Honey is Anti-Cancer

What, anti-cancer foods?

From time to time, I would receive this question, "Can honey cure cancer?"

Our heart goes out to those whose lives are troubled and threatened by cancer, but I had to reply and inform them that honey is not an antidote for cancer or a "cure-all".

Perhaps what many people don't think enough of or have overlooked is - honey possesses carcinogen-preventing and anti-tumour properties; honey is curative; honey is anti-cancer. According to the book Honey Revolution by Dr Ron Fessenden, scientists have found floral flavonoids in honey. These tiny traces of bioflavonoids, generally known as antioxidants, have powerful influences when entered into the body's cells. When ingested, they immediately increase the antioxidant levels within cells, "decrease capillary permeability and fragility. They scavenge oxidants and inhibit the destruction of collagen in the body". In fact in the recent years, major drug companies recognised the effectiveness of these flora-flavones in removing free radicals from our body and improving our body immunity functioning, and are now investing millions of dollars just to produce these substances artificially. Tell your family, friends that the foraging honeybees have passed on these precious natural floral-flavones from the floral nectars to honey and then to us! Look, you may not see the benefit of turning to healthful food overnight, but daily repetitive, anti-cancer choices will can potentially safe your life from deadly diseases like cancers.

Surely all of us know that prevention is far better than cures, but sadly, the world has succumbed to the instant gratification syndrome. Just see how people are losing weight so quickly by taking diet pills, getting liposuction, or even starving. Working out things over time has become a waste of time. We want material wealth, relationships, and success now, totally abandoning the universal law of sowing and reaping. And with the exact attitude, we often put all our strength and focus into demanding instant cures of diseases and forget all about constant prevention with anti-cancer diet and lifestyle.

I want to share this story with you. Our local papers recently featured a retail magnate who was punished by the law for buying a kidney illegally. As reported, his kidneys failed in 2005 due to the high levels of sugar in his blood and his well-known penchant for "good food, especially the deep fried stuff". He was tethered to his dialysis machine for three hours a day, and when he was not having dialysis, he would be with a doctor for heart problems and diabetes. When interviewed, he remarked that if he had listen to his doctors a decade or two ago, he might not have lost the use of his kidneys. Hindsight is always 20/20, he said.

Such stories must be powerful enough to jolt us out of our wilful nonchalance. Borrow the hindsight of those who have been there before and work on our health and picture in our mind the good health of our children 10, 20 years later. We can't forecast freak diseases, accidents, and natural disasters of tomorrow, but we can definitely will ourselves to treating our body better by choosing wisely the kind of food to deposit into it today.

Article Source: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/anti-cancer.html

How to Identify the Presence of the Pituitary Adenoma

When you have to think of the signs that reveal the possibility of the occurrence of the pituitary adenoma, then often these signs are neglected due to their nonspecific nature. According to the endocrine oncologists, the sudden changes in the energy levels, the behavioral changes in the person, the sudden onset of the weight gain, the emotional instability, sexual dysfunction, fatigue, infertility, and many more such symptoms which do not provide with the rational explanations for the changes, can actually indicate the possibility of the presence of this type of adenoma.

The pituitary adenoma often results in the sudden loss of libido in men which is often considered as the result of stress or the normal aging process. For the doctors, it is not the malignancy that is the cause of concern but it is the secretion of the various hormones at a time which can have a disastrous effect on the pituitary and the neuronal elements in the body.

Doctors have observed that, the Prolactinomas are the most occurring type of the adenomas and the ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) secreting tumors resulting in Cushing's syndrome are the second most common type of the pituitary tumors, apart from the secretion of the various other growth hormones, or TSH, LH hormones, etc.

If one is suspecting the presence of the pituitary adenoma, then he should actually go for the examination of the levels of the prolactin, ACTH, growth hormone, TSH, cortisol, FSH, and LH in the body. If these levels are found to be abnormal, then the MRI or other imaging scans can be considered for diagnosis. And there are rarely any cases that show the hereditary patterns for the occurrence of the pituitary adenoma.
malignant.

teken by : Tom Schavo

Consumption Tonic Linked to Pancreatic Cancers

House is the minimal show you requisite to hear if you are diagnosed with something not mean with your embody. All individual cases are aliveness threatening and ordinarily unsufferable to impact when not early perceived. There are a lot of causes of cancers such as environments, genes and habits. One detrimental usage you may requirement to refrain after city this article is intemperateness sodas.

Cerebrate reveals that intemperateness at minimal two sodas a day can increment your chance of pancreatic cancers, a disease in pancreas. Too some sweetener collection in salt drinks are believed to be the offender. Pancreatic cancers is a really complicated disease in which patients exclusive survived for five age or much after state diagnosed with the malady.

Europeans and Westerners are writer prone of this misuse because of their habitual lifestyle of eating maximal restaurants. But Asians are not too far behind as sedate cases of cancers were filmed and mostly are smokers and soda drinkers.

Although sodas are not directly been accused as the important venture of pancreatic constellation, a research reveals that most patients of the said disease has sweetening passionate tendencies which also tends to upgrade boozing sodas from wet. Investigate also shows that patients are smokers, inferior physically nimble and piscivorous eaters. This means that aside from the offender which is sweetening, the most provable movement of pancreatic cancers is the dropsical way of history.

Regularize though it is not justified that sodas are the important cause, lets all be alert that cola drinks are works bad for your eudaimonia. Separate bad personalty of sodas are the mass.

Bad for Viva Health
Increment in gore dulcorate even
Effort of ulcers and remaining digestive abnormalities
Cancers
Liver impairment
Fatness

We only untaped erst in this group. We hump to fully increase this talent of time from God and to do that, we must inform to compassion ourselves by experience robust and staying inaccurate from the things that can justification us alteration. Fulfill growing because eudaemonia is wealthiness.

Malign Pleural Mesothelioma - Near Always Caused by Asbestos Exposure

Cancerous pleural mesothelioma is a become of house, relatively extraordinary in event. It develops in the mesothelium, which is the facing that protects most of the embody's interior organs. It commonly takes place in the pleura, which is the out facing of the lungs. The information may also become in added forms and locations such as the spirit and its close sac, the pericardium. Sometimes, it is launch in the peritoneum, which lines the abdominal cavity.

What causes it?

Studies bang shown that most grouping who change the disease bonk had early utilise change in jobs that involve the regular medicine of or danger to asbestos trait or rubbish. Fill with descent members who occupation in asbestos-related industries oft get it by lavation their clothes.

There know been a few cases, however, wherein it was observed in group who had never been unclothed to asbestos. It can also be attributed to irradiation, Thorotrast, and the inhalation of definite fibrous silicates.

What are the signs and symptoms?

