Meenakshi Pain Management Centre

Generally identified as a rare and uncommon phenomenon, vaginal cancer most often occurs in the cells present in the outer lining of the vagina, also called the birth canal. Although primary vaginal cancer is rare and unusual, there are various other types of vaginal cancer that originate elsewhere in the body, but have spread over to your vagina.

Depending upon the nature of origin, vaginal cancer can be divided into the following types:

1. Vaginal adenocarcinoma, beginning in the glandular cells on the surface of your vagina
2. Vaginal sarcoma, developing in the connective tissue cells and multiple cells lining the walls of your vagina
3. Vaginal squamous cell carcinoma, originates in the squamous cells lining the surface of the bacteria
4. Vaginal melanoma, developing in melanocytes, the pigment producing cells in your vagina

Symptoms: As vaginal cancer progresses from one stage to the next, you may experience any one of the following signs and symptoms:

1. Diluted, watery vaginal discharge
2. Painful urination
3. Constipation
4. Odd cases vaginal bleeding, for instance, after menopause or after intercourse
5. Formation of lumps in your vagina
6. Frequent and regular urination
7. Pelvic pain

Causes: Normally, cancer develops when healthy cells undergo genetic mutations, subsequently leading to the uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells. Cancer cells are known to break off from pre-existing tumors and can easily spread everywhere, in what is referred to as metastasize.

Beyond the natural process of development, here are a few factors, which may further contribute to the growth of cancerous cells:

1. Increasing age
2. Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia
3. Exposure  o miscarriage prevention drugs

Cancer today is not as rare as it once was. Today, cancer affects the young and old alike. One of the reasons for this is the pollution in particular air and water pollution that we are exposed to on daily basis.
The air we breathe in today is a mixture of smoke, particulate matter and noxious gases that causes great harm to our bodies. Amongst these, particulate matter that is smaller than 2.5 millionths of a metre is the worst.

These particle matters are emitted into the air from car exhausts, industrial exhausts, coal fires, wood stoves etc. While the body’s natural defences help keep larger particle matter out of the system by sneezing or coughing it out, smaller particle matter enters the body easily. These then get trapped in the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Particle matter has in particular been linked to increasing number of lung cancer cases. Apart from lung cancer, coal tar particle matter has been linked to bladder cancer, soot to oesophageal cancer and benzene and other pesticides to leukaemia.

Radon is another source of air pollution that is emitted from the ground. In some cases, radon can also be emitted through the water. As this gas decays, it releases tiny particles that when inhaled bombard the lung cells with radiation that can cause radiation. Smoking can worsen this effect and increase a person’s risk of suffering from lung cancer. Both first-hand and second-hand smoking have also been linked to breast cancer. Apart from trying to reduce emissions to lower air pollution, it is also important to clean filets of air conditions, etc. regularly to lower indoor air pollution. Preventing the smoking of tobacco in public spaces can also help improve air quality.

All pollutants emitted by us eventually find their way into the water we drink. Even if you are not drinking contaminated water, merely, showering or swimming in contaminated water can make your body more vulnerable to the carcinogens in it. Common water pollutants include arsenic, hazardous waste, animal waste, radon, chemicals and asbestos. Drinking water with concentrated amounts of arsenic has been linked to cancer of the lungs, liver, kidney and bladder while the chlorine used to treat drinking water increases the risk of bladder and rectal cancer.

To reduce the risks of cancer caused by polluted water, it is essential to reduce disinfectant by products by keeping water treatment facilities updated and promote green chemistry and alternative assessments to reduce pollution as a whole.

Homoeopathic remedies for  Breast lump. 

Most lumps are not cancer,  A breast lump is a growth of tissue that develops within your breast. Different types of breast lumps can vary in the way they look and feel. You may perceive a lump as a mass, growth, swelling, thickness or fullness.

You might notice:

• a distinct lump with definite borders
• a firm, hard area within your breast
• a thickened, slightly more prominent area in your breast that's different from surrounding breast tissue
• other breast changes, such as redness, dimpling or pitting of the skin
•  one breast that's noticeably larger than the other
•  nipple changes, such as a nipple that's pulled inward or spontaneous fluid discharge from your nipple
•  persistent breast pain or tenderness, which might increase during your menstrual period

Sometimes, a breast lump is a sign of breast cancer. That's why you should seek prompt medical evaluation. Fortunately, however, most breast lumps result from
Noncancerous (benign) conditions.

