Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women about 1 in 8 women in the USA  develop invasive breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer has increased with changes in lifestyle including smoking, drinking and loss of physical activity. The risk factors are age, ethnicity and family history cannot be changed. However, there are some risk factors that can definitely be acted upon to reduce the chances of developing breast cancer.

Weight management: Obesity is one of the major risk factors for breast cancer and managing weight and a good body mass index will help reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. This is especially important in women undergoing menopause.
Reducing smoking: The benefits of quitting it are manifold and reducing the risk for breast cancer is one of them. This will, as a byproduct, also result in a host of other benefits including improved quality of life, reduced chances of heart disease, stroke, and other cancers.
Physical activity: In addition to helping in weight management, this also helps reduce the risk of breast cancer. Ideal recommendation is 30 minutes of physical activity per day, plus strength training.
Breastfeeding: This helps in reducing the risk of breast cancer. Prolonged feeding is shown to have a greater protective benefit.
Hormone replacement therapy: When possible, limit the use of hormone replacement therapy for prolonged periods of time. Explore options of non-hormonal substitutes or use the least permissible or required dose. Be sure to get periodic check-ups when on hormone therapy.
Reduce exposure to environmental pollution: Higher levels of pollutants are linked to a higher incidence of breast cancer. When possible, avoid getting exposure to environmental pollutants.
Screening: If there is a strong family history or other risk factors, then screening can help detect breast cancer very early in the process. Recommended ages for mammography are as follows:
If you are age 40   44: Go for annual mammograms after discussing risks and benefits with the doctor.
If you are age 45   54: Go for annual mammogram.
If you are age 55 or over: Mammograms are recommended every other year. You can choose to continue to have them every year. Self-breast exams are not sufficient. However, if being done, they can also be an input to an abnormality.
Cautious use of birth control pills: Birth control pill usage to be discussed with your gynaecologist if you are above 35 years of age and smoke. The good news is that the risk associated with it disappears slowly after the pill is stopped.
These will help reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, early detection, and improved prognosis.

Breast Cancer - 8 Things You Must Do To Avoid it!

The human body has 206 bones and bone cancer can affect any of these bones. This condition starts when healthy bone marrow cells mutate and grow out of control to form a tumor. There are many different types of bone cancer. Treatment of bone cancer varies from case to case and depends on factors such as, type of cancer, stage at which it is diagnosed and the patient s overall health amongst other factors.

Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are the three most common types of treatments favored for bone cancer. Surgery is usually used for low-grade tumors. This involves the removal of tumor and the surrounding healthy cells and tissues to ensure that that cancer does not recur. For high-grade tumors, surgery may be accompanied by chemotherapy, radiation or a combination of the two. 

Chemotherapy involves the delivery of medication to destroy cancer cells orally or intravenously. Radiation involves the use of high energy X rays to kill cancer cells. This is often used to treat patients with a tumor that cannot be surgically removed.

Apart from these standard forms of treatment, bone cancer patients are often advised to take part in clinical trials for their treatment. This can be described as a research study to test the efficiency of new approaches to the treatment of bone cancer. A clinical trial can be used to treat the safety and efficacy of a new drug, the new dosage of standard drugs or a new combination of treatment types. As a member of a clinical trial, you may be one of the first few people to benefit from treatment even before it is available to the general public. 

Some of the new options available through clinical trials are:

Immunotherapy: This is also known as biologic therapy. It is designed to boost the patient s immune system to fight cancer cells. Mifamurtidesi one of the types of immunotherapy being tested. Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as monoclonal antibodies are also being tested for their ability to block specific molecules.
Targeted therapy: This type of therapy targets the genes and proteins that contribute towards the growth and survival of cancer cells. Targeted therapy limits the damage caused to healthy cells and tissues and only blocks the growth of cancer cells.
Myeloablative therapy: This involves an intense regimen of chemotherapy. High doses of chemotherapy aim at destroying all the cancer cells. Unfortunately, in the process, healthy cells may also be killed. This may be followed by introducing stem cells through a bone marrow transplant to the patient s body to renew blood cells.
Intraoperative radiation therapy: These trials evaluate the use of radiation given inside the patient s body during a surgery. In cases where tumor is in a distant location of the body, stereotactic body radiotherapy and radiofrequency ablation may be used.