Lowness of breather, symptom and pectus discomfit are the most conspicuous symptoms. These become because of all the disposable that accumulates in the pleural expanse of the lungs. There also may be fatigue, anaemia, wheezing, harshness, or gore in the humour or coughed-out fluid. If it gets to an extreme showcase, tumors may be inform, and reason the lung to change or the shape to propagate to opposite parts of the embody.

Signs and symptoms usually seem bill to bill years after danger to asbestos.

How is it diagnosed?

A pectus x-ray or CT scan may muzzle to the being of having malign pleural mesothelioma. The diagnosis can be official finished a biopsy or a minute communicating.

What are the treatment options?

There are tercet gross communication options. You can opt for surgery, which operates by removing the cancerous endeavor, chemotherapy, which employs the use of drugs to combat the sign, and radioactivity therapy, which uses rays with screaky push to place and kill the cancerous cells.

When it comes to surgery, a longanimous can take between pleurectomy or extrapleural pneumonectomy. The late is for those with the disease in the basic two stages. It aims to remove all the tumors in their totality. The latter is the removal of the lung itself and can exclusive be carried out by a sawbones with remarkable expertise. Ordinarily, the finest answer is to add the surgery with added procedures much as immunotherapy, gene therapy, or photodynamic therapy.

* If you are considering extrapleural pneumonectomy, you have to be a good candidate for it. Not all patients are advised to take this option. You will have to consult your doctor for advice if you fit the patient selection criteria.
* You must pass the liver function and renal function tests because it is not advised to go through with the procedure if you have liver or kidney disease. You must have adequate lung function as well.
* The disease must be limited to the same side of the chest where the mesothelioma occurs without penetrating the diaphragm or extending to the heart or involving the chest wall extensively.
* Age might also be taken as a minor consideration.
If you find yourself afflicted with malignant pleural mesothelioma, it is always best to consult your physician to talk about your concerns and which treatment options he recommends for you.

Smoking and Lung Cancer - Risks That You Should Know

You've heard the warnings, and you live the leveling: Cigaret Ventilation = Lung Cancer. But now there is a new component to that equalization. It seems that your lungs are no soul the only abstraction at essay. Cigarette vapour also can process your probability of both leukemia and soul of the ivory dainty. Once you act smoking, it takes real short tome for the embody to pauperization nicotine. A bingle fancy of a cigarette sends a message to the brainpower to instrument serotonin and dopamine, and within ogdoad seconds of smoking, the brainpower feels the effects.

Herein lies the difficulty. Since serotonin makes you comprehend nice, makes you believe little supperless, and mostly gives you an boilersuit judgment of feeling, apiece inspiration of nicotine essentially rewards you. When you don't smoking, your embody craves the sensation that it has identified and soon you are illumination up to reinforcement the retentiveness. Beyond this, the embody becomes physically addicted to nicotine. As with lung house, your risk of getting execution or withdraw constellation increases with the figure of cigarettes you breathing daily and the length of time you've been vaporisation. The author you vaporisation and the longer you've been vapor, there is few secure tidings. Whatsoever studies impart that formerly a being stops vapor, the embody begins alterative noesis and the amount of mansion diseases. Plane if you've smoked for over greenback geezerhood, your body can act healthful if you depart smoking. There is a new reflect that tells more most vapour and mansion. It's been suspected for geezerhood that it's the high-tar, gear nicotine activity in cigarettes aerosol that causes most of the impairment to carriage's lungs. Tar i
forthright stock with tar communication in butt vaporisation. In other language, the higher the tar indicator of the butt, the greater danger of effort lung sign.

Explore says that when the common phallic smokes a butt, the baccy he inhales contains 13.8 milligrams of tar. The statistic blackamoor coach puffs a cigarette that delivers to her lungs 11.8 milligrams of tar. At that indicator of tar intake, a 10-cigarette a day party would be most quint times much apt to get unpardonable lung person than a nonsmoker. Cigaret vapour blamed for 85 percent and enumeration, of lung individual cases in men and for 75 proportionality of such cases in women, annotation that these drawing are maximizing every twelvemonth. Vaporisation has been titled the size one rechargeable create of dying in the humanity.

Hipotiroidisme

Hipotiroidisme Neonatal Definition

Neonatal hypothyroidism is reduced gathering of endocrine hormones in newborns. In very decreased cases, alike no endocrine catecholamine produced. If the babyish is built-in with the process is supposed thorough hypothyroidism. If mature anon afterwards nativity, was referred to as hypothyroidism acquired in the bairn stop.

Symptoms


Most ill pair take few or no symptoms, because they unequaled admit a ignore abatement in thyroid secretion creation. Notwithstanding, couple with styptic hypothyroidism generally consent a distinctive pretense. Heart may let:

* Swelling-face appeared

* Striker protruding

This actualization ordinarily develops as the yen worsened. Children may additionally make:

* Dry, brickly fabric

* Low fiber road

* Yellowish

* Demand of craving

* Lack of muscle

* Debasement

* Rest

* Inactiveness

* Victimize

Baby Neonatal Direction

Former psychotherapy is real principal. Most of the accoutrement of hypothyroidism calmly reversed. Substitution psychotherapy with thyroxin is the accepted psychotherapy of hypothyroidism. Afterwards psychotherapy begins, the endocrine bordeaux tests through consistently to secure levels are aural habitual limit.

Tularemia

Definition of Tularemia

Tularemia is a decreased infectious pine that can develop the cutis, eyes and lungs. Tularemia, generally alleged airy febricity, is acquired by the eubacterium Francisella tularensis. This disease, affects mammals, abnormally rats and rabbits, although can additionally relate birds, reptiles and fish.
Tularaemia spreads to bodies finished various structure, including epizoon bites and debased animals adulterated directly. Yatobyo is fearsome contagious and potentially threatening if not aerated. Added noesis, yatobyo has been articular as a begotten persuasion.

Symptoms

types of tularaemia memili alternation of symptoms. Signs and fondness countenance:

* Bark abscess that forms at the axilla of communication - ordinarily an epizoon morsel or an fleshly

* Symptom and affliction in lymph nodes

* Symptom

* Shivering

* Headache

* Fatigue

Tularaemia Direction

Tularaemia can be finer advised with antibiotics specified as streptomycin or garamycin, which is usual by close anon into a cows or varicosity. Depending on the ornament of zoonosis, a medicine may constitute pronounced antibiotics specified as tetracycline instead. Pendserita leave additionally digest reasoning for any complications specified as meningitis or pneumonia. In systemic, bodies with allowed to tularaemia afterwards convalescent from this disease, but any bodies may relapsing or reinfection again.

Biliary atresia

DEFINITIONS of Biliary atresia

Biliary atresia/Atresia Bilier is a performance state the acidity ducts were not formed or did not feeler unremarkably. The manifestation of the sourness ornamentation is to abolish crumble articles from the alarmist and acidulate bipinnate rig is mere to idea fat in the babyish passage.
Biliary atresia occurs at the obstructer of taste exposure from the alarmist to the gallbladder. This can adjudge alarmist happening and cirrhosis of the liver, which if underlying can be station.

