Pancreatic cancer is a relatively rare disorder, accounting for about 3 in 100 cases of all cancer in the US. However, the disease, which mainly affects people over 50, is becoming more common in the US as life expectancy increases. Pancreatic cancer occurs almost twice as frequently in men as in women and the disease is slightly more common in African-Americans and Polynesians. People with pancreatic cancer usually have few symptoms until the disorder reaches an advanced stage and often not until it has spread to other parts of the body, typically the lymph nodes in the abdomen and the liver. The disease is nearly always fatal and is the fourth most common cause of death from cancer in the US. Little is known about the causes of pancreatic cancer, but it has been linked with diet, in particular with fatty foods and high alcohol consumption. A higher incidence of the cancer in certain ethnic groups indicates that genetic factors may be involved. The risk of the disease is greater in people who smoke and in those with chronic pancreatitis.

The pancreas is an organ involved in endocrine functions, such as the secretion of insulin and exocrine functions, such as the secretion of insulin and exocrine functions, such as the secretion of enzymes involved in digestion. It is located underneath the stomach and liver and adjacent to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine).

Causes: The cause of this cancer remains unknown. The most established risk factor for the development of this cancer is cigarette smoking. Other less common risk factors are:

• A high fat diet

• Diabetes

• Chronic pancreatitis, generally related to high alcohol intake

• Workers in contact with organic chemicals

Symptoms: when the cancer originates in the head of the pancreas, which is the closest area to the duodenum, patients suffer from jaundice and generalized itching. If, on the other hand, the tumor originates in the area of the tail of the pancreas, which is furthest from the duodenum, the tumor can grow to larger sizes before causing symptoms. This condition can result in the obstruction of bile excretion leading to the development of

• Jaundice

• Pale-colored stools

• Generalized itching

• Abdominal pain

• Weight loss

• A palpable mass.

Many patients with pancreatic cancer also have symptoms of cancer that has spread to other organs.

Diagnosis: Cancer of the pancreas can be easily seen with computed tomography or ultrasound of the abdomen. The diagnosis needs to be confirmed by obtaining a biopsy.

Complications: Complications arise from the spread (metastasis) of the cancer to other organs or from the physical size of the tumor causing obstruction of the bile duct or other internal structures.

Treatment:

Self Treatment: An overall healthy lifestyle with a well balanced diet is essential to maintain general health during the treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Medical Treatment: Although treatment with chemotherapy has not been very encouraging, promising new chemotherapy agents are always being investigated. Combinations of treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy may help control symptoms in some cases of advanced cancer. Surgical Treatment: Removal of the tumor offers the only chance for cure of this type of cancer. Unfortunately, only about 15 percent of patients can have their tumor fully removed. The rest of the patients have cancers that have grown too extensive to remove completely.

Prevention: the only well established risk for the development of pancreatic cancer is cigarette smoking. Smoking cessation should, therefore, result in a decreased chance of development this type of cancer.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to

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Tags: chemotherapy

For the last several years, there has been an abundance of research on the effects of green tea and its possible ability to prevent cancer. There has been a lot of focus on Asian culture, where the incidence of cancer is significantly lower that that of the Western world.

For centuries, the Chinese have used green tea for health. It is used not only to protect health and slow down the aging process, but also to treat illness. It appears that there is some very good science behind what Asians have been relying on for years.

Tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. There are many different types of tea, but they all come from the same plant. The differences occur from the differences in how the tea is processed. Green tea is not fermented during processing, but black tea does go through a fermentation process.

Tea leaves naturally contain catechins, which belong to the flavan-3-ol class of flavonoids, which are anti-oxidants. EGCG is one of the catechins contained in tea, and is one of the most powerful anti-oxidants around.

Fermenting the tea leaves, converts the catechins to other compounds. These new compounds are not as healthy as the unaltered catechins in a tea leaf in its original state. For this reason, green tea has more healthy anti-oxidants and therefore more health benefits than black tea.

Each day, as we convert food to energy, we create free radicals in our body. These free radicals can damage our cells and our DNA if we don’t combat them. It is believed that unchecked free radicals contribute to the development of cancer. They also speed up the aging process and contribute to clogged arteries and other maladies that plague us as we get older.

Anti-oxidants are powerful free radical combatants, and are linked with preventing cancer, as well as with decreasing your risk of stroke and heart disease and with lowering your cholesterol. For this reason, drinking green tea is a simple and effective way to slow down the aging process and prevent disease.

But, recently there has been even more powerful news about the possible effects of green tea on cancer. Many studies have been conducted on mice that were already diagnosed with the disease. In some cases, the studies have shown that green tea can help kill cancer cells or slow down the progression of the disease.

One particular study of interest was conducted by the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Shizuoka in Japan. In this study, mice that were infected with carcinoma tumors were fed green tea along with a chemotherapy drug called doxorubicin. The doxorubicin had more than doubled the effectiveness in the mice that were also fed green tea than in the mice who received their doxorubicin treatments alone.

The tumors showed a higher concentration of the drug itself in the tumor tissue when the mice ingested green tea. As an interesting side note; normal tissue did not show a higher concentration of the drug as a result of the green tea – only the cancerous tissue.

This may be good news, too. Since chemotherapy is known to have many side effects and to sometimes damage normal tissue as it’s killing cancer cells, this is important. Because the concentration of the drug is not higher in normal cells, the drug’s side effects might not increase with the use of green tea as an adjunct to therapy.

These same results were found in patients who had ovarian sarcoma, too. This news is important because ovarian sarcoma is usually very resistant to doxorubicin. So, it appears that when used with green tea, doxorubicin may become an effective treatment for ovarian sarcoma.

