Signs of Breast Cancer
Detecting signs of breast cancer may be misleading. Some women think that having a lump on your breast or under your arm already means that you have one. Often there are no physical signs that you can see or feel. Some outside signs may include a lump or thickening of an area, or a dimple in the breast.
Redness and swelling of the breast or an enlargement in the axillary lymph nodes are less common signs. These said lumps may be just benign (non-cancerous).
If you are able to detect a lump, or if you may have worries that you have breast cancer, it is crucial that you see a doctor immediately. That is, to ease your worries and for them to answer your questions. Certain signs may include: lumps in the breast or under arms, changes in the nipples, breast pain or cysts. You should also learn the proper way for physical examination of your breast.
A lump can be felt by physical examination by you or your doctor. This lump is said to be painless and hard. And sometimes, it may be soft, rounded and tender. A mammogram which is an x-ray for the breast would most likely see an abnormal area; and this area should undergo further testing.
According to the American Cancer Society, any of the subsequent abnormal changes in the breast can be signs of breast cancer:
• Breast pain
• Irritation or dimpling of the skin in your breast
• A part or all of the breast is swelling
• Pain in the nipples or your nipples may appear turning inward
• Thickening, scaliness or redness of the nipples or breast skin
• Painless lump under your arm (armpit)
• Or a discharge in your nipples other than breast milk
The said above signs of breast cancer may be a sign of less crucial conditions that are not cancerous, such as cyst, infection or just a discharge. It is best advised that if ever you experience certain breast changes, consult with a physician immediately.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Signs of Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer Stages
Breast Cancer Stages: Importance of Knowing Breast Cancer Stages
Determining the breast cancer stages is important since it enables the patient and doctor to identify the treatment necessary for one’s condition. Also, it is essential in assessing the risk of the given condition and what lifestyle changes the patient can do to improve their health.
Identifying A Breast Cancer's Stage??
When talking about breast cancer stages, it is aimed at describing the extent of the cancer in the body. So, if you ask how a breast cancer is staged, doctors often start to classify whether it is invasive or non-invasive. Other factors considered are the tumor size, number of nymph modes involved, and what other parts of the body it has managed to affect.
Determining a cancer's stage is helpful during prognosis and deciding on a treatment option.
To determine the stage, a few standard procedures are done by the doctor on a patient. They undergo physical exam and biopsy to acquire the data needed by the doctor for the diagnosis.
If needed, further tests are also conducted such as imaging tests that include x-ray, bone scans, mammograms for the breasts, CT scans, positron emission tomography (PET), and magentic resonance imaging.
What Are the Breast Cancer Stages?
Now that the importance of determining the different breast cancer stages have been clarified, as well as the methods used to identify them, it is now time to move on to discussing each of the stages. Take note of the features and extent of the cancer in each of the stages:
Breast Cancer Stage 0
This stage renders the case of breast cancer to be non-invasive. At this point of the breast cancer, cancer or non-cancerous cells cannot be detected yet.
The abnormal cells are still at the stage wherein they try to spread out within the specific part of the breast where the cells are rooted. Also, they can try to expand on the neighboring tissues as the cancerous cells continue to grow.
Breast Cancer Stage I
Once the breast cancer enters this stage, it is now categorized as an invasive type of breast cancer. Meaning, the cancer cells have now worked their way towards the neighboring tissues. Stage I breast cancer also exhibit the following characteristics:
• The cancerous tumor has reached the size of 2 centimeters.
• No lymph modes are affected.
Breast Cancer Stage II
For this particular stage of breast cancer, it is also known as an invasive type of cancer and is broken down into two more categories:
1) Stage IIA
Even in this particular stage, the conditions can be different:
• A tumor does not exist in the breast but cancerous cells are detected in the lymph nodes.
• A tumor could exist but measures less than 2 centimeters;
• The tumor has expanded beyond 2 centimeters but less than 5 centimeters without reaching the lymph nodes.
2) Stage IIB
This invasive level of the cancer are recognized as either one of the following:
• The tumor exceeds 2 centimeters in size but less than 5 centimeters, while also reaching the lymph nodes.
• The tumor is more than 5 centimeters in size but has not yet reached the axillary lymph nodes.
Breast Cancer Stage III
1) Stage IIIA
In this stage, the tumor could either be detected or not. Aside from the axillary lymph nodes, cancer can also stick to other structures outside of the lymph nodes and become clumped together.
2) Stage IIIB
In this stage, the tumor can grow in size and affect other areas of the body outside of the actual breast, whether th chest wall or skin of the breast. This is the stage wherein inflammatory breast cancer takes place.
3) Stage IIIC
In some cases, sign of breast cancer might not be detectable yet. However, the tumor could already be spreading towards the breast skin, chest wall, and below your collarbone.
Breast Cancer Stage IV
In this level, the cancerous cells have managed to spread to various organs of the body. Therefore, the cancer is no longer restricted on the breast and lymph nodes, which signifies the initial diagnosis of breast cancer. The reason why diagnosis is done only during this stage is because cancerous cells were not detected while still within the breast.
Recognizing breast cancer stages does more than just identifying treatment options, but also enables doctors and patients to understand the developmental pattern of the disease.
Vitamin D – A Closer Look At Cancer Prevention
Vitamin D – A Closer Look At Cancer Prevention
Vitamin D is the nutrient long known for it's critical role in the body's processing of calcium and subsequent maintenance of the bones and teeth. However, studies are revealing more and more evidence supporting the role of vitamin D in protecting the body by significantly cutting the risk for most forms of cancer. In fact, new research published most recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that vitamin D supplements may lower the risk factor by as much as 77 percent.
