cancer

What You May Not Know About Skin Cancer?

Scenario 1

Susan spends much of her summer in Florida. She lives
in a mild climate and likes working out. She loves to
swim, mountain-bike and play volleyball. Susan knows
the dangers of the sun exposure so she choses to go to
tanning salons to get her tan while being sure to apply
sunscreen every day before going out.

Scenario 2.

Jack lives in a cooler, northern climate. The summers
can be very humid, but most of the year is mild or even
below freezing during the harshest winter months. The
beach has never been much of a draw for him and he
spends most of his time doing indoor activities or at
his job. Joseph doesn’t worry about sunscreen and only
had one sunburn that he can remember and that was when
he was a child.

Which of these scenarios do you most associate yourself
with? Did you know that they are both at risk of
developing skin cancer? We have all heard the warnings
about the dangers of sun exposure. We know all about
the importance of wearing sunscreen and hats.

Some Facts about tanning and skin cancer

Tanning Beds are NOT Safer than the Sun. 20 minutes of
exposure in a tanning bed is roughly equivalent to
four hours in the sun. Although sun beds use UVA
rather than UVB rays. UV-A penetrates more deeply into
the skin than UV-B, can cause skin cancer, and even may
suppress the immune system.

Wearing Sunscreen at the Beach is NOT enough
Protection. 85 percent of UV rays can even make it
through on cloudy days. That means you are equally at
risk in the car, walking the dog or letting your
children out to play at any time of year – even when
you’re not at the beach. Of course, you are usually
less attired at the beach and so covering up is
recommended even when wearing sunscreen. Sunscreen also
wears off with sweat and water and should always be
applied every two hours or after getting wet.

Taking Care Of Your Skin Now Will NOT completely
Protect You. Sadly, skin cancer can take 20 or more
years to develop. Most people receive about 80 percent
of their lifetime sun exposure before the age of 18.
Just one blistering sunburn in childhood is estimated
to double the risk of melanoma later in life. Taking
better care now will reduce the risk, but not eliminate
the damage already done.

Having a Tan does NOT Means You’re More Protected.
Dark skinned individuals are less likely to develop
cancer, but tanned skin is actually damaged skin.
Repeated tanning injures the skin and increases the
risk of skin cancer.

You Can’t get Burned on Overcast Days. Just because
the sun is hidden by some cloud does not mean that
you don’t need protection from the harmful effects of
the suns rays.

Limit exposure to the sun – especially for infants.

Examine your skin for early signs of damage.

Use a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher and apply it at
least 30 minutes before exposure and every two hours
after that.

Teach your children good safety habits and be sure you
and they are covered up when outdoors.

Have fun and be safe.

What is chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with drugs that kill cells, specifically cancer cells. One of the principles of chemotherapy is that cancer cells are rapidly dividing and therefore drugs are tailored to attack cell division in hope of killing mostly cancer cells. Unfortunately, chemotherapy also kills normal cells.

How can you take care of yourself during chemotherapy?

• You can eat the right foods to build up your strength.
• Stay away from people who have colds or the flu.
• Get the rest you need and pace yourself.
• Talk about your feelings to deal with any sadness, anger, or fear you may have.
• Work as a team with your health care providers.

Knowing how to help yourself can make you feel more in control. These are just a few of the ways that you can help yourself and begin to feel in control again.

This information is designed to help you become an informed partner in your care, but it is only a guide.

Self-help can never take the place of professional health care. Ask your doctor and nurse any questions you may have about chemotherapy. Also don’t hesitate to tell them about any side effects you may have. They want and need to know.

How Chemotherapy Works

Chemotherapy is designed to kill cancer cells.

Chemotherapy can be administered through a vein, injected into a body cavity, or delivered orally in the form of a pill, depending on which drug is used.

Chemotherapy works by destroying cancer cells; unfortunately, it cannot tell the difference between a cancer cell and some healthy cells.

So chemotherapy eliminates not only the fast-growing cancer cells but also other fast-growing cells in your body, including, hair and blood cells.

Some cancer cells grow slowly while others grow rapidly. As a result, different types of chemotherapy drugs target the growth patterns of specific types of cancer cells.

Each drug has a different way of working and is effective at a specific time in the life cycle of the cell it targets.

Your doctor will determine the chemotherapy drug that is right for you.

To understand more about the different ways chemotherapy is given, read about how people receive chemotherapy.

Discussing the Effectiveness of Cancer Treatment

Understand the goals and risks of each treatment option so you can work with your doctor to decide which treatment is best for you.

Balance potential benefits against the risks of treatment.

Some risks of cancer treatments may include time away from family and friends, uncomfortable side effects, or long-term complications.

Cancer treatment may be inconvenient, prolonged, or unavailable close to home. These are important considerations when evaluating treatment options, but they are not typically mentioned in medical journals reporting the results and benefits of new treatments.

