Cancer: Causes, Diagnosis, Symptoms and Prevention

It is well known that Cancer leads to millions of death globally every year and has created a major concern among clinical professionals across the world. To know more and more about cancer is very important to prevent the occurrence of the disease and having the knowledge of causes of cancer, diagnosis of cancer, symptoms of cancer and treatment of cancer could prove quite beneficial for people to prevent themselves form getting affected from the disease.

Causes of Cancer

Cancer is caused due to the formation of lumps or tumors in the body due to uncontrollable cell division. This condition may arise due to different reasons which stimulate the quick cell division leading to different types of cancer such as lung, colon, breast, skin, bones, blood, or nerve tissue. Some of the major causes of cancer are:

• Mutagens, carcinogens, benzene and other chemicals can lead to cancerous conditions.
• Consumption of excessive alcohol is a major cause of cancer at global level.
• Some environmental toxins like some poisonous mushrooms and a type of poison that can grow on peanut plants (aflatoxins) are known to be causing cancer.
• One of the major reasons of cancer is exposure to certain radiation such as ionizing radiation and non-ionizing ultraviolet radiation. Moreover, excessive exposure to sunlight can also lead to cancerous condition.
• Cancer can also be genetic or hereditary in nature. Though, majority of cancers are non-hereditary but some cancers can be caused by an inherited genetic defect.
• Obesity is a major cause of cancer as 30-35% of cancer cases are reported due to obesity worldwide.
• One of the main reasons of cancer is consumption of tobacco and tobacco products such as cigarette, bidi, ganja, ghutka and other.

Symptoms of Cancer:

Though, symptoms of cancer are not very specific and vary from types of cancer and location of cancer, the American Cancer Society has defined seven initial symptoms of the disease that could certainly prove useful in the diagnoses of cancer to a certain level. The symptoms of cancer are:

• There is an alteration or change in bowel or bladder habits
• Sore throat with inability to heal properly.
• Unusual and irregular bleeding or discharge.
• Thickening or lump in the breast, testicles or any other part of the body.
• Indigestion problem or difficulty in swallowing food consumed.
• Change in the size, color, shape, or thickness of a wart or mole
• Nagging cough or hoarseness.

In addition to that , other common symptoms of cancer includes Chills, Fatigue, Fever, Loss of appetite, Malaise, Night sweats and unexpected Weight loss which should not be ignored.

Diagnosis of Cancer:

As far as diagnosis of cancer is concerned, the early it is diagnosed the better it is for the treatment of cancer. Though some types of cancer such as skin, breast, mouth, testicles, prostate, and rectum cancers can be diagnosed through routine examination but in other cases this can only be diagnosed after the formation of tumors are felt or when the symptoms of the disease can be identified. In many cases cancer gets detected during the medical examination of some other disease accidently.

Moreover, some clinical methods are also used for diagnosis of cancer which includes physical examination and study of medical history of the suspect. In addition to that, some laboratory test such as blood, urine, and stool could also help detecting cancerous condition in many cases. In case if a tumor is suspected some imaging tests such as X-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, and fiber-optic endoscopy are used by the clinical experts to identify the size and location of the tumor. The confirmation of cancer can be done through a biopsy test which includes the study of the tissues from the suspected tumor.

Prevention of Cancer:

As we know that an absolute cure or treatment for cancer is still lacking but by following certain healthy practices prevention of cancer can be done successfully. These include:

• Consumption of healthy and balanced diet on daily basis.
• Regular exercise habit can help you from getting the tumor malignant.
• Say no to alcohol or alcohol consumption should be done in limit.
• Try to maintain healthy weight, avoid being obese.
• Avoid the excessive exposure of your skin to sunlight, harmful radiations and toxic substances.
• Do not smoke and avoid the consumption of tobacco and tobacco products.
• Moreover, mammography and breast examination for breast cancer and colonoscopy for colon cancer on regular interval of time can also be helpful in early detection of the cancer and hence can be treated with the help of medications.