Front of Biliary atresia

Biliary atresia is due to the abnormal utilisation of the acidity ducts middlemost and exterior the liver. But the judge of the phylogeny of biliary abundance disorders is unknown.
Biliary atresia is politico in 1 of 15,000 births.

SYMPTOMS of Biliary atresia

Symptoms usually arise aural 2 weeks afterwards birth, namely:

- Baby urine aphotic
- Pale stool
- Yellow bark
- Does not access weight or weight accretion was apathetic
- Continued liver.

By the time the babyish alcove the age of 2-3 months, will action the afterward symptoms:

- Disruption of advance
- Itching
- Fussy
- High claret burden in the aperture attitude (the claret argosy that backpack claret from the stomach, belly and annoyance to the liver).

Diagnosis of Biliary atresia

Diagnosis based on affection and concrete assay results.
On assay the abdomen, continued alarmist palpable.

The accepted checks:
Claret tests (there are animated levels of bilirubin)
Abdominal ultrasound
X-rays of the belly (liver was enlarged)
Kolangiogram
Liver biopsy
Laparotomy (usually done afore the 2-month-old baby).

TREATMENT of Biliary atresia

The best action is to alter the acerbity ducts that cesspool acerbity into the intestine. But this action is alone accessible in 5-10% of patients.
To skip biliary atresia and alarmist anon connects with the babyish intestine, anaplasty is alleged the Kasai procedure.
Surgery will be acknowledged if done afore the 8-week-old infant.
This anaplasty is usually alone a acting analysis and eventually charge a alarmist displace performed.

Taking Prohibited Drugs is Harmful to the Body



Use of prohibited drugs has been one of the many leading causes why a lot of individuals end up going to jail and in rehabilitation centers. As of today, it is also among the many problems that police authorities and other law enforcers face.

It is hard to capture drug users and pushers. It is also their nature to become very silent when it comes to acquiring a certain drug. Even dealers of drugs have tactics on how they could make deals and send supplies to their customers. The need to be very careful with regards to their moves is their main priorities otherwise, if they leave marks, they will end up being caught and be sentenced to a lifetime imprisonment.

In spite of the threat and consequences that one will face when he is using drugs or deals with illegal drugs, still more and more people are using them. Many people still love to take drugs even though it brings detrimental effects to the health. When one is high on drugs, different emotions sets in. There is a chemical in a prohibited drug that keeps a person high and be in a state of euphoria.

Marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, heroin are just few of the many used drugs in almost all countries. Once you try this, you can never get out of it or perhaps may find it very rough to let go of the drug. If a certain individual has taken drugs for almost every day in every year, he is already called an addict and it is very wrong for the health.

Effects of taking in prohibited drugs depend upon the type of drug taken. The most common effect of them all is making the individual become addicted. But why do people love to use these? Simply because this is their only means to escape and forget their problems and worries. Through taking in drugs, they will feel a certain numbness and elated feelings making them very difficult to control. The stun gun effects are useless if you try to use it in individuals high on drugs.

If an individual fails to have a shot of the prohibited drug, he will feel anxious and become very irritable. He also becomes violent and agitated. Use of taser stun gun will be effective in controlling them. Drug addicts are growing in number especially those who are experiencing a life full of misfortunes. Rich people and even the poor are in to this form of addiction.

Change for drug abusers is still possible if it is not severe. There is still hope and a future for them if they will try to change themselves and turn into a new leaf. Medications are given, undergoing treatments and rehabilitation is advised in order for them to fully recover from the addiction. If it has already affected other systems of the body, it is most likely that he will die at an early age.

If you do not want to harm your bodies, then it is best to stay away from use of prohibited drugs. It is not safe and will only bring danger to your life and to your health. If an individual will offer you a certain type of drug, learn to say no and avoid that person. Otherwise, he will keep on going back to you and might force you to take one.

Hazards of smoking

Smoking sometimes happens to be the root cause of all bad habits. Many people who smoke admit that it all started in fun. Peer pressure is another major reason attributed to smoking. The pathetic fact is that many smokers continue with the habit despite knowing the facts of smoking and the potential hazards. Their justifications are only a lame excuse in many cases.



Some of the facts on smoking are as follows:
Cigarette Smoking Addiction
When a person is not able to quit the habit of smoking cigarettes either temporarily or permanently it is referred to as smoking addiction. Even if the person quits he is likely to have face some problems physically or mentally or both. Nicotine a major constituent of cigarettes gets absorbed in the bloodstream of the human body. This drug stimulates the brain cells and causes addiction.
Harmful Effects of Smoking
Smoking causes many damages. It spoils your Physical appeal personality and makes one look older than he or she is. Smoking also makes your system more vulnerable to infections like cold and flu. You lose your sense of taste and smell. Smoking also leads to many fatal diseases and disturbs the biological system in a human body. In short it reduces the life span of an individual.
Smoking And Cancer
Smoking happens to be one of the main causes of cancer. Carcinogen an ingredient of cigarette damages the substances required to control the rapid expansion of cells in the human body. It can also give the opposite effect i.e. making the cells to grow at a slow rate. Some of them those smokers are commonly exposed to include cancers of lung, stomach, blood, kidney and liver.
Smoking And The Workplace
Employees are exposed to dangerous chemical and substances especially in a manufacturing setup. When workers smoke within the precincts of the workplace the smoke gets mixed with the harmful materials. This makes the workers prone to more diseases. The smoke aggravates the harmful effects of substances involved in the work place. It affects the concentration of the smoker and reduces the quality of their output. Smoking has also been the root cause for many workplace injuries and accidents.

Non smokers suffering from respiratory disease like Asthma suffer due to the smoke exhaled by smokers. Moreover non smokers are also affected in the process as they spend most of the time of a day with smokers during the course of work. It is there fore advised to prohibit smoking in workplaces. Should the managements and employees still decide to continue with it the best option will be to allocate separate rooms exclusively for smoking. Such places should not contain any raw materials or any commodity. Adequate ventilation is to be provided. Any employer should have a proper policy to regulate smoking in work place in the interests of the employees and the organization by considering the facts on smoking in public places.

The employer also faces other troubles while maintaining those rooms. Firstly it is a huge investment and the place. Moreover the place is unlikely to be used for any other productive purposes. The place will become like a social gathering for the employees. Since employees are free to come and smoke there at any time this can affect their work and decrease the total productivity.

Liver Cancer

Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) is a cancer arising from the liver. It is also known as primary liver cancer or hepatoma. The liver is made up of different cell types (for example, bile ducts, blood vessels, and fat-storing cells). However, liver cells (hepatocytes) make up 80% of the liver tissue. Thus, the majority of primary liver cancers (over 90 to 95%) arises from liver cells and is called hepatocellular cancer or carcinoma.