Causes-

Breast lumps can be caused by:

• · breast cancer.
• · breast cysts — fluid-filled sacs in your breast that are usually benign
• · fibroadenoma— a solid, benign mass most common in young women
• · fibrocystic breast.
• · injury or trauma to the breast
• · intraductal papilloma — a benign, wartlike growth in a milk duct
• · lipoma— a slow-growing, doughy mass that's usually harmless
• · mastitis-— an infection in breast tissue that most commonly affects women who are breast-feeding
• · milk cyst (galactocele) — a milk-filled cyst that's usually harmless

Homoeopathic remedies

Well selected homoeopathic remedies are effective for breast lump and cure the condition without further complications

Bryonia alba 1m - Bryonia alba is indicated when breast lump with stitching pain is present. The breast is hard and painful. Pain in breast at menstrual period. The breast pain aggravates during movement.

Calcarea carb 30- An excellent remedy for breast lump. Breasts are hot and swollen. Chronic cystic mastitis. Blunt duct adenosis; best remedy for fibroadenoma. Lump in breast is hard, nodular and tender to touch in the beginning. Then the pains are reduced and the lump turns to be hard due to calcification. Calcarea acts best when the tumours are calcified. These breasts are swollen and tender before menses. Deficient lactation. The breasts are distended in lymphatic women. Patient complains of profuse sweating around the genitalia with dirty smell. Inflammatory condition of the breast. With breast condition patient has the mental symptoms due to sufferings. Patient is anxious, tired and weak, both mentally and physically.

Calcarea flour 30 - Calcareaflour. Is another top remedy for lump in breast. Lump in the breast which is hard, movable with clear margins which are sharp in nature, or their edges are sharply defined. Most commonly they are solitary, very rarely multiple. Occurs in young patients usually unmarried. Nodules are in upper right quadrants. The patient is sad and depressed due to financial condition. Confused due to melancholic condition of mind. Patient is chilly, and she is very sensitive to cold air, cold wind and cold atmosphere in general. Genitals are sore. Urine is copious and offensive. Pain at the tip of the urethra while urinating and after the act. Pain in back extending to sacrum.

Conium maculatum 30 -  Conium maculatum is one of the top remedies for breast lump. Here the mammary glands are hard and sore. A typical carcinoma of the breast, that is, scirrhous adenocarcinoma, which begins in the ducts and ends in the parenchyma. As the stage advances the cooper's ligament shortens and thus it produces the notch. Sometimes the condition is associated with the inflammation of the breast tissue. The region is hard and nodular, tender to touch. Burning and stinging pains in the breast. The skin over the tumour is adherent. Occasionally there is discharge of pus from the nipple. The lesion is hard, almost cartilaginous. The edges are distinct, serrated and irregular; associated with productive fibrosis.

Baryta carb 30 - Baryta carb is very effective for breast lump. Inflammation, induration and enlargement are the fundamental pathogeneses of this drug. The mammary gland is enlarged and there is a lump, which is hard. There is very sensitive to touch. The glands which are enlarged are tender with infiltration. The women of late twenties are affected. These patients present with hard but not serrated mass with firm rubbery consistency. Their edges are sharply defined. Most commonly the tumours solitary. Or occasionally are multiple. They are differentiated from cancer by smooth rather than irregular lobulations. A bloody discharge from nipple is indication of this drug. All the glands of the body are very sensitive to cold and they are worse by taking cold. The skin over the gland becomes ulcerated. It is seen that this remedy works better in paget's disease of nipple which is supposed to be primary carcinoma of the mammary gland.

Bellis perennis 30 - Bellis perennis is prescribed when the lump is caused by a trauma that causes injury to deeper tissues of the breast. The main indication is sore, bruised feeling in breast. Breasts engorged. 

Chimaphilia umbellata 30 - Chimaphilia is indicated for painful tumor of mammae in women of large breasts. There is sharp pain through breast.

Hydrastis canadensis 30 - Hydrastis is prescribed to those patients who have the tendency to indurated glands. Swelling of the mammary glands. Fat necrosis and glandular cell myoblastoma are common in this remedy. Fat necrosis tumour is probably post-traumatic. Patient complains of pain and tenderness. The lesion is fixed to the breast tissue, which sometimes causes dimpling of the overlying skin. Engorged nipples, cracks and discharges of watery fluid or there is serosanguinous discharge. The patient is weak and emaciated, fainting due to improper assimilation or defective assimilation. All-gone sensation or empty feeling in the stomach, not relieved by eating. Chronic catarrhal condition of the membrane of the stomach. Patient is thirstless. Obstinate constipation, colicky and crampy pain in the abdomen. Liver is enlarged and tender.

Iodum 30 - This remedy predominantly acts on the enlargement of the mammary glands which may be either neo-plastic or malignant. The mucous membranes of the glands and the breast tissue are inflamed. The breast tissues are hypertrophied, enlarged, hard and nodular. Emaciation of the patient due to malabsorption. The tumours are well differentiated. They have a discrete capsule. Small lesions present leaf-like intracanalicular protrusions and large lesions have cystic space. Inflammation of the lesions, ulceration occasionally, excoriating and acrid discharge from the nipple or from the lesion. Oedematous swelling of the affected breast.

