Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer found in women. The major causes of breast cancer are obesity and overweight.
The effect of obesity on breast cancer risk is based on a woman’s menopausal status. Before the end of menstrual cycle, obese women are less exposed to breast cancer than women of a medium weight. Anyway, after menopause, obese women have 1.5 times the risk of women of a healthy weight.
Obese women are also at high risk of dying from breast cancer after menopause compared with bony women. Scientists estimate that about 11,000 to 18,000 deaths per year from breast cancer in U.S. women over age 50 might be avoided if women could maintain a Body Mass Index under 25 throughout their adult lives (16).
It has been noticed that obesity augments the risk of breast cancer only among postmenopausal women who do not use menopausal hormones. However, there is no significant difference in breast cancer risk between obese women and women of a healthy weight if women belonging to both categories use menopausal hormones.

Obese women have higher amounts of estrogen in their body. Estrogen is mainly produced from the fatty tissues and more amount of fat in your body means you have higher chances of getting affected by breast cancer. Good nutrition, healthy living conditions and a fine environment may help girls to start puberty earlier in life and attain menopause later. Estrogen develops though out the fertility period. And better levels of estrogen in the body increases the risk of breast cancer in women. Before menopause, the primary source of estrogen are the ovaries. However, fat tissue also produces estrogen and, after the ovaries have stopped producing hormones, fat tissue comes to be the most important estrogen source. Estrogen levels in postmenopausal women are 50 to 100 percent higher among heavy compared to lean women. This makes the estrogen-sensitive tissues exposed to more estrogen stimulation in heavy women, which causes a more rapid growth of estrogen-responsive breast tumors.

Another factor related to the higher breast cancer death rates in heavy women is that breast cancer is more likely to be detected at a later stage in obese women than in lean women. This is because the detection of a breast tumor is more difficult in obese versus lean women.
There is some evidence that, among African American women, the risk associated with obesity may be absent or less than that of other populations. However, a recent report showed that African American women who have a high Body Mass Index are more likely to have an advanced stage of breast cancer at diagnosis.

Weight gain during adulthood has been found to be the most consistent and strongest predictor of breast cancer risk in studies in which it has been examined.
The distribution of body fat may also affect breast cancer risk. Women with a large amount of abdominal fat have a greater breast cancer risk than those whose fat is distributed over the hips, buttocks, and lower extremities. Results from studies on the effect of abdominal fat are much less consistent than studies on weight gain or Body Mass Index.

Tim Barton is the creator of the internet’s most complete collection of blogs on breast cancer. For information, stories, useful links and other resources, visit his website: fightyourbreastcancer.com FightYourBreastCancer.com

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The hat has once again emerged on the fashion scene and the reason may be due to the dramatic increase in the skin cancer known as melanoma, the deadliest of the known types of skin cancer.

Prior to 1950, melanoma was rarely diagnosed. In recent years, this disease has had a dramatic increase in the under 40 age group. It appears that the years of enjoying the sun, during the warmer months, without wearing a hat has taken its toll on our health and we have finally realized the functional purpose of the hat.

Scientist had predicted for many years, that the effect of increasing uv rays reaching the earth, due to the hole in the ozone layer, would have a wide scale effect upon the human immune system and a devastating effect on the skin. Clinical studies have shown that overexposure to the sun may take years to show up with the effects being in the form of premature aging, age or liver spots and/or skin cancer.

Wearing a hat, that provides shade for your face, neck and ears, can play a major part in the prevention of the effects of the sun upon the skin. The American cancer Society and the Skin Cancer Institute suggest that a hat brim of 2 to 4 inches will provide adequate shade from the sun -
but a wider brim may prove to be better protection for those who have all ready experienced some form of skin cancer. For a hat to provide maximum protection from the sun, it should be one of a tightly woven material, which is usually straw or cloth.

Hats made specifically for sun protection — such as the legionnaires hat, the safari hat, the outback hat — have been around for years and were created to protect the head and facial area from the sun. Most of us associated these hats with specific occupations and geographical locations with hotter climates. Now we know that geography no longer plays a part in whether we actively practice adequate sun protection. The excuses, we used in the past, to justify not wearing a hat are no longer valid. As we continue to erode the ozone layer with hydrocarbons and fossil fuel emissions, uv rays will continue to increase and we will see an even greater rise in the number of people with skin cancer. It no longer matters whether hats are in style or not. Wearing a hat has now become an investment in our future well-being.

Janice Carter is the founder and owner of isisfashions.com isisfashions.com - an internet store for women’s custom made hats.