Bone Cancer - Understanding The New Approaches For Treatment!

Cancer that originates in the bones of a human body is referred to as bone cancer. Any bone could come under the threat of this disease, but generally the longer bones of your body, so to say the bones of your limbs, are at a greater risk. 

A few factors that might push you an inch closer to bone cancer are:

 Genes could jinx your health: a few typical genetic syndromes could increase a person's chances of contracting bone cancer. These syndromes could have been active in any person belonging to your lineage. One such syndrome is li-fraumeni.
 Treatment for one kind of cancer can make you prone to some other kind: radiation affects your bones adversely. A patient of breast cancer might be undergoing radiation therapy that further increases his or her risk of contracting bone cancer in future. 
 Paget's disease can have unfavorable implications: paget's disease is a disease that affects elderly people. This condition, if left untreated, can turn into bone cancer at a later stage. 

Several symptoms of bone cancer can be found below:

 Sudden loss of weight: if you lose a considerable amount of weight in a few weeks time without having made any effort at all, you should probably be worried about the health of your bones. Bone cancer can result in sudden and unintentional weight loss. 
 Unexpected bone fracture or breakage: cancer of the bones is known to gnaw at the strength of your bones. Weakened and diseased bones can break or get fractured very easily. An unexpected fracture should not be overlooked so as to prevent chances of anything more harmful.
 Long spans of unyielding exhaustion: constant fatigue and sleepiness might be hinting at a more serious underlying problem. The bones in your body hold you together; cancerous bone cells can make you feel exhausted without much exertion as your bones lose their inherent potency.
 Persistent pain in the bones: excruciating cramps or pangs of stinging pain in a person's bones either continuously or at odd hours, could be indicative of bone cancer. Such instances require the advice and guidance of an experienced oncologist.
 Bone swelling: the area affected by bone cancer can grow big and tender or the bone itself can swell up.

All About Bone Cancer

The uterus or womb, is a muscular structure and is held in place by ligaments and pelvic muscles. If these muscles or tendons become weak, they cause prolapse and are no longer able to hold the uterus in its place.

Uterine prolapse happens when the uterus falls or slips from its ordinary position and into the vagina or birth waterway. It could be complete prolapse or even incomplete at times. A fragmented prolapse happens when the uterus is just hanging into the vagina. A complete prolapse depicts a circumstance in which the uterus falls so far down that some tissue rests outside of the vagina. Likewise, as a lady ages and with a loss of the hormone estrogen, her uterus can drop into the vaginal canal. This condition is known as a prolapsed uterus.

Risks: The risks of this condition are many and have been enumerated as follows:

    Complicated delivery during pregnancy
    Weak pelvic muscle
    Loss of tissue after menopause and loss of common estrogen
    Expanded weight in the stomach area, for example, endless cough, constipation, pelvic tumors or accumulation of liquid in the guts
    Being overweight
    Obesity causing extra strain on the muscles
    Real surgery in the pelvic zone
    Smoking

Symptoms: Some of the most common symptoms of prolapse involve:

    Feeling of sitting on a ball
    Abnormal vaginal bleeding
    Increase in discharge
    Problems while performing sexual intercourse
    Seeing the uterus coming out of the vagina
    A pulling or full feeling in the pelvis
    Constipation
    Bladder infections

Nonsurgical medications include:

    Losing weight and getting in shape to take stress off of pelvic structures
    Maintaining a distance from truly difficult work
    Doing Kegel workouts, which are pelvic floor practices that strengthen the vaginal muscles. This can be done at any time, even while sitting down at a desk.
    Taking estrogen treatment especially during menopause
    Wearing a pessary, which is a gadget embedded into the vagina that fits under the cervix and pushes up to settle the uterus and cervix
    Indulging in normal physical activity

Some specialists use the following methods to diagnose the problem:

    The specialist will examine you in standing position keeping in mind you are resting and request that you to cough or strain to build the weight in your abdomen.
    Particular conditions, for example, ureteral block because of complete prolapse, may require an intravenous pyelogram (IVP) or renal sonography. Color is infused into your vein, and an X-ray is used to view the flow of color through your urinary bladder.
    An ultrasound might be utilised to rule out any other existing pelvic issues. In this test, a wand is used on your stomach area or embedded into your vagina to create images of the internal organ with sound waves.