Lapis albus 30 - The main action of this remedy is on the glands of mammary region. These glands have the tendency to turn malignant. Remarkable results are observed in scrofulous condition of the glands. Fibroid tumours, intense burning pains in the parts. The tumours have pliability and a kind of softness rather than hardness. The margins are clear. The glands are elasticity, exactly the reverse of calc. Fluorica.

Phytolacca dec. 30 - Phytolacca is another remedy effective for lump in breast. Mammae hard an very sensitive. Tumors of the breast with enlargement of axillary glands. When child nurses pain goes from the nipple all over the body. Irritable breast before and during menses.

Plumbum iodide 30 - Plumbum iodide is another effective remedy for breast lump. There are indurations of breast, especially when a tendency to become inflamed, appears sore and painful. Indurations of great hardness and associated with a very dry skin.

Scrophularia nodosa q - Scrophularia has specific affinity for the breast. It is very useful in the dissipation of breast tumours.

Thyroidinum 1m - An intercurrent remedy

Breast cancer is cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts.

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the united states. Breast cancer can occur in both men and women, but it's far more common in women.

Substantial support for breast cancer awareness and research funding has helped create advances in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Breast cancer survival rates have increased, and the number of deaths associated with this disease is steadily declining, largely due to factors such as earlier detection, a new personalized approach to treatment and a better understanding of the disease.

Symptoms

• Nipple changes 
• Nipple changes

Signs and symptoms of breast cancer may include:

• A breast lump or thickening that feels different from the surrounding tissue
• Change in the size, shape or appearance of a breast
• Changes to the skin over the breast, such as dimpling
• A newly inverted nipple
• Peeling, scaling, crusting or flaking of the pigmented area of skin surrounding the nipple (areola) or breast skin
• Redness or pitting of the skin over your breast, like the skin of an orange

Causes

• Doctors know that breast cancer occurs when some breast cells begin to grow abnormally. These cells divide more rapidly than healthy cells do and continue to accumulate, forming a lump or mass. Cells may spread (metastasize) through your breast to your lymph nodes or to other parts of your body.
• Breast cancer most often begins with cells in the milk-producing ducts (invasive ductal carcinoma). Breast cancer may also begin in the glandular tissue called lobules (invasive lobular carcinoma) or in other cells or tissue within the breast.
• Researchers have identified hormonal, lifestyle and environmental factors that may increase your risk of breast cancer. But it's not clear why some people who have no risk factors develop cancer, yet other people with risk factors never do. It's likely that breast cancer is caused by a complex interaction of your genetic makeup and your environment.

Inherited breast cancer

• Doctors estimate that about 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers are linked to gene mutations passed through generations of a family.
• A number of inherited mutated genes that can increase the likelihood of breast cancer have been identified. The most well-known are breast cancer gene 1 (brca1) and breast cancer gene 2 (brca2), both of which significantly increase the risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.
• If you have a strong family history of breast cancer or other cancers, your doctor may recommend a blood test to help identify specific mutations in brca or other genes that are being passed through your family.
• Consider asking your doctor for a referral to a genetic counselor, who can review your family health history. A genetic counselor can also discuss the benefits, risks and limitations of genetic testing to assist you with shared decision-making.

Risk factors
A breast cancer risk factor is anything that makes it more likely you'll get breast cancer. But having one or even several breast cancer risk factors doesn't necessarily mean you'll develop breast cancer. Many women who develop breast cancer have no known risk factors other than simply being women.

Factors that are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer include:

• Being female. Women are much more likely than men are to develop breast cancer.
• Increasing age. Your risk of breast cancer increases as you age.
• A personal history of breast conditions. If you've had a breast biopsy that found lobular carcinoma in situ (lcis) or atypical hyperplasia of the breast, you have an increased risk of breast cancer.
• A personal history of breast cancer. If you've had breast cancer in one breast, you have an increased risk of developing cancer in the other breast.
• A family history of breast cancer. If your mother, sister or daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer, particularly at a young age, your risk of breast cancer is increased. Still, the majority of people diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

Inherited genes that increase cancer risk. Certain gene mutations that increase the risk of breast cancer can be passed from parents to children. The most well-known gene mutations are referred to as brca1 and brca2. These genes can greatly increase your risk of breast cancer and other cancers, but they don't make cancer inevitable.
Radiation exposure. If you received radiation treatments to your chest as a child or young adult, your risk of breast cancer is increased.

Obesity.

