There are varying viewpoints from different groups or organizations. While some find it a boon, others consider it a bane. Those who find e-cigarettes as advantageous have this to say:

• E-cigarettes provide no second-hand effect to other people;
• It doesn’t use harmful or toxic chemicals to the body unlike tobacco cigarettes;
• It offers help for those who wishes to stop their addiction to smoking
• It gives the smoker the same visual and tactile sensation that smokers have been dependent upon

There are opposing groups who claim that e-cigarettes are not really beneficial and they warn people about the following:

• There is no established or sufficient scientific study or data that can conclude about the safety of the e-cigarette. Although it doesn’t use the 7,000+ chemicals found in a regular tobacco product, smokers are still not sure whether what they are inhaling are safe or not for their body;
• There is no real evidence on its effectiveness as a solution to getting hooked off with smoking;
• It is said to be that it may trigger or even encourage more young people to get to the habit of smoking as it starts with e-cigarette and may eventually lead to smoking regular tobacco products.

The bottom line here is that e-cigarettes have been designed as a quick-fix for people who want to take alternatives to smoking regular cigarettes. Whether it is a boon or a bane will depend on the purpose of the user.

Fecal Occult Blood Test or FOBT

Fecal is another term for stool and Occult Blood refers to the hidden blood hence the term Fecal Occult Blood Test. FOBT has been the longest stool test with the best scientific evidence work. This test is done by looking at the stool’s microscopic blood amounts.

To understand why this test has to be taken, one must be aware how colon cancer starts. The disease starts first as a polyp or a non-cancerous growth. Although not all polyps develop as a cancer, those that progress as one usually takes years in its transformation. Some polyps and most cancers bleed and the amount usually are insignificant which becomes difficult to be seen by the naked eye when it becomes mixed with the stool. To be able to check this, the patient must collect only a small amount of the bowel movement which will be sent to the laboratory for examination. The fecal will be subjected to a chemical reaction that will reveal whether the stool contains blood or none.

Positive FOBT

If the FOBT result is positive it doesn’t automatically follow that you have colon cancer. It may be a result from other common stomach or bowel problems that are non-cancerous such as haemorrhoids, diverticulosis, or ulcers. However you must never assume that there might be a possibility of having a colon cancer which is why you need to undergo a colonoscopy just to make sure the real problem.

Bear in mind that collecting a small amount of “yuck” can help save lives. So if the doctor asks you to have a stool test, do not think about the “yuck”, think about saving your life.

Fact or Myth: Breast cancer is hereditary so if your family doesn’t have a history then you are safe from having one.

It is definitely a myth. The fact is breast cancer cases that are a result of mutations or gene defects inherited from a parent is said to be about 5% to 10% only. Statistics show that there are about 70% to 80% of women who have breast cancer that don’t have family history of the disease.

Fact or Myth: You cannot do anything to protect yourself from breast cancer if you have a family history.

This is another myth. If you find out that one of your family members or relatives have breast cancer, it is suggested to tell your doctor. By discussing with your doctor how many and which of your relatives have breast cancer, it would be helpful in determining whether you are at possible risk of having the disease. Early detection of the disease will make it more helpful in giving you the necessary treatments and medications that will lessen the risk of developing the disease.

Fact or Myth: If you are on an average risk of acquiring breast cancer then the risk of developing the disease cannot be reduced.

The fact is while there are risk factors that you have no control over (i.e. family history and age), there are important breast cancer risk factors that you can change (i.e. weight, physical activity, and alcohol consumption). With the risk factors that you can change, there is a chance that you will be able to reduce the risk of developing further the disease.

Lung cancer is highly correlated to smoking cigarettes. About 91% of lung cancer cases in men and 71% of cases for women are attributed to cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoke contains more than a thousand chemical compounds, and more than sixty of these substances are known carcinogens (substances which may cause cancer). Among these carcinogens, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzopyrene, and nitrosamines, are primary causes of abnormal cell growth in the lungs that lead to the development of lung cancer.

The risk of lung cancer is increases the more cigarettes one smokes. Physicians and health care professionals generally measure to the number of cigarettes one smokes as “pack years”. Pack years refers to the number of packs of cigarette smoked in one day multiplied by the number of years that a person has been smoking. For example, if Person A has been smoking two packs of cigarettes every day for the past five years, he has a smoking history of ten pack years.