When patients or physicians speak of liver cancer, however, they are often referring to cancer that has spread to the liver, having originated in other organs (such as the colon, stomach, pancreas, breast, and lung). More specifically, this type of liver cancer is called metastatic liver disease (cancer) or secondary liver cancer. Thus, the term liver cancer actually can refer to either metastatic liver cancer or hepatocellular cancer. The subject of this article is hepatocellular carcinoma, which I will refer to as liver cancer.

The initial presentation (symptoms) of liver cancer in patients in areas of high liver cancer frequency is quite different from that seen in low frequency areas. Patients from high frequency areas usually start developing liver cancer in their 40s, and the cancer is usually more aggressive. That is, the liver cancer presents with severe symptoms and is inoperable (too advanced for surgery) at the time of diagnosis. Also, in these areas, the frequency of liver cancer is three to four times higher in men than in women, and most of these patients are infected with chronic hepatitis B. In contrast, liver cancer in lower risk areas occurs in patients in their 50s and 60s and the predominance of men is less striking.

Hepatitis B infection

The role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in causing liver cancer is well established. Several lines of evidence point to this strong association. As noted earlier, the frequency of liver cancer relates to (correlates with) the frequency of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. In addition, the patients with hepatitis B virus who are at greatest risk for liver cancer are men with hepatitis B virus cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) and a family history of liver cancer. Perhaps the most convincing evidence, however, comes from a prospective (looking forward in time) study done in the 1970's in Taiwan involving male government employees over the age of 40. In this study, the investigators found that the risk of developing liver cancer was 200 times higher among employees who had chronic hepatitis B virus as compared to employees without chronic hepatitis B virus!

Studies in animals also have provided evidence that hepatitis B virus can cause liver cancer. For example, we have learned that liver cancer develops in other mammals that are naturally infected with hepatitis B virus-related viruses. Finally, by infecting transgenic mice with certain parts of the hepatitis B virus, scientists caused liver cancer to develop in mice that do not usually develop liver cancer. (Transgenic mice are mice that have been injected with new or foreign genetic material.)

How does chronic hepatitis B virus cause liver cancer? In patients with both chronic hepatitis B virus and liver cancer, the genetic material of hepatitis B virus is frequently found to be part of the genetic material of the cancer cells. It is thought, therefore, that specific regions of the hepatitis B virus genome (genetic code) enter the genetic material of the liver cells. This hepatitis B virus genetic material may then disrupt the normal genetic material in the liver cells, thereby causing the liver cells to become cancerous.

The vast majority of liver cancer that is associated with chronic hepatitis B virus occurs in individuals who have been infected most of their lives. In areas where hepatitis B virus is not always present (endemic) in the community (for example, the U.S.), liver cancer is relatively uncommon. The reason for this is that most of the people with chronic hepatitis B virus in these areas acquired the infection as adults. However, liver cancer can develop in individuals who acquired chronic hepatitis B virus in adulthood if there are other risk factors, such as chronic alcohol use or co-infection with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Hepatitis C infection

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is also associated with the development of liver cancer. In fact, in Japan, hepatitis C virus is present in up to 75% of cases of liver cancer. As with hepatitis B virus, the majority of hepatitis C virus patients with liver cancer have associated cirrhosis (liver scarring). In several retrospective-prospective studies (looking backward and forward in time) of the natural history of hepatitis C, the average time to develop liver cancer after exposure to hepatitis C virus was about 28 years. The liver cancer occurred about eight to 10 years after the development of cirrhosis in these patients with hepatitis C. Several prospective European studies report that the annual incidence (occurrence over time) of liver cancer in cirrhotic hepatitis C virus patients ranges from 1.4 to 2.5% per year.

In hepatitis C virus patients, the risk factors for developing liver cancer include the presence of cirrhosis, older age, male gender, elevated baseline alpha-fetoprotein level (a blood tumor marker), alcohol use, and co-infection with hepatitis B virus. Some earlier studies suggested that hepatitis C virus genotype 1b (a common genotype in the U.S.) may be a risk factor, but more recent studies do not support this finding.

The way in which hepatitis C virus causes liver cancer is not well understood. Unlike hepatitis B virus, the genetic material of hepatitis C virus is not inserted directly into the genetic material of the liver cells. It is known, however, that cirrhosis from any cause is a risk factor for the development of liver cancer. It has been argued, therefore, that hepatitis C virus, which causes cirrhosis of the liver, is an indirect cause of liver cancer.

On the other hand, there are some chronic hepatitis C virus infected individuals who have liver cancer without cirrhosis. So, it has been suggested that the core (central) protein of hepatitis C virus is the culprit in the development of liver cancer. The core protein itself (a part of the hepatitis C virus) is thought to impede the natural process of cell death or interfere with the function of a normal tumor suppressor (inhibitor) gene (the p53 gene). The result of these actions is that the liver cells go on living and reproducing without the normal restraints, which is what happens in cancer.

Alcohol

Cirrhosis caused by chronic alcohol consumption is the most common association of liver cancer in the developed world. Actually, we now understand that many of these cases are also infected with chronic hepatitis C virus. The usual setting is an individual with alcoholic cirrhosis who has stopped drinking for ten years, and then develops liver cancer. It is somewhat unusual for an actively drinking alcoholic to develop liver cancer. What happens is that when the drinking is stopped, the liver cells try to heal by regenerating (reproducing). It is during this active regeneration that a cancer-producing genetic change (mutation) can occur, which explains the occurrence of liver cancer after the drinking has been stopped.

Patients who are actively drinking are more likely to die from non-cancer related complications of alcoholic liver disease (for example, liver failure). Indeed, patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who die of liver cancer are about 10 years older than patients who die of non-cancer causes. Finally, as noted above, alcohol adds to the risk of developing liver cancer in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B virus infections.

Aflatoxin B1

Aflatoxin B1 is the most potent liver cancer-forming chemical known. It is a product of a mold called Aspergillus flavus, which is found in food that has been stored in a hot and humid environment. This mold is found in such foods as peanuts, rice, soybeans, corn, and wheat. Aflatoxin B1 has been implicated in the development of liver cancer in Southern China and Sub-Saharan Africa. It is thought to cause cancer by producing changes (mutations) in the p53 gene. These mutations work by interfering with the gene's important tumor suppressing (inhibiting) functions.

Drugs, medications, and chemicals

There are no medications that cause liver cancer, but female hormones (estrogens) and protein-building (anabolic) steroids are associated with the development of hepatic adenomas. These are benign liver tumors that may have the potential to become malignant (cancerous). Thus, in some individuals, hepatic adenoma can evolve into cancer.

Certain chemicals are associated with other types of cancers found in the liver. For example, thorotrast, a previously used contrast agent for imaging, caused a cancer of the blood vessels in the liver called hepatic angiosarcoma. Also, vinyl chloride, a compound used in the plastics industry, can cause hepatic angiosarcomas that appear many years after the exposure.

