Ovarian Cancer - not to ignore the warning signs

Approximately 1.5 percent of women are likely to develop ovarian cancer at some point in their lives. It is less common than breast cancer but is considered the most serious and deadly of all gynecological cancers. This is because the cancer is usually advanced before it is diagnosed, making treatment difficult. The ovaries can be easily examined and, because the signs are not clear, late diagnosis is common.

Due to the lack of screening tests available, it is imperative to know the early symptoms and possible risk factors.

Understanding ovarian cancer
The ovaries are two small organs that are part of the female reproductive system and are located on either side of the uterus. These ovaries contain germ cells that become eggs that are released when the woman menstruates.

They also produce estrogen and progesterone, hormones that adjust the menstrual cycle and have an effect on the growth of breasts and body hair as well as affecting the development of the female body shape.

What types of tumors are there?
This normally happens in an organized manner, but sometimes they grow abnormally and form a growth that we are experiencing as a tumour. The tumour can be benign, or it could be malignant. If it is benign, it is not cancerous and does not spread to other parts of his body. A malignant tumour, on the other hand, is often spread and cancer, making mestastases or secondary cancers.

Ovarian cancer is malignant and may occur in one or both ovaries. There are three main groups who are linked to the cell where the cancer starts. Epithelial ovarian cancer, as its name suggests, grows in the epithelium which is the surface of the ovary. It is the most common and accounts for about 90 percent of ovarian cancer. It mainly affects postmenopausal women.

Another type of epithelial tumor is a tumor borderline growing much more slowly than its regular counterpart. These can usually be removed successfully, even if diagnosed at an advanced stage.

There is a very rare form of ovarian cancer called germ cell ovarian cancer that begins in cells that develop into eggs. This represents only 5 per cent of cancers of the ovary and usually occurs only in women under age 30. The other five percent of ovarian cancers are generally sex cord stromal cells ovarian cancer that affects the cells responsible for ovarian female hormones. It can affect women of all ages.

Who is at risk for ovarian cancer?
The cause of ovarian cancer is unknown but there are certain risk factors that have been identified through research. Although these risk factors can increase your risk of developing ovarian cancer, they do not mean that you will necessarily develop the disease. However, knowledge of these risk factors can be useful. If you are interested in having one of these risk factors, it is important to talk to your health professional.

Factors that may increase your risk of ovarian cancer are:

• Age-About 90 percent of ovarian cancers affecting women more than 40 years.
• Cultural background - white women in western society have higher rates of ovarian cancer in the African or Asian woman.
• Number of pregnancies - Women who have never been pregnant seem to have a higher risk of ovarian cance
• Family history - Between 5 and 10% of ovarian cancers are genetic in origin. Researchers believe that the genes responsible for breast cancer (BRCA1 and BRCA2) are involved in almost all cases of familial ovarian cancer and familial breast cancer. It is also believed that these same damaged genes may be responsible for some cancers of the colon and endometrium. If you are genetically predisposed to the entire ovary, breast, endometrial cancer or colon, you may have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.
• Infertility and taken ovulation - Women who have had ovulation may be at higher risk even if infertility itself is a risk factor of this kind can not be taken as a clear indication.
• Hormone Replacement Therapy - Use of estrogen only HRT is usually when you have had a hysterectomy, was identified as a possible risk factor for ovarian cancer, especially if you have been on this therapy for more ten years.
• Factors lifestyle - Obesity is a risk factor for ovarian cancer is like a diet that is rich in fat.
  