If for instance, a person decides to stop smoking, his chances of developing cancer gradually decreases as the damaged cells of the lungs are replaced by normal cells and the contaminants and carcinogens are slowly being excreted. For persons who have quit smoking, the risk of developing cancer would be the same as a non-smoker after fifteen years of quitting smoking.

Cancer has four stages. During Stage I, the cancer is localized in one part of the body or a specific organ. Stage II cancers refer to cancers that are locally advanced and have become larger than stage I cancers. Stage III cancers are also locally advanced and may involve the lymph nodes. Stage IV cancers, on the other hand, refer to cancers that have metastasized and developed in other parts of the body or organs.

The treatment for cancer varies depending on the case and every patient has a unique treatment protocol. However, most cancer treatments share several components—surgery for the removal of the cancer, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or combination treatment. As the name implies, combination treatment is a combination of two or all three of the aforementioned treatments.

Cancer treatments for patients involve variations in treatment. For those who have cancers that cannot be completely removed or cured by surgery, would usually involve combination treatments depending on the type of cancer they have and the stage.

In worse cases where the cancer itself cannot be completely cured, the treatment used is palliative therapy. Palliative therapy refers to medical care given with the aim to reduce the symptoms of the patient’s cancer and not to completely cure the patient. The same treatments are also utilized above but with some variations. The main intention of palliative therapy is to improve the quality of life of the patient and extend it as long as possible. Usually, palliative treatments involve reducing the patient’s pain and discomfort.

Some of the different types of cancer in women are as below:

1. Breast Cancer: Breast Cancer is the most common type of cancer found in women. It begins in the breast and the cancerous cells spread to the other parts of the body. If this cancer is detected early, it can be cured or treated but if it has spread to the other parts of the body, it can be life threatening. The stage of the cancer has to be detected to decide the best treatment to undergo. Often, there are no symptoms of breast cancer in the early stages but as the cancer grows it may show the following symptoms of a change in the shape or size of the breast, a lump in the breast, nipple inversion or nipple discharge. The types of breast cancer are Invasive and non invasive.

2. Cervical Cancer: This type of cancer in women begins in the cervix which is the part of the uterus that opens to the vagina. Cervical Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Human Papillomavirus is what causes the cervical cancer mostly. This virus is transmitted sexually and sometimes the immune system of the woman’s body destroys the virus leading to normal state of the cervix. But sometimes the virus infection remains and leads to cancer. The Pap test and the HPV test should be done when recommended and should not be ignored. Treatments of cervical cancer can be systemic or local. The local treatments destroy or control the cancer cells in one area using radiation or surgery. Systemic treatments destroy or control the cells throughout the body using chemotherapy.

3. Ovarian Cancer: Ovarian Cancer in women causes bloating, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, difficulty in eating or urinary symptoms. It can also cause constipation, fatigue and pain in the body. A pelvic examination and pelvic ultrasound needs to be done to get tested for ovarian cancer. Surgery or chemotherapy is used for treatment of this cancer.

4. Vaginal Cancer: Vaginal Cancer in women starts in the vagina usually in the lining of the vagina and takes many years to develop. Pap tests help to detect vaginal cancers. The symptoms of vaginal cancer may be vaginal bleeding after lovemaking, pain while passing urine, pain during sexual lovemaking, constipation or abnormal discharge.

5. Vulvar Cancer: Vulvar cancer in women starts in the vulva which is the outer part of the reproductive system in females. This is not a very common type of cancer and can be cured if detected early.

6. Uterine Sacoma: This is the cancer that develops in the tissues of the uterus. The main types of uterine sarcoma are uterine leiomyosarcoma, uterine carcinosacoma, uterine adenosarcoma and endometrial sarcoma.

These are some of the conditions of cancer in women. It is required for women to undergo some tests like the Pap test and mammogram regularly to detect cancer early and to avoid cancer.

www.streamingwell.com – Prof. Rob Coleman explores various choices for treating advanced or secondary breast cancer and highlights treatments such as hormone therapy, chemotherapy and targeted biological therapies. This short film looks at the different types of advanced breast cancer, Hormone Sensitive, HER2-Positive and Triple Negative and shows how each type responds to drugs and treatment in different ways. He also explains that when choosing a breast cancer treatment quality of life for the patient is a priority and that treatments should be selected on the balance between benefits and side effects that the patient is prepared to accept.