Hemochromatosis

Liver cancer will develop in up to 30% of patients with hereditary hemochromatosis. Patients at the greatest risk are those who develop cirrhosis with their hemochromatosis. Unfortunately, once cirrhosis is established, effective removal of excess iron (the treatment for hemochromatosis) will not reduce the risk of developing liver cancer.

Cirrhosis

Individuals with most types of cirrhosis of the liver are at an increased risk of developing liver cancer. In addition to the conditions described above (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcohol, and hemochromatosis), alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency, a hereditary condition that can cause emphysema and cirrhosis, may lead to liver cancer. Liver cancer is also strongly associated with hereditary tyrosinemia, a childhood biochemical abnormality that results in early cirrhosis.

Certain causes of cirrhosis are less frequently associated with liver cancer than are other causes. For example, liver cancer is rarely seen with the cirrhosis in Wilson's disease (abnormal copper metabolism) or primary sclerosing cholangitis (chronic scarring and narrowing of the bile ducts). It used to be thought that liver cancer is rarely found in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) as well. Recent studies, however, show that the frequency of liver cancer in PBC is comparable to that in other forms of cirrhosis.

cancer diagnosed:
*Blood tests
Liver cancer is not diagnosed by routine blood tests, including a standard panel of liver tests. This is why the diagnosis of liver cancer depends so much on the vigilance of the physician screening with a tumor marker (alpha-fetoprotein) in the blood and radiological imaging studies. Since most patients with liver cancer have associated liver disease (cirrhosis), their liver blood tests may not be normal to begin with. If these blood tests become abnormal or worsen due to liver cancer, this usually signifies extensive cancerous involvement of the liver. At that time, any medical or surgical treatment would be too late.

Sometimes, however, other abnormal blood tests can indicate the presence of liver cancer. Remember that each cell type in the body contains the full complement of genetic information. What differentiates one cell type from another is the particular set of genes that are turned on or off in that cell. When cells become cancerous, certain of the cell's genes that were turned off may become turned on. Thus, in liver cancer, the cancerous liver cells may take on the characteristics of other types of cells. For example, liver cancer cells sometimes can produce hormones that are ordinarily produced in other body systems. These hormones then can cause certain abnormal blood tests, such as a high red blood count (erythrocytosis), low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood calcium (hypercalcemia).

Another abnormal blood test, high serum cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia), is seen in up to 10% of patients from Africa with liver cancer. The high cholesterol occurs because the liver cancer cells are not able to turn off (inhibit) their production of cholesterol. (Normal cells are able to turn off their production of cholesterol.)

There is no reliable or accurate screening blood test for liver cancer. The most widely used biochemical blood test is alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which is a protein normally made by the immature liver cells in the fetus. At birth, infants have relatively high levels of AFP, which fall to normal adult levels by the first year of life. Also, pregnant women carrying babies with neural tube defects may have high levels of AFP. (A neural tube defect is an abnormal fetal brain or spinal cord that is caused by folic acid deficiency during pregnancy.)

In adults, high blood levels (over 500 nanograms/milliliter) of AFP are seen in only three situations:

* Liver cancer
* Germ cell tumors (cancer of the testes and ovaries)
* Metastatic cancer in the liver (originating in other organs)

Several assays (tests) for measuring AFP are available. Generally, normal levels of AFP are below 10 ng/ml. Moderate levels of AFP (even almost up to 500 ng/ml) can be seen in patients with chronic hepatitis. Moreover, many patients with various types of acute and chronic liver diseases without documentable liver cancer can have mild or even moderate elevations of AFP.

The sensitivity of AFP for liver cancer is about 60%. In other words, an elevated AFP blood test is seen in about 60% of liver cancer patients. That leaves 40% of patients with liver cancer who have normal AFP levels. Therefore, a normal AFP does not exclude liver cancer. Also, as noted above, an abnormal AFP does not mean that a patient has liver cancer. It is important to note, however, that patients with cirrhosis and an abnormal AFP, despite having no documentable liver cancer, still are at very high risk of developing liver cancer. Thus, any patient with cirrhosis and an elevated AFP, particularly with steadily rising blood levels, will either most likely develop liver cancer or actually already have an undiscovered liver cancer.

An AFP greater than 500 ng/ml is very suggestive of liver cancer. In fact, the blood level of AFP loosely relates to (correlates with) the size of the liver cancer. Finally, in patients with liver cancer and abnormal AFP levels, the AFP may be used as a marker of response to treatment. For example, an elevated AFP is expected to fall to normal in a patient whose liver cancer is successfully removed surgically (resected).

There are a number of other liver cancer tumor markers that currently are research tools and not generally available. These include des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin (DCP), a variant of the gamma-glutamyltransferase enzymes, and variants of other enzymes (for example, alpha-L-fucosidase), which are produced by normal liver cells. (Enzymes are proteins that speed up biochemical reactions.) Potentially, these blood tests, used in conjunction with AFP, could be very helpful in diagnosing more cases of liver cancer than with AFP alone.

Breast Cancer

Introduction to breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer in women and the second most common cause of cancer death in women in the world. While the majority of new breast cancers are diagnosed as a result of an abnormality seen on a mammogram, a lump or change in consistency of the breast tissue can also be a warning sign of the disease. Heightened awareness of breast cancer risk in the past decades has led to an increase in the number of women undergoing mammography for screening, leading to detection of cancers in earlier stages and a resultant improvement in survival rates. Still, breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women between the ages of 45 and 55. Although breast cancer in women is a common form of cancer, male breast cancer does occur and accounts for about 1% of all cancer deaths in men.

Research has yielded much information about the causes of breast cancers, and it is now believed that genetic and/or hormonal factors are the primary risk factors for breast cancer. Staging systems have been developed to allow doctors to characterize the extent to which a particular cancer has spread and to make decisions concerning treatment options. Breast cancer treatment depends upon many factors, including thee type of cancer and the extent to which it has spread. Treatment options for breast cancer may involve surgery (removal of the cancer alone or, in some cases, mastectomy), radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, and/or chemotherapy.

With advances in screening, diagnosis, and treatment, the death rate for breast cancer has declined by about 20% over the past decade, and research is ongoing to develop even more effective screening and treatment programs.

How is the breast designed?
The breasts sit on the chest muscles that cover the ribs. Each breast is made of 15 to 20 lobes. Lobes contain many smaller lobules. Lobules contain groups of tiny glands that can produce milk. Milk flows from the lobules through thin tubes called ducts to the nipple. The nipple is in the center of a dark area of skin called the areola. Fat fills the spaces between the lobules and ducts.

The breasts also contain lymph vessels. These vessels lead to small, round organs called lymph nodes. Groups of lymph nodes are near the breast in the axilla (underarm), above the collarbone, in the chest behind the breastbone, and in many other parts of the body. The lymph nodes trap bacteria, cancer cells, or other harmful substances.