• Being obese increases your risk of breast cancer.
• Beginning your period at a younger age. Beginning your period before age 12 increases your risk of breast cancer.
• Beginning menopause at an older age. If you began menopause at an older age, you're more likely to develop breast cancer.
• Having your first child at an older age. Women who give birth to their first child after age 30 may have an increased risk of breast cancer.

Having never been pregnant

• . Women who have never been pregnant have a greater risk of breast cancer than do women who have had one or more pregnancies.
• Postmenopausal hormone therapy. Women who take hormone therapy breast lump. 

One of the things that Shannen Doherty and Rita Wilson, the wife of Tom Hanks, have in common, apart from their fame is that both were affected by breast cancer. No matter how normal a person may seem, breast cancer can strike anyone. In fact, it usually strikes one in eight women. So, it makes good sense to know what it can appear as!

Breast cancer makes up a rather big amount of the general cancer cases as 15% of the cancer cases which are reported on a yearly basis are usually breast cancer cases. That being said, there are quite a few things which can be done in order to reduce a person’s risk to breast cancer.

Prevention is Prudent-

1. Get Fit: The first thing which should be done is that a reasonable level of fitness should be maintained. Many studies have found that if a person is significantly heavier than her recommended weight, she is at a far great risk to develop all sorts of cancer and breast cancer, in particular, than a person who is able to keep her weight in check. The difference in cancer risk rates is about 40%. This is because a greater amount of fat leads to more estrogen being produced, which increases the risk of breast cancer.

2. Quit Smoking: While most people associate smoking as something which increases the risk of cancer to the lungs and are not aware that it increases the risk of breast cancer, too. So, the best solution is to kick the habit!

3. Get Off the Pill: Once a woman crosses past her mid-thirties, she should try to avoid relying on birth control pills to reduce the risk of pregnancy. This is because these pills have an effect which increases the risk of breast cancer, which heightens as a woman gets older. As long as the woman cuts out the use of the pill, the risk quickly gets cut, as well.

4. Get Regular Check Ups: While screening for breast cancer by making use of mammograms does not cut the risk of it, the screening helps detect breast cancer early if it does exist. As a result, a woman has a much better chance of fighting breast cancer. So, a woman who is past the age of forty should try to have a mammogram on an annual basis with the frequency of the same increasing as she gets older. However, it is to be kept in mind that going for a mammogram too often is also not a good idea as the tests themselves pose risks of DNA changes.

Women all around the world are susceptible to breast cancer. While there isn’t a 100% chance of avoiding it, taking care of yourself and leading a fit and active lifestyle can significantly cut down your risk of contracting this condition. Remember, your health is in your hands, so the earlier you start, the better!

Prostate Cancer is a form of cancer that affects men. The prostate is basically a small gland that sits in the male pelvic cavity and is responsible for producing seminal fluid or semen, from its position under the bladder, surrounding the urethra. The testosterone hormone controls this gland. Prostate cancer refers to the growth of a malignant mass of cells which can also be called a tumour. 

More about this cancer:

Risk Factors: The various risk factors involved in this kind of cancer are many. Advanced age, a family history of the same disease, obesity as well as genetic changes can lead to the development of this kind of tumour.

Types: There are basically two types of prostate cancer, including fast growing or aggressive, and slow growing or non-aggressive. Yet, it is also important to remember that not every abnormal growth in this gland can be termed as a tumour, or is a sign of prostate cancer. A malignant growth signifies prostate cancer. This tumour can grow at a fast pace for aggressive prostate cancer, while it can grow and spread slowly for the non-aggressive type.

Symptoms: It is possible to not have any kind of obvious symptoms when suffering from this kind of cancer. The symptoms usually begin to show up when the cancer has reached a more advanced stage. These include urinary problems, most significantly. The patient may go through pain and difficulty when it comes to urinating. This pain may also occur during ejaculation. The patient may also find blood discharge in the semen upon ejaculation and suffer from sexual dysfunction as well. Pain in the chest, pelvic area and back are also common symptoms of prostate cancer, which may gradually turn into numbness in the said areas as well.

Diagnosis: The diagnosis of the issue will be done by a specialist from the urology department. After a physical examination where a diagnosis of the symptoms and other check-ups will happen, the doctor may conduct lab tests to check the blood, urine and other samples. Further, imaging tests like MRI and CT scans will also be conducted. A digital rectal exam and prostate biopsy will also help in effective diagnosis.

Treatment: The treatment of this kind of cancer usually depends on the severity of the symptoms and the spread of the tumour. Besides active observation, the doctor may also recommend radiation, chemotherapy and surgery based on the age and health condition of the patient. If you happen to find even subtle symptoms which could point towards this disease, do not hesitate to get in touch with the doctor.