The following reveal exciting evidence of the exceptionally strong cancer-protective effects of vitamin D.
Breast Cancer – most recently the results of a study were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggesting that pre-menopausal women who maintain high levels of vitamin D and calcium in their diets have a significantly lower risk of breast cancer. More importantly, high levels of calcium and vitamin D among this group seemed to reduce the most aggressive breast tumors, including those that are likely to spread to the lymph nodes, which contain the most dangerous types of cancer cells. The two nutrients function together to block or interfere with the effects of the IGF (insulin-like growth factor) hormone, which is known to stimulate breast and other cancer cells.
Colon/Rectal Cancer - More than fifty years ago, while realizing the correlation between sunlight and vitamin D blood concentrations, curious scientists began studying weather data around the country, along with health statistics anticipating a relationship between areas with the highest amount of sunshine and lower rates of colon cancer death. New research conducted at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Nebraska has revealed that supplementing with vitamin D and calcium can reduce your risk of colon cancer by nearly 80 percent.
Pancreatic Cancer – known for having one of the highest mortality rates, pancreatic cancer is frequently called the "silent killer" typically because its presence is seldom diagnosed prior to reaching the advanced stages generally considered incurable. Results of two studies that began over thirty years ago, with a combined 170,000 male and female participants revealed evidence that at higher intake levels of vitamin D (at least 600 IU per day) there was a significant reduction in the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Prostate Cancer - Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the United States. However, an abundance of clinical research is providing evidence that vitamin D may be a key factor in reducing or eliminating the risk of contracting the disease. Most recent results include a new study indicating that vitamin D generated from about 15 minutes of sunshine per day may help lower the risk of prostate cancer. Other epidemiological studies also show correlations between the risk factors for prostate cancer and conditions that can result in decreased vitamin D levels. And, additional clinical research has shown that the presence of vitamin D inhibits the growth of human prostate cancer cells.
Lung Cancer – is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in America, so it is with great promise that a study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention revealed that Vitamin D from a combination of dietary sources and sun exposure appears to improve the survival of patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for 75% to 80% of all lung cancers. It's interesting to note that group participants who had surgery during the summer months gained a 13% survival advantage over those receiving surgery during the winter.
Recent research indicates that anyone totally avoiding the sun will need an intake of about 4,000 IUs of vitamin D a day! Now, if you do the math this means that it will be impossible from a practical means, to get enough vitamin D from either natural foods or nutritional supplements. Consider the requirement of 40 glasses of milk or 10 multi-vitamin tablets a day. Such an alternative would be an unrealistic and physically dangerous undertaking, to say the least.
Most of us make about 20,000 units of vitamin D after about 20 minutes of summer sun, but if for some reason you're not getting vitamin D from sunshine, you need to take supplemental vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. Since most of us do in fact receive much more vitamin D from the sun than we actually realize, it's reasonable to assume then that the majority of us need to supplement our intake with an additional 2,000 IUs per day, to ensure the risk reduction benefits against all cancer related illness.
For additional information and important resources, please visit http://www.newdaynutrients.com/
Prostate Cancer Risk
Does Resveratrol Help Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk?
Significant among the many health benefits that Resveratrol offers, is the reduced risk of prostate cancer. Some experts may disagree, but the good news is that there is considerable scientific evidence available to substantiate the direct link between Resveratrol intake and reduced risk of prostate cancer. In recent times, various reports have been published in leading health magazines about the positive role played by Resveratrol in reducing risks associated with the onset of prostate cancer.
If you do not know much about Resveratrol, it would be better to start with the basics. Resveratrol has been identified as a protective element found naturally in certain plants, their fruits, stalks and vines. In these plants, Resveratrol acts as a shield and provides protection against diseases and infections caused by bacteria, funguses and other harmful pathogens. The grape plant has been identified as having the highest Resveratrol content. The overall content is however more in red wine in comparison to that found in grape juice. That’s because the fermentation process dramatically increase the overall Resveratrol content. White wine, in comparison, has only limited Resveratrol content since the outer skin of grapes is removed before starting the fermentation process for making white wine.
So, are we recommending red wine for reducing prostate cancer risks? Yes, we certainly are, but if for any reasons you may not be able to include red wine in your diet or if you need Resveratrol in higher doses, we would recommend that you go for Resveratrol food supplements. Here, it is necessary that you go for brands that offer “enteric coating”. This coating is a synthetic substance that protects Resveratrol molecules from stomach acids. Naturally occurring acids and other elements in the stomach react with Resveratrol molecules, depriving them of their medicinal properties. Hence the need for Resveratrol food supplements with enteric coating.
With proven anti-ageing properties, reduced risk of heart ailments, increased metabolic rate, better blood sugar regulation and augmented protection against various types of cancers including prostate cancer, you will realize that it’s better to pay a few more dollars than to settle for something that’s completely ineffective. It’s a topic of debate whether the pricing is justified but would you want to take a risk with your health? A few may have benefitted from low-cost supplements due to placebo effect, but if you do not wish to compromise with quality and effectiveness, go for Resveratrol food supplements that come with enteric coating.
We would further recommend that you go for Resveratrol food supplements that pack in other vitamins and minerals as well, along with the regulated daily dose of Resveratrol. This is true, especially if you are above 50, an age group that is considered as more prone to prostate cancer risks. For max benefits, you need to make certain lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, including more portions of fruits and vegetables in your meals, and avoiding junk food. When you do so, you will soon experience increased vigor and vitality and most importantly, the assurance that you may never have to deal with painful conditions like prostate cancer