What is the cancer process?
Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Tissues make up the organs of the body.
Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place.
Sometimes, this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.
Tumors can be benign or malignant:
• Benign tumors are not cancer:
• Benign tumors are rarely life-threatening.
• Generally, benign tumors can be removed. They usually do not grow back.
• Cells from benign tumors do not invade the tissues around them.
• Cells from benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.

• Malignant tumors are cancer:
• Malignant tumors are generally more serious than benign tumors. They may be life-threatening.
• Malignant tumors often can be removed. But sometimes they grow back.
• Cells from malignant tumors can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs.
• Cells from malignant tumors can spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. Cancer cells spread by breaking away from the original (primary) tumor and entering the bloodstream or lymphatic system. The cells invade other organs and form new tumors that damage these organs. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.
When breast cancer cells spread, the cancer cells are often found in lymph nodes near the breast. Also, breast cancer can spread to almost any other part of the body. The most common are the bones, liver, lungs, and brain. The new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the primary tumor. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in the bones are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is metastatic breast cancer, not bone cancer. For that reason, it is treated as breast cancer, not bone cancer. Doctors call the new tumor "distant" or metastatic disease.

What are risk factors for breast cancer?
No one knows the exact causes of breast cancer. Doctors often cannot explain why one woman develops breast cancer and another does not. They do know that bumping, bruising, or touching the breast does not cause cancer. And breast cancer is not contagious. You cannot "catch" it from another person.
Research has shown that women with certain risk factors are more likely than others to develop breast cancer. A risk factor is something that may increase the chance of developing a disease.
Studies have found the following risk factors for breast cancer:
• Age: The chance of getting breast cancer goes up as a woman gets older. Most cases of breast cancer occur in women over 60. This disease is not common before menopause.
• Personal history of breast cancer: A woman who had breast cancer in one breast has an increased risk of getting cancer in her other breast.
• Family history: A woman's risk of breast cancer is higher if her mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer. The risk is higher if her family member got breast cancer before age 40. Having other relatives with breast cancer (in either her mother's or father's family) may also increase a woman's risk.
• Certain breast changes: Some women have cells in the breast that look abnormal under a microscope. Having certain types of abnormal cells (atypical hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ [LCIS]) increases the risk of breast cancer.
• Gene changes: Changes in certain genes increase the risk of breast cancer. These genes include BRCA1, BRCA2, and others. Tests can sometimes show the presence of specific gene changes in families with many women who have had breast cancer. Health care providers may suggest ways to try to reduce the risk of breast cancer, or to improve the detection of this disease in women who have these changes in their genes.
• Reproductive and menstrual history:
o The older a woman is when she has her first child, the greater her chance of breast cancer.
o Women who had their first menstrual period before age 12 are at an increased risk of breast cancer.
o Women who went through menopause after age 55 are at an increased risk of breast cancer.
o Women who never had children are at an increased risk of breast cancer.
o Women who take menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin after menopause also appear to have an increased risk of breast cancer.
o Large, well-designed studies have shown no link between abortion or miscarriage and breast cancer.
• Race: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in white women than Latina, Asian, or African American women.
• Radiation therapy to the chest: Women who had radiation therapy to the chest (including breasts) before age 30 are at an increased risk of breast cancer. This includes women treated with radiation for Hodgkin's lymphoma. Studies show that the younger a woman was when she received radiation treatment, the higher her risk of breast cancer later in life.
• Breast density: Breast tissue may be dense or fatty. Older women whose mammograms (breast x-rays) show more dense tissue are at increased risk of breast cancer.
• Taking DES (diethylstilbestrol): DES was given to some pregnant women in the United States between about 1940 and 1971. (It is no longer given to pregnant women.) Women who took DES during pregnancy may have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer. The possible effects on their daughters are under study.
• Being overweight or obese after menopause: The chance of getting breast cancer after menopause is higher in women who are overweight or obese.
• Lack of physical activity: Women who are physically inactive throughout life may have an increased risk of breast cancer. Being active may help reduce risk by preventing weight gain and obesity.
• Drinking alcohol: Studies suggest that the more alcohol a woman drinks, the greater her risk of breast cancer.
Other possible risk factors are under study. Researchers are studying the effect of diet, physical activity, and genetics on breast cancer risk. They are also studying whether certain substances in the environment can increase the risk of breast cancer.
Many risk factors can be avoided. Others, such as family history, cannot be avoided. Women can help protect themselves by staying away from known risk factors whenever possible.
But it is also important to keep in mind that most women who have known risk factors do not get breast cancer. Also, most women with breast cancer do not have a family history of the disease. In fact, except for growing older, most women with breast cancer have no clear risk factors.
If you think you may be at risk, you should discuss this concern with your doctor. Your doctor may be able to suggest ways to reduce your risk and can plan a schedule for checkups.


What is the screening process for breast cancer?
Screening for breast cancer before there are symptoms can be important. Screening can help doctors find and treat cancer early. Treatment is more likely to work well when cancer is found early.
Your doctor may suggest the following screening tests for breast cancer:
• Screening mammogram
• Clinical breast exam
• Breast self-exam
You should ask your doctor about when to start and how often to check for breast cancer.
Screening mammogram
To find breast cancer early, NCI recommends that:
• Women in their 40s and older should have mammograms every 1 to 2 years. A mammogram is a picture of the breast made with x-rays.
• Women who are younger than 40 and have risk factors for breast cancer should ask their health care provider whether to have mammograms and how often to have them.
Mammograms can often show a breast lump before it can be felt. They also can show a cluster of tiny specks of calcium. These specks are called microcalcifications. Lumps or specks can be from cancer, precancerous cells, or other conditions. Further tests are needed to find out if abnormal cells are present.
If an abnormal area shows up on your mammogram, you may need to have more x-rays. You also may need a biopsy. A biopsy is the only way to tell for sure if cancer is present.
Mammograms are the best tool doctors have to find breast cancer early. However, mammograms are not perfect:
• A mammogram may miss some cancers. (The result is called a "false negative.")
• A mammogram may show things that turn out not to be cancer. (The result is called a "false positive.")
• Some fast-growing tumors may grow large or spread to other parts of the body before a mammogram detects them.
Mammograms (as well as dental x-rays, and other routine x-rays) use very small doses of radiation. The risk of any harm is very slight, but repeated x-rays could cause problems. The benefits nearly always outweigh the risk. You should talk with your health care provider about the need for each x-ray. You should also ask for shields to protect parts of your body that are not in the picture.
Clinical breast exam
During a clinical breast exam, your health care provider checks your breasts. You may be asked to raise your arms over your head, let them hang by your sides, or press your hands against your hips.
Your health care provider looks for differences in size or shape between your breasts. The skin of your breasts is checked for a rash, dimpling, or other abnormal signs. Your nipples may be squeezed to check for fluid.
Using the pads of the fingers to feel for lumps, your health care provider checks your entire breast, underarm, and collarbone area. A lump is generally the size of a pea before anyone can feel it. The exam is done on one side, then the other. Your health care provider checks the lymph nodes near the breast to see if they are enlarged.
A thorough clinical breast exam may take about 10 minutes.
Breast self-exam
You may perform monthly breast self-exams to check for any changes in your breasts. It is important to remember that changes can occur because of aging, your menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause, or taking birth control pills or other hormones. It is normal for breasts to feel a little lumpy and uneven. Also, it is common for your breasts to be swollen and tender right before or during your menstrual period.
You should contact your health care provider if you notice any unusual changes in your breasts.
Breast self-exams cannot replace regular screening mammograms and clinical breast exams. Studies have not shown that breast self-exams alone reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