Uterine Prolapse: Risks, Symptoms and Diagnosis

Kidney cancer refers to any form of cancer that involves the kidney. The disease usually originates in two portions of the kidney   the renal pelvis and the renal tubule. It is one of the most common types of cancer, affecting nearly one out of every 63 people.

Obesity, older age, high blood pressure, smoking and others are some of the factors that increase the likelihood of developing kidney cancer. A person diagnosed with kidney cancer in the early stage will most likely encounter symptoms like   

  Blood in the urine 

  A lump near the kidneys 

  A persistent pain near the kidneys 

  Fever and night sweats 

  Fatigue and tiredness 

  Weight loss 

One should follow up with an oncologist upon experiencing the above symptoms. Is kidney cancer curable? Kidney cancer treatment depends on multiple factors   the stage and type of cancer, the patient s overall health condition etc. However, if cancer has metastasized, the doctor/specialist may recommend palliative treatment to manage the symptoms and improve your quality of life. 

Often, people think of palliative treatment as an end-stage treatment. Nevertheless, the approach can prove beneficial if given during the initial stages. It is about living for as long as possible in the most satisfying way possible. 

A team of healthcare professionals come together to meet your emotional, physical, and social needs. Treatment may include   

  Radiation therapy to ease pain from the disease that has spread to the bones

  Arterial embolization   a method that blocks the supply of blood to the kidneys and the tumour present inside 

  Immunotherapy   helps the immune system to fight against cancer cells 

  Targeted therapy   works by targeting cancer-specific proteins, genes and tissues that contribute to the growth of cancer 

Palliative treatment, as a part of integrated oncology, has been a boon to cancer patients worldwide. It not only helps deal with the disease physically but also helps to cope mentally. 

Kidney Cancer Cure - What Should You Know?

Brain mapping is a technique where the biological quantities of a human brain are represented as spatial quantities resulting in maps. As with many other medical technologies, brain mapping is fast-evolving as well. Among several uses, brain mapping is chiefly used while performing surgery on the brain.

When surgery is to be performed on the brain such as surgery for epilepsy, the surgeon would want to comprehend how the brain areas are affected by seizures. The surgical intervention is meant for removing as much as seizure focus as possible while preserving crucial functions like understanding, speech, vision, movement, and sensation.

Why is brain mapping performed?
Brain mapping is a process which helps in identification of functions of various parts of the brain. Mapping the brain by stimulating different areas of the brain areas can aid in creating a map for a particular person. The map allows the doctor in understanding what parts of the brain are responsible for performing critical functions including sensation, movement, speech and other functions.

Which functions of the brain can be mapped electrically?
Typical areas of the brain which have motor, language, visual and sensory functions are needed to be mapped. When current is applied to a single area at a time, the doctor understands which part of the brain is responsible for which function.
When the patient is not able to speak due to the current, then the area is likely to be crucial for language function. If the limbs, face or trunk of the patient stop moving as the current passes, the area that is tested is responsible for movement. On the other hand, if the individual experiences tingling, numbing, and other sensations when the current is applied, it means that a sensory region is discovered.

How is electrical brain mapping performed?
Electrical brain mapping for guiding brain surgery for epilepsy can be performed in two distinct processes: directly during the surgery or in a two-stage procedure.

Two-stage procedure:
In the first stage of the process, the surgeon creates an opening in the skull which helps in exposing the surface of the brain. Small electrical contacts or electrodes are placed on the brain surface even though no brain tissue is removed. As soon as the electrodes are in the right position, the scalp is closed. The electrodes not only record the seizure of the patient electrically but also allow mapping of various areas of the brain. The last stage is surgery where abnormal brain tissues are removed.

Brain mapping process during surgery:
Electrical brain mapping may also be performed during the surgery which exposes part of the brain. This is termed as intraoperative brain mapping since it occurs while performing the main operation. The process of mapping may last for an hour to several hours at a stretch.

Brain mapping is also used to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer s and Parkinson s. In these cases, the brain map shows extreme shrinkage of the brain due to tissue loss.

Brain Mapping Surgery - Why It Is Performed?

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