Breast Cancer

Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives. Breast cancer kills more women in the United States than any cancer except lung cancer. No one knows why some women get breast cancer, but there are a number of risk factors. Risks that you cannot change include

• Age - the chance of getting breast cancer rises as a woman gets older
• Genes - there are two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, that greatly increase the risk. Women who have family members with breast or ovarian cancer may wish to be tested.
• Personal factors - beginning periods before age 12 or going through menopause after age 55

Other risks include being overweight, using hormone replacement therapy (also called menopausal hormone therapy), taking birth control pills, drinking alcohol, not having children or having your first child after age 35 or having dense breasts.

Symptoms of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in size or shape of the breast or discharge from a nipple. Breast self-exam and mammographycan help find breast cancer early when it is most treatable. Treatment may consist of radiation, lumpectomy, mastectomy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy.

Men can have breast cancer, too, but the number of cases is small.

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Sources; NIH: National Cancer Institute

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Aspirin may shield against skin cancer

People who took painkillers like Aspirin and ibuprofen long-term seem to have a lower risk for some forms of skin cancer, Danish researchers have found.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, such as Aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen, were associated with a lower risk of developing some types of cancer in previous studies.

For a study published in Tuesday's issue of the journal Cancer, researchers from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark analyzed the medical and prescription records of people in northern Denmark from 1991 through 2009.

During that time, about 18,000 of the 200,000 participants had been diagnosed with of one of three types of skin cancer.

Those who filled at least two prescriptions for NSAIDs had a 15 per cent lower risk for developing squamous cell carcinoma and a 13 per cent lower risk of the rarer but more dangerous malignant melanoma, Sigrún Alba Jóhannesdóttir and her co-authors reported.

Skin cancer prevention strategy

In the study, researchers compared the painkiller records of patients diagnosed with cancer to cancer-free patients of the same age and gender.

"We hope that the potential cancer-protective effect of NSAIDs will inspire more research on skin cancer prevention," Jóhannesdóttir told reporters.

"Also, this potential cancer-protective effect should be taken into account when discussing benefits and harms of NSAID use."

Many of the prescriptions were for heart conditions or arthritis.

The higher the dose of NSAIDs and the longer someone was taking the medication, the greater the protection measured.

"Given the high skin cancer incidence and the widespread and frequent use of NSAIDs, a preventive effect of these agents may have important public health implications," the study's authors concluded.

There was no association between use of NSAIDs and risk of basal cell carcinoma, the most common and least aggressive form of skin cancer.

NSAIDs work by blocking certain enzymes involved in inflammation. High levels of these enzymes have been found in skin cancer

The researchers cautioned they didn’t know about participants’ other possible skin cancer risks, such as lifestyle factors and exposure to UV radiation. Only 60 per cent of squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma cases were recorded in the Danish Cancer Registry.

The study also relied on dispensed prescriptions, which may not reflect actual drug use.

The Clinical Epidemiological Research Foundation funded the research.

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sources: http://www.cbc.ca

Know and be aware of symptoms of Cervical Cancer

The term cervical cancer are not new to our ears again. Type of cancer is much feared by many women because of this cancer in women because this type of cancer that attacks the organs of the female body at the mouth of the uterus. This disease attacks the exact area of the cervix. The cervix is the entrance into the uterus between the uterus is called the uterus or the vagina of women. Research mnyatakan that cancer is caused by a virus called the human papilloma virus or abbreviated as oncogenic HPV. At first this attack cervical cancer, but the next stage kanketr can invade other organs that exist in the patient's body.

World Health Organization states that cervical cancer has been ranked first the various types of cancer cause of death among women in the world. Meanwhile, in Indonesia there are many cases caused by this disease. In fact many of them claimed the death for this disease. No wonder Indonesia is a country that has the highest person in the world. In addition to HPV virus that has caused more than 100 types, but does not have a high attack power, so there are disappeared. Besides pollution from chemicals for a long period that occurs in cells in the cervix of women. This type of cancer can be transferred to others through sexual contact, especially for those of you who like to change partners. The use of condoms will not prevent transmission of the virus of this type because it can also occur through the touch of skin.

To safeguard against cervical cancer, it helps us recognize the symptoms of diseases caused this cancer. If you are sexually active players then you should perform a vital tool of medical tests every two years to ensure that your physical condition. While the real physical symptoms can only be seen in patients with advanced stage. The existence of the pain and bleeding during intercourse, unusual vaginal discharge in the vaginal area, the rise of blood outside the menstrual period, a drastic weight loss is the other physical signs. If the cancer has spread to the pelvic area, then the patient will feel pain in his back. Urinary difficulties and kidney enlargement is also the other physical symptoms.

Future growth of this disease can be quite long. This period is called the preinvasif or unnatural cell growth before it raged. Developments between 5 to 20 years, starting with the stage of infection, then referred to as pre-cancer, cervical cancer to become apparent. Experts say that smoking may trigger the growth of cervical cancer cells. According to an expert from Sweden substances nicotine and other toxins that settles in the blood can result in growth of cells that are not normal in a woman's uterus. In addition, women aged 35 to 50 years are very prone to this disease. If you do a strict diet that causes decreased immunity, then most likely you will be infected with this virus cervical cancer.