Once you and your doctor have decided on a treatment plan, talk with your doctor about all you can do to make sure you get the full dose of your cancer treatment on schedule.

You can make note of subjects to discuss and questions to ask.

Importance of Full Dose on Schedule

Studies show that for certain types of cancer, chemotherapy produces the best long-term results when patients receive the full dose on time, every time.

The Asbestos Virginity Test?

Mesothelioma is a devastating disease with a low survival rate.

Mesothelioma is a primary cancerous tumor that arises from the mesothelium of the pleura and it is very rare.

So rare in fact that people who get this rare cancer it turns out are usually exposed to asbestos, a know carcinogen.

The almost direct cause and effect of asbestos exposure to mesothelioma even carries onto the family members of individuals who are exposed. (Asbestos is carried into the home by fibers sticking to the clothing of the worker).

This secondary exposure may cause mesothelioma to develop years later in family members of those individuals. It is estimated that all mesothelioma tumors are associated with asbestos exposure in at least
80% of the cases. Soon after this direct cause and effect relationship became widely know mesothelioma lawyers around the world are signing up patients who develop mesothelioma with the intention of getting a nice court settlement for their pain and suffering.

All the lawyers need to do is dig around the person’s past and they will eventually find asbestos exposure somewhere (in at least 80% of the cases) and presto they have a plaintiff and a defendant they can sue.

This defedant is usually a large manufacturing company with deep pockets and lots of insurance, in a nutshell a personal injury attorney’s dream.

But what about the approximately 20% of those who have the disease but no evidence of asbestos exposure?

Are some people “encouraged” to make something up so as not to miss out on the large money settlements?

The feeling is that they might be “misremembering” (as Roger Clements puts it). But how to prove this?

The sued companies have found a way to fight back, to prove who is real and who is not in a effort to stop the bleeding a “new test” was recently described in the New England Journal of Medicine.[1]

Serum osteopontin levels can be used to distinguish persons with cancer who were not exposed to asbestos, and patients with pleural mesothelioma who were exposed to asbestos. The serum osteopontin test would effectively “discourage” people with the disease from claiming exposure to asbestos if they did not have it. And by so doing limit the millions of dollars paid by the defendants.

Source
1.NEJM.October 13, 2005.Number 15.Volume 353:1564-1573.

Q:When Do The Symptoms Of Mesothelioma Appear For The First Time?

A: The first symptoms of MESOTHELIOMA rarely appear less than 10 years after exposure. [1]

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.[2]

Malignant mesothelioma?

Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in the pleura (the thin layer of tissue that lines the chest cavity and covers the lungs) or the peritoneum (the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen and covers most of the organs in the abdomen). This summary is about malignant mesothelioma of the pleura.

Being exposed to asbestos?

Many people with malignant mesothelioma have worked or lived in places where they inhaled or swallowed asbestos. After being exposed to asbestos, it usually takes a long time for malignant mesothelioma to occur. Other risk factors for malignant mesothelioma include the following:

* Living with a person who works near asbestos.
* Being exposed to a certain virus.[3]

Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma?

Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma vary depending on where the cancer occurs.

Pleural mesothelioma signs and symptoms may include:

* Shortness of breath
* Painful breathing
* Chest pain under the rib cage
* Unusual lumps of tissue under the skin on your chest
* Unexplained weight loss
* Dry (nonproductive) cough

Peritoneal mesothelioma signs and symptoms may include:

* Abdominal pain
* Abdominal swelling
* A change in your bowel habits, such as more frequent diarrhea or constipation
* Lumps of tissue in the abdomen
* Unexplained weight loss

Signs and symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma and mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis are unclear. These forms are so rare that not much information is available.

Mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis may be first detected as a mass on a testicle.

Pericardial mesothelioma signs and symptoms may include difficulty breathing and fever.

Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma that has spread to other parts of the body:

* Pain in the area where cancer has spread
* Difficulty swallowing
* Swelling in the neck and face. [4]

Mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain?

Mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain continue to increase annually both for males and females. Statistical modelling of male mesothelioma deaths can be used to produce an estimate of the future peak number of mesothelioma deaths to males and females. Based on this methodology, the annual total number of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain is estimated to peak at around 1950 to 2450 deaths some time between 2011 and 2015. [5]

Bibliography:

1.Eur Respir J. 1996 Jun;9(6):1206-10. Malignant pleural mesothelioma from nonoccupational asbestos exposure in Metsovo (north-west Greece): slow end of an epidemic? Sakellariou K, et al. Dept of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Ioannina, Medical School, Greece.

2.http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/mesothelioma

3.http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/malignantmesothelioma/patient

4.http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mesothelioma/DS00779/DSECTION=2

5.http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/proj6801.pdf