Can I reduce the risk of ovarian cancer?
Currently, there are no known procedures to prevent or detect early ovarian cancer, but there are ways to reduce risk. Some of these factors are:

• Oral contraceptives - Research has shown that the use of oral contraceptives may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer up to 60 percent if taken for a period of five years during your lifetime.
• Pregnancy and lactation - Breastfeeding delays ovulation after childbirth, and therefore reduces the risk of ovarian cancer. However, there is no guarantee that breastfeeding will prevent you from developing ovarian cancer.
• Enjoy a diet low in fat - A diet rich in fat has been identified as a risk factor for ovarian cancer. Therefore, it makes sense to stick to a low-fat diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.
• Tubal ligation or hysterectomy - These operations are executed by a single valid medical reason, but it is believed that they reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.
• People with a strong family history of ovarian cancer may choose to speak to a genetic counsellor who can determine if you are at risk of developing the disease. If your family history suggests the damaged genes associated with ovarian, breast, endometrial or colon cancer, it may be wise to have genetic testing. If these tests show the damaged BRCA1 or BRCA2, you may be a gynecological oncologist refe.rred to consider ways to reduce your risk.
  

Early symptoms of ovarian cancer
Because there is no screening test for ovarian cancer, it is recommended that you have a vaginal pelvic regular monitoring to see if there are any changes in your ovaries. It is also essential that you consult your physician specialist if you notice any possible signs of the disease. Because the symptoms are often common to many other medical conditions, the diagnosis of ovarian cancer can be difficult

However, if you have any of these symptoms, which are unusual for you and that persist for more than a week, see your doctor without delay.

Some symptoms of ovarian cancer may include:

• Stomach discomfort of pain in the pelvic region
• The persistent nausea or wind.
• Feeling constantly bloated or "full".
• Unexplained weight gain.
• Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss
• Bowel changes
• From frequency or urgency to urinate
• Lethargy.
• The pain during intercourse.
• Unexplained vaginal bleeding.
  

Sometimes, cancers of the ovary were wrongly diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or menopause, so if you are interested, ask to be referred to a gynecologic oncologist who can order tests to rule out cancer ' ovary. It is rare that these symptoms are ovarian cancer, but if it is early detection gives an excellent chance of survival.

To diagnose ovarian cancer
If your doctor suspects ovarian cancer, you will be referred to a gynecologic oncologist who organise testing, which may include some or all of the following:

• A pelvic exam.
• Blood tests
• Stomach and chest radiographs.
• A barium enema to remove intestinal problems
• Échographies
  

If the results show a risk of ovarian cancer, it will be advisable to have an operation to confirm the diagnosis (none of these tests can be sure). During the operation, if the surgeon finds ovarian cancer, they will normally kill the cancer and the ovaries. It is important to understand before surgery that this will happen if you can learn all about your illness and the results prior to the transaction.

Why only some smokers get lung cancer?

Smoking is the most powerful known cause of lung cancer. The question is: Why do some smokers for a long time to descend to the deadly disease, while others escape? New genetic research reveals a culprit who was also upping praying for the person likely to become addicted to cigarettes.

Two new studies linking a variation in a gene residing on chromosome 15 (a person of 23 pairs of chromosomes) with an increased risk of developing lung cancer, a third study suggests that the same mutation affects a person tends to become addicted to cigarettes and, by extension, to develop the terrible disease. Lung cancer is diagnosed in about 200000 Americans and kills more than 150000 annually.

The new research published in both Nature and Nature Genetics, suggests that people with this gene have a loophole 30 percent greater chance of developing the disease, which is often fatal. But studies differ on the potential risk of dependency. The results allow a better understanding of how this genetic variation and smoking interact to cause lung cancer. They provide "new targets to begin to think about how to treat drug addiction and, also, of course, for the prevention or treatment of lung cancer," says Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Bethesda, Md., who was not involved in the study.

The research teams scanned a list of 300000 minutes changes in the genome where a (unit of genetic material) has been either deleted, duplicated or replaced. (These changes are called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs.) In one study, scientists at the Iceland-based biotechnology company deCODE genetics tried to correlate these genetic variations of a person to smoke, other research efforts have tried to bind them for lung cancer.

