistent cough or hoarseness
• change in a wart or mole
• indigestion or difficulty in swallowing
• loss of weight for no apparent reason.
If you note one of these changes in yourself or a friend, seek immediate expert medical advice. It is far better to be reassured that there is nothing wrong now, than worry for months unnecessarily. If the condition is serious, early treatment may save your life.