In another study, adriamycin, another popular cancer drug was also found to be more effective at treating ovarian sarcoma when it was paired with green tea. Rats in this study that were not fed green tea were found to be unresponsive to the drug, but when the drug was administered along with green tea, the rats became very responsive to the treatment.

There’s a second component of these studies that may have a positive effect on cancer patients. During chemotherapy, patients are often advised not to drink coffee or tea, due to its caffeine. This can be difficult for patients who are used to these beverages, as it disrupts their daily routine. Allowing patients to consume green tea during treatment could provide a positive emotional boost to patients.

In addition to helping to keep a patient’s daily routine normal by allowing tea as a morning beverage, patients may feel a sense of control of their own destiny when they understand that drinking green tea can help improve the effectiveness of their cancer treatment. This ability to have a hand in their treatment can be a very powerful tool for cancer patients, since this insidious disease often makes people feel out of control of their own life.

Of course, as with many other early results, more research is needed. However, the news is very promising in the fight against cancer. We are likely only beginning to understand the many ways in which green tea can help preserve our health and prevent and fight disease. There is little doubt that we will find more uses for this healthy beverage and its components.

Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current

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If you experience certain symptoms like frequent night urination, blood in your urine or semen, pains in your lower back, in your pelvis or in your upper thighs all this could be symptoms of prostatitis, a non cancerous swelling of the prostate gland or it could be prostate cancer.

Now there’s no need to panic but the fact is that many who choose to ignore signs and symptoms condemn themselves to living with the uncertainty. This has to be worse than actually being diagnosed and knowing if you have prostate cancer or not.

For those who want to continue living, you need to undergo a prostate cancer diagnosis to determine if indeed you have prostate cancer and what can be done to cure it and save your life. There are several stages to prostate cancer and the farther along you let it go without treatment, the more at risk you are of dying due to cancer.

When you discover the symptoms you shouldn’t just throw in the towel but try to see what you need to do about it. First, check with your doctor to conduct screening tests of prostate cancer for you. If you’ve followed previous advice, you no doubt have a baseline PSA test and previous physical tests to begin your diagnosis.

Yet another digital rectal examination (DRE) to check for size and texture of your prostate through the rectal lining but you should know the drill by now. Now’s also not time to get sensitive concerning the test. With this examination your doctor can tell if cancer is present in your prostate by checking to see if he can feel a nodule or other types of prostate irregularity.

Next, the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test will be done and compared with previous results. This test is used to measure the levels of a protein in the blood called prostate-specific antigen. This protein is usually overproduced by prostate cancer cells. So, if prostate cancer is present, there will be an increase of PSA levels in the blood of the victim. Be aware that this isn’t completely accurate though is a good indicator.

If after these screening tests cancer is suspected, a biopsy may be performed. Here, a biopsy is used to gain a tissue sample from the prostate to be examined under a microscope. This biopsy tissue analysis is performed to determine the Gleason score or if the tumor is cancerous or not.

At this point, you and your doctor have a good idea IF you have cancer and at what stage it has developed. It’s at this point that a strategy for beating prostate cancer is development and options are discussed.

Be aware that in the great majority of cases, the symptoms are caused by prostatitis and are not cancerous. The point however is why anyone would want to stay in denial and think they have cancer instead of going in and getting an accurate diagnosis of the situation. Besides, there are mediations now available to treat prostatitis and help alleviate many of the most common symptomatic complaints

Abigail Franks has written many articles on the subject of prostate cancer. On her site you can find prostate-cancer-treatment-expert.com/prostate-cancer-information/prostate-cancer-information-index.html Prostate Cancer information and more about early detection with prostate-cancer-treatment-expert.com/ Prostate Cancer tests

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It seems that with the rise in cancers all over the world, the need for cancer awareness merchandise has become more prevalent. People who are survivors or family and friends of people who suffer from any type of cancer are eager to share their stories with others to make people aware of the dangers of certain things and the whole cancer issue itself. So, when it comes down to cancer awareness, t-shirts, stuffed animals, pins, bracelets, and many other items are helping everyone to spread the word.

Cancer awareness merchandise comes in a variety of different shapes, sizes, and colors. While the ribbons and pins are still the most popular, cancer awareness t-shirts are coming up fast. With all of the different awareness groups out there, you can always find a t-shirt that will help you to make people aware of anything from being a survivor to the loved one who passed away due to cancer. You can order cancer awareness t-shirts through a variety of different sources, from the cancer association to different online sources, all it takes is a small amount of searching to find the cancer awareness t-shirt that you have been looking for.

Other cancer awareness merchandise that is available varies from stuffed animals that have ribbons or sayings on them to beautiful jewelry that comes with any kind of jewels and in gold, silver, and platinum. The stuffed animals have either small sayings to help brighten someone’s day or tiny clothes to make you smile. There is stationery that comes in all colors and themes to help support cancer research. And, the jewelry that is beginning to hit the market is a beautiful way to remember or congratulate someone. You can find rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that carry every kind of stone and most can even be customized to add a special air to the piece. There are many more gifts out there that are becoming too numerous to mention.

You can always find just the perfect gift for yourself or someone you love that will help support cancer awareness research and programs. Most of the proceeds from the different cancer awareness merchandise goes to help fight the disease and find a cure. If you aren’t sure where the proceeds from your purchase are going, all you have to do is ask. If you don’t get the answer you are looking for, you can always order from someone else to ensure that your money will go to a worthy cause.

rainbowofhopecanada.ca Cancer Awareness Merchandise Gifts
Rainbowof Hope to raise cancer awareness among Canadians

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