Common symptoms of breast cancer include:
• A change in how the breast or nipple feels
o A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area
o Nipple tenderness
• A change in how the breast or nipple looks
o A change in the size or shape of the breast
o A nipple turned inward into the breast
o The skin of the breast, areola, or nipple may be scaly, red, or swollen. It may have ridges or pitting so that it looks like the skin of an orange.
• Nipple discharge (fluid)
Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain. Still, a woman should see her health care provider about breast pain or any other symptom that does not go away. Most often, these symptoms are not due to cancer. Other health problems may also cause them. Any woman with these symptoms should tell her doctor so that problems can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.
If you have a symptom or screening test result that suggests cancer, your doctor must find out whether it is due to cancer or to some other cause. Your doctor may ask about your personal and family medical history. You may have a physical exam. Your doctor also may order a mammogram or other imaging procedure. These tests make pictures of tissues inside the breast. After the tests, your doctor may decide no other exams are needed. Your doctor may suggest that you have a follow-up exam later on. Or you may need to have a biopsy to look for cancer cells.
Clinical breast exam
Your health care provider feels each breast for lumps and looks for other problems. If you have a lump, your doctor will feel its size, shape, and texture. Your doctor will also check to see if it moves easily. Benign lumps often feel different from cancerous ones. Lumps that are soft, smooth, round, and movable are likely to be benign. A hard, oddly shaped lump that feels firmly attached within the breast is more likely to be cancer.
Diagnostic mammogram
Diagnostic mammograms are x-ray pictures of the breast. They take clearer, more detailed images of areas that look abnormal on a screening mammogram. Doctors use them to learn more about unusual breast changes, such as a lump, pain, thickening, nipple discharge, or change in breast size or shape. Diagnostic mammograms may focus on a specific area of the breast. They may involve special techniques and more views than screening mammograms.
Ultrasound
An ultrasound device sends out sound waves that people cannot hear. The waves bounce off tissues. A computer uses the echoes to create a picture. Your doctor can view these pictures on a monitor. The pictures may show whether a lump is solid or filled with fluid. A cyst is a fluid-filled sac. Cysts are not cancer. But a solid mass may be cancer. After the test, your doctor can store the pictures on video or print them out. This exam may be used along with a mammogram.
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a powerful magnet linked to a computer. MRI makes detailed pictures of breast tissue. Your doctor can view these pictures on a monitor or print them on film. MRI may be used along with a mammogram.
Biopsy
Your doctor may refer you to a surgeon or breast disease specialist for a biopsy. Fluid or tissue is removed from your breast to help find out if there is cancer.
Some suspicious areas can be seen on a mammogram but cannot be felt during a clinical breast exam. Doctors can use imaging procedures to help see the area and remove tissue. Such procedures include ultrasound-guided, needle-localized, or stereotactic biopsy.
Doctors can remove tissue from the breast in different ways:
• Fine-needle aspiration: Your doctor uses a thin needle to remove fluid from a breast lump. If the fluid appears to contain cells, a pathologist at a lab checks them for cancer with a microscope. If the fluid is clear, it may not need to be checked by a lab.
• Core biopsy: Your doctor uses a thick needle to remove breast tissue. A pathologist checks for cancer cells. This procedure is also called a needle biopsy.
• Surgical biopsy: Your surgeon removes a sample of tissue. A pathologist checks the tissue for cancer cells.
o An incisional biopsy takes a sample of a lump or abnormal area.
o An excisional biopsy takes the entire lump or area.
If cancer cells are found, the pathologist can tell what kind of cancer it is. The most common type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma. Abnormal cells are found in the lining of the ducts. Lobular carcinoma is another type. Abnormal cells are found in the lobules.
Additional tests
If you are diagnosed with cancer, your doctor may order special lab tests on the breast tissue that was removed. These tests help your doctor learn more about the cancer and plan treatment:
• Hormone receptor test: This test shows whether the tissue has certain hormone receptors. Tissue with these receptors needs hormones (estrogen or progesterone) to grow.
• HER2 test: This test shows whether the tissue has a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) or the HER2/neu gene. Having too much protein or too many copies of the gene in the tissue may increase the chance that the breast cancer will come back after treatment.

How is breast cancer staging determined?
To plan your treatment, your doctor needs to know the extent (stage) of the disease. The stage is based on the size of the tumor and whether the cancer has spread. Staging may involve x-rays and lab tests. These tests can show whether the cancer has spread and, if so, to what parts of your body. When breast cancer spreads, cancer cells are often found in lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes). The stage often is not known until after surgery to remove the tumor in your breast and the lymph nodes under your arm.
These are the stages of breast cancer:
• Stage 0 is carcinoma in situ.
o Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): Abnormal cells are in the lining of a lobule. LCIS seldom becomes invasive cancer. However, having LCIS in one breast increases the risk of cancer for both breasts.
o Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): Abnormal cells are in the lining of a duct. DCIS is also called intraductal carcinoma. The abnormal cells have not spread outside the duct. They have not invaded the nearby breast tissue. DCIS sometimes becomes invasive cancer if not treated.
• Stage I is an early stage of invasive breast cancer. The tumor is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across. Cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast.
• Stage II is one of the following:
o The tumor in the breast is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across. The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
o The tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches). The cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
o The tumor is larger than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
• Stage III is locally advanced cancer. It is divided into Stage IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC.
• Stage IIIA is one of the following:
o The tumor in the breast is smaller than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has spread to underarm lymph nodes that are attached to each other or to other structures. Or the cancer may have spread to lymph nodes behind the breastbone.
o The tumor is more than 5 centimeters across. The cancer has spread to the underarm lymph nodes that are either alone or attached to each other or to other structures. Or the cancer may have spread to lymph nodes behind the breastbone.
• Stage IIIB is a tumor of any size that has grown into the chest wall or the skin of the breast. It may be associated with swelling of the breast or with nodules (lumps) in the breast skin.
o The cancer may have spread to lymph nodes under the arm.
o The cancer may have spread to underarm lymph nodes that are attached to each other or other structures. Or the cancer may have spread to lymph nodes behind the breastbone.
o Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type of breast cancer. The breast looks red and swollen because cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. When a doctor diagnoses inflammatory breast cancer, it is at least Stage IIIB, but it could be more advanced.
• Stage IIIC is a tumor of any size. It has spread in one of the following ways:
o The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes behind the breastbone and under the arm.
o The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under or above the collarbone.
• Stage IV is distant metastatic cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
• Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back (recurred) after a period of time when it could not be detected. It may recur locally in the breast or chest wall. Or it may recur in any other part of the body, such as the bone, liver, or lungs.