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Mesothelioma Pleural is a lethal cancer that initially affects the thin membrane enveloping the lungs. This affliction is mostly caused by exposure to asbestos. Currently about 3000 cases are reported in the United States every year. But according to reliable estimates, nearly 8 million people have been exposed to asbestos during the past fifty years and about .3 million new cases would turn up by 2030. Higher rate of incidence is noted in the Pacific and Mid-Atlantic States.

The disease is almost always fatal. If it is detected early, surgery could be helpful. But the problem is that Mesothelioma Pleural has a long latent period of 20 to 40 years or more and by the time it is diagnosed the cancer would be usually in an advanced stage. There is no universally accepted line of treatment as of now. Chemotherapy is not considered effective. Several combination therapies are tried.

Radiation may be of use, particularly as a palliative measure. Here the problem is that since mesothelioma is resistant to radiation, high doses have to be applied. This, not only kill the cancerous cells but also the good ones. To overcome the difficulty, many doctors who treat mesothelioma pleural patients are employing a century old procedure known as Brachytherapy, which was being, and still is, used for treatment of certain other cancers.

Brachytherapy today is a high-tech and precise form of radiation. It is a process applied internally instead of through a gadget outside the body. Radioactive sources (sealed in needles, catheters, seeds or wires) are planted on the tumor or very close to it. By this process the radiation is focused on the bad cells and therefore spares the good ones. This has been found to be effective.

Like all radiation, Brachytherapy also has side effects. But they are minor ones like short duration soreness in the area where the procedure is done. There is nothing to worry about if the patient follows the doctor’s instructions.

e-pleuralmesothelioma.com Pleural Mesothelioma provides detailed information on Malignant Diffuse Pleural Mesothelioma, Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Survival Rate, Mesothelioma Pleural Brachytherapy and more. Pleural Mesothelioma is affiliated with e-peritonealmesothelioma.com Peritoneal Mesothelioma Lawyers.

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Usually, most of the cysts don’t show any symptoms, they are small and benign. Problems can appear if you have larger cysts. Your periods may change, becoming irregular, lighter or heavier than usually, you may feel discomfort low down in your abdomen, or even pain. Sometimes, this pain becomes stronger after you have sex.

The cyst may put pressure on the bladder or bowels, determining you to go to the toilet more often, or sometimes it can cause the production of abnormal quantities of hormones to start. Of course, other symptoms can appear too, especially if you have polycystic ovarian syndrome or endometriosis.

Cysts can cause other problems too. A cyst may burst, having as a result the apparition of a great pain in the lower abdomen. The intensity of the pain depends on a few factors like whether the cyst is infected, or whether there is any bleeding, and it also depends on what the cyst contained. If this problem occurs, you will have to go immediately to the hospital for treatment. Another problem that may appear is when the cyst is growing on a stem from an ovary. In that case, the stem can become twisted, and that will cause a deep pain in the lower abdomen, because the blood supply to the cyst will be stopped.

A functional ovarian cyst appears more often. The follicular cyst appears when, after releasing the egg, the follicle doesn’t shed its fluid, or, if the follicle does not release an egg. Continuing to fill with fluid, the follicle becomes a cyst. This is the most common cyst, it can reach five or six centimeters wide, and usually it disappears in a few weeks without any treatment.

Another type, that is not as common as the follicular cyst is the corpus luteum cyst. It appears when the corpus luteum fills with blood or fluid. This kind of cysts can grow up to six centimeters wide and usually disappear in a few months. Although, the cyst can split, and that will cause pain and internal bleeding.

Another type that can appear is the dermoid cyst. It develops from cells that produce eggs in the ovaries, and can contain tissues like skin, hair or teeth. This cyst usually appears in younger woman, and it might be necessary its surgical removal.

Cystadenomas are cysts that also need to be removed, although they are not usually cancerous. They can grow very large, and are often attached to an ovary. Some of them are filled with a mucous substance, and others with a watery liquid.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is provoking the apparition of small benign cysts, which will develop if the hormones produced by the ovaries are not proper balanced. Endometriosis can also determine the apparition of ovarian cysts.

Usually, an ovary cyst is found by chance, during a medical examination. That happens because a lot of ovarian cysts show no symptoms. If the doctor suspects that you have an ovarian cyst, he will send you to the gynaecologist. The gynaecologist will perform a vaginal examination, to see if there is any swelling, and usually you will have an ultrasound scan too. Another method the doctor might follow is to put a small rounded tube in your vagina, to scan the ovaries. After having the ultrasound scan, the doctor will know whether the cyst is functional or not, will have information about how dense it is, but it is possible that you will need to have additional CT or MRI scans also. A blood test is another method to see if there is a tumour. The doctor is looking after the CA-125 protein’s level, because a high level can be the sign of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cysts are very common, and it rarely means they will turn into ovarian cancer. About 95% of the ovarian cysts are non cancerous.

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