DeCODE Icelandic 50000 The group questioned about their smoking habits, using the information gleaned from this investigation as well as 40000 genome scans of smokers admitted to the pack, researchers have zeroed on a CHRNA variant of the gene, which codes for a receptor on nerve cells can be stimulated by nicotine. The amended version of the gene was more common among the heaviest smokers than it was in the rest of the population. "Non-smokers have a higher frequency of this variant that smokers who smoke between one and 10 cigs a day," says the neurologist Kári Stefánsson, deCODE's CEO, "because if you smoke and you have this variant You tend to smoke more than 10 cigs per day. "

When the team Stefánsson applied statistics on the incidence of lung cancer, she found that people with two copies of the altered gene had a huge 70 percent more likely to develop lung cancer, those with a copy had an increased risk of 30 percent.

These results are almost identical to those of other studies and one (in the wild) conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France (which is based on the examination of about 11000 volunteers, 7500 d 'Among them were smokers) and the other (in Nature Genetics), by a team at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who reviewed 9000 people, about 4000 of them were smokers.

Paul Brennan, who led the study of the CIRC, said he initially believed that the risk of lung cancer was raised by genetic predisposition to become addicted. "The genes that made you more likely to smoke, are you more likely to smoke, you are less likely to give up, and therefore more likely to develop lung cancer," he says. But his research has shown that, in fact, the gene seemed an independent person increase the risk of developing the disease-at arm's length.

NIDA's Volkow suggests that the gene variant may lead some people to smoke more because of its effect on the reward centers of the brain (associated with addictive behavior), and may increase the risk of cancer, too, because it also plays a role in lung tissue function. Epidemiologist Christopher Amos, Texas, who led the study, notes that even nicotine receptor involved in this study has been shown in previous research to stimulate tumor growth in other areas of the body, including the thymus (an body located near the lungs, which produces immune cells). "The nicotine or its derivatives can stimulate the cells to proliferate, to participate in the development of new blood vessels and also not to undergo cell death," he says, all of which are characteristics of tumor formation and the growth. "So that raises the possibility that there is a direct effect through the nicotine in the activation of the cells become cancerous."

What is the actual cause of skin cancer?

Skin cancer is one of the most terrible diseases that could happen to anyone. As much as in modern medicine learns to identify the major causes of skin cancer which consist of certain activities at risk. Many people seem more concerned with how to protect and stay away from the disease. However, it is likely that except for the person who may have a genetic disease skin cancer, the disease manifests itself more to those who work or live in the environment, which has a greater chance of skin cancer . This time the reasons for living or working in the environment, such must be very careful and aware of these sons and also to find ways of effective protection. You can find the following information useful in terms of identifying the major cause of skin cancer, and whether you are in such an environment and to prepare in case you found that you are in early stage of the disease.

We will take a look at the first condition that usually (and most of the time) is the leading cause of skin cancer, sunlight. According to the fact that sunlight is extremely beneficial for human health and the human body can not function without sunlight functionally. Because sunlight has Ultra Violet radiation, which is really necessary for the human body to generate significant glucose and hemoglobin. At the same time, the ultraviolet radiation is also the leading cause of skin cancer if there exceed the amount that the person taking it. For example, given the person who has to work in the state as a golf caddy, these people is obviously facing a very strong sunlight all the time. Some people in this category of jobs can try to protect themselves by wearing cloth which prevent the skin to have direct contact with sunlight, but in fact, still radiate ultraviolet radiation to the skin, even though it is not a direct contact. The only way of protection is to wear a thick cloth to prevent radiation or using UV lotion applied to the skin.

When talking about irradiation, the other condition which may risk of skin cancer and early entry into my mind belongs to the person who work in a hospital X-ray room. Yes, it is one of the conditions of risk of skin cancer. At the same that UV radiation from sunlight, x-ray contain some radioactive substances that the impact of human skin and cause cancer if the person has direct contact too often.

Another condition that the risk of cancer of the skin, apart from these two major factors is to have direct contact with a certain type of chemicals such as hydrocarbons and arsenic. It can be seen these days as many of this type that we use in everyday life contains these types of chemicals. In some cases, for many women who have to use excessive cosmetics on daily basis could also be a risk of skin cancer.