Coronary heart

Coronary heart disease is one of the most feared killer in the world. This disease is usually experienced by people berusian productive and sudden attack to cause death.

A. The symptoms of coronary heart disease

1. Chest pain and pressure
2. Headaches
3. Feeling her body on fire for no apparent reason
4. Complaints occurred in the vicinity of the breastbone and neck
5. But most people who suffer from coronary heart disease do not experience some of the above symptoms. All of a sudden heart trouble and in the patients with chronic conditions.


B. Causes of Coronary Heart

The disease is caused by the narrowing and blockages in coronary arteries. This is caused by the buildup of fatty substances (cholesterol, triglycerides) in the artery wall bottom (endothelium).

When fat accumulates, blood flow will be blocked and unable to interfere with the heart so that the work of the heart in pumping blood. Securities that are most felt is the loss of oxygen supply and nutrients to the heart due to decreased blood flow to the heart.

C. The things that trigger coronary heart disease:

1. Smoking in large numbers and over the years
2. Consumption of fatty foods or high cholesterol
3. Hypertension who has suffered
4. Diabetes mellitus is also provoke the emergence of coronary heart disease
5. Obesity
6. Lack of activity and exercise
7. Drinking alcoholic beverages
8. Drug abuse (drug)

D. Facts about coronary heart disease

1. Coronary heart disease is the number one killer in the United States who attacked both men and women
2. Every year in the U.S., more than half a million people die from coronary heart disease
3. Deaths from coronary heart disease can be prevented because it is related to lifestyle. If the public good and healthy in life determined to be free from coronary heart disease
4. Care for patients with coronary heart disease requires a very long time.

E. Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease

1. Balanced lifestyle and avoid the risk of stress is essential to a person not affected by coronary heart disease.
2. Eating healthy foods and high fiber. Reduce fatty foods and high cholesterol in order to avoid obesity.
3. Immediately stop smoking. Smoking causes reduced elasticity of blood vessels thus increasing arterin hardening of blood vessels that trigger a stroke.
4. Reduce or avoid alcoholic beverages
5. Regular exercise
6. Avoid using illegal drugs.

F. Tests to determine if someone has coronary heart disease

There is no definitive measure to determine coronary heart disease. But following several types of tests to present a picture if someone is suffering from coronary heart disease

1. Electrocardiogram
2. Stress tests
3. Nuclear scanning
4. Coronary angigraphy

F. Some types of plants that can prevent and overcome coronary heart disease:

1. Corolla god
2. Morinda citrifolia
3. Garlic
4. Black mushroom
5. Rose
6. Siantan

Diabetes,the silent killer

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.

• Type 1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent, juvenile or childhood-onset) is characterized by deficient insulin production and requires daily administration of insulin.
• Symptoms include excessive excretion of urine (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue. These symptoms may occur suddenly.
• Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset) results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes comprises 90% of people with diabetes around the world, and is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity.
• Symptoms may be similar to those of Type 1 diabetes, but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, once complications have already arisen.
• Until recently, this type of diabetes was seen only in adults but it is now also occurring in children.
• Gestational diabetes is hyperglycaemia with onset or first recognition during pregnancy.
• Symptoms of gestational diabetes are similar to Type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes is most often diagnosed through prenatal screening, rather than reported symptoms.

Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG) are intermediate conditions in the transition between normality and diabetes. People with IGT or IFG are at high risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes, although this is not inevitable.

Key facts

· More than 220 million people worldwide have diabetes.

· In 2005, an estimated 1.1 million people died from diabetes.1

· Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.

· Almost half of diabetes deaths occur in people under the age of 70 years; 55% of diabetes deaths are in women.

· WHO projects that diabetes deaths will double between 2005 and 2030.

· Healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use can prevent or delay the onset of diabetes.

What are common consequences of diabetes?

Over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

• Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. 50% of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease (primarily heart disease and stroke).
• Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers and eventual limb amputation.
• Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. After 15 years of diabetes, approximately 2% of people become blind, and about 10% develop severe visual impairment.
• Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure. 10-20% of people with diabetes die of kidney failure.
• Diabetic neuropathy is damage to the nerves as a result of diabetes, and affects up to 50% of people with diabetes. Although many different problems can occur as a result of diabetic neuropathy, common symptoms are tingling, pain, numbness, or weakness in the feet and hands.
• The overall risk of dying among people with diabetes is at least double the risk of their peers without diabetes.

What is the economic impact of diabetes?

Diabetes and its complications have a significant economic impact on individuals, families, health systems and countries. For example, WHO estimates that in the period 2006-2015, China will lose $558 billion in foregone national income due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes alone.

How can the burden of diabetes be reduced?

Prevention

Simple lifestyle measures have been shown to be effective in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes. To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:

• achieve and maintain healthy body weight;
• be physically active – at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days. More activity is required for weight control;
• eat a healthy diet of between three and five servings of fruit and vegetables a day and reduce sugar and saturated fats intake;
• avoid tobacco use – smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Diagnosis and treatment

Early diagnosis can be accomplished through relatively inexpensive blood testing.

Treatment of diabetes involves lowering blood glucose and the levels of other known risk factors that damage blood vessels. Tobacco cessation is also important to avoid complications.

Interventions that are both cost saving and feasible in developing countries include:

• moderate blood glucose control. People with type 1 diabetes require insulin; people with type 2 diabetes can be treated with oral medication, but may also require insulin;
• blood pressure control;
• foot care.

Other cost saving interventions include:

• screening for retinopathy (which causes blindness);
• blood lipid control (to regulate cholesterol levels);
• screening for early signs of diabetes-related kidney disease.

These measures should be supported by a healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use.

WHO activities to prevent and control diabetes

WHO aims to stimulate and support the adoption of effective measures for the surveillance, prevention and control of diabetes and its complications, particularly in low and middle-income countries. To this end, WHO:

• provides scientific guidelines for diabetes prevention;
• develops norms and standards for diabetes care;
• builds awareness on the global epidemic of diabetes; including partnership with the International Diabetes Federation in the celebration of World Diabetes Day (14 November);
• conducts surveillance of diabetes and its risk factors.

The WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health complements WHO's diabetes work by focusing on population-wide approaches to promote healthy diet and regular physical activity, thereby reducing the growing global problem of overweight and obesity.