CANCER

How Cancer Affects Families ? Through the course of your loved ones illness and after your loved ones death, you can expect your family to change, especially if youre caring for your loved one at home. Changes may be big or small, and they may be positive or not. Some things may not change at all. When youre thinking about how your family is adjusting, keep this in mind family members are responding to two related challenges to your loved ones illness and dying, and to the impact that caregiving has on the household. It can help to know what you may expect. Here are some ways that your family may respond to your loved ones illness: Each family member will react in their own way. Like your loved one, members may have many feelings, sometimes all at once shock, denial, anger, sadness, fear, frustration, resentment, or even relief. They may ask, Why us? They may hope for a cure even after aggressive treatment has stopped. They may wonder how theyll ever survive without your loved one. Some family members may have more complicated reactions that involve severe anxiety or depression. Some may withdraw if they feel afraid or depressed, or if they think they have nothing to offer your loved one. Some may seem not to react at all. Each family member will cope with their emotions in their own way and at their own pace. Some may want to talk about your loved ones illness and their feelings when others arent ready. Some may not want to talk at all. Young children may become angry, clingy, or withdrawn. They may have trouble working at school, playing, or sleeping. They may think that they caused your loved ones illness, and they may fear that other family members will also become sick and die. At different ages, children will have different concepts about the permanence of death. Teenage children may feel torn between their need to become independent and their need to be with your loved one. They may rebel or seek comfort, or both. The patient and the patients spouse (or partner, or significant other) may have difficulty expressing love and support in the couples usual ways. Problems that existed in the relationship before the illness may become worse, or the couple may look past them now. Here are some ways that your family may respond to caring for your loved one: Whether your loved one is at home, in hospital, or in hospice, your familys routines, roles, responsibilities, and relationships will probably change. Family members have to deal with new expectations and learn to interact with each other in new ways.

Family members may take on new tasks as part of doing things that your loved one cant do anymore, or as part of caring for your loved one. A member who works outside the home may have to take on more household duties. Another member may have to take a job outside the home to help support the family. Children and teenagers may have to cope with tasks and situations theyre not prepared for. Older children may have to take care of younger siblings. Adult children may be challenged to care for a parent and their children at once. If some family members have too many new responsibilities or dont feel confident about their abilities, they may feel resentful, or overwhelmed. Members who dont get enough self-care and support risk burnout. Depending on your situation, these family activities may become especially challenging: making decisions; solving problems; setting priorities and goals; making short-term or long-term plans; assigning caregiving tasks; dividing household chores; coordinating daily activities; allowing for privacy; expressing feelings; relating to people outside the family. Issues that affect the family unit may develop or get worse, such as: physical or mental health problems; behavioural problems; substance abuse problems; difficult relationships; financial concerns. When it comes to deciding about a loved ones care and treatment, for some families its clear who will make the decisions and what those decisions will be. For other families, there may be many options, conflicting opinions, and little experience in making decisions as a family unit. Family members may disagree about who will give care, how, and where, and who will pay. Geographical distance can complicate things. Distant family members may feel guilty and frustrated if they cant be near their loved one. The members giving care on a daily basis may feel that others arent contributing enough. As you can see, families face many challenges when a loved one is ill and dying, and each family will cope in its own way. Many families become stronger and closer as they work together to care for their loved one. But some families may not. Geographical or emotional distance may limit contact between family members and their loved one, and care may be given more by professionals than by family.

Cancer i/knsr/, known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a broad group of various diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the body through the lymphatic system or bloodstream. Not all tumors are cancerous. Benign tumors do not grow uncontrollably, do not invade neighboring tissues, and do not spread throughout the body. There are over 200 different known cancers that afflict humans. Determining what causes cancer is complex. Many things are known to increase the risk of cancer, including tobacco use, certain infections, radiation, lack of physical activity, obesity, and environmental pollutants. These can directly damage genes or combine with existing genetic faults within cells to cause the disease. Approximately five to ten percent of cancers are entirely hereditary. Cancer can be detected in a number of ways, including the presence of certain signs and symptoms, screening tests, or medical imaging. Once a possible cancer is detected it is diagnosed by microscopic examination of a tissue sample. Cancer is usually treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. The chances of surviving the disease vary greatly by the type and location of the cancer and the extent of disease at the start of treatment. While cancer can affect people of all ages, and a few types of cancer are more common in children, the risk of developing cancer generally increases with age. In 2007, cancer caused about 13% of all human deaths worldwide (7.9 million). Rates are rising as more people live to an old age and as mass lifestyle changes occur in the developing world.

Signs and symptoms Symptoms of cancer metastasis depend on the location of the tumor. When cancer begins it invariably produces no symptoms with signs and symptoms only appearing as the mass continues to grow or ulcerates. The findings that result depends on the type and location of the cancer. Few symptoms are specific, with many of them also frequently occurring in individuals who have other conditions. Cancer is the new "great imitator". Thus it is not uncommon for people diagnosed with cancer to have been treated for other diseases to which it was assumed their symptoms were due.

Local effects Local symptoms may occur due to the mass of the tumor or its ulceration. For example mass effects from lung cancer can cause blockage of the bronchus resulting in cough or pneumonia, esophageal cancer can cause narrowing of the esophagus making it difficult or painful to swallow, and colorectal cancer may lead to narrowing or blockages in the bowel resulting in changes in bowel habits. Masses of breast or testicles may be easily felt. Ulceration can cause bleeding which, if it occurs in the lung, will lead to coughing up blood, in the bowels to anemia or rectal bleeding, in the bladder to blood in the urine, and in the uterus to vaginal bleeding. Although localized pain may occur in advanced cancer, the initial swelling is usually painless. Some cancers can cause build up of fluid within the chest or abdomen. Systemic symptoms General symptoms occur due to distant effects of the cancer that are not related to direct or metastatic spread. These may include: unintentional weight loss, fever, being excessively tired, and changes to the skin. Hodgkin disease, leukemias, and cancers of the liver or kidney can cause a persistent fever of unknown origin. Specific constellations of systemic symptoms, termed paraneoplastic phenomena, may occur with some cancers. Examples include the appearance of myasthenia gravis in thymoma and clubbing in lung cancer. Metastasis Symptoms of metastasis are due to the spread of cancer to other locations in the body. They can include enlarged lymph nodes (which can be felt or sometimes seen under the skin and are typically hard), hepatomegaly (enlarged liver) or splenomegaly (enlarged spleen) which can be felt in the abdomen, pain or fracture of affected bones, and neurological symptoms. Causes Cancers are primarily an environmental disease with 90-95% of cases attributed to environmental factors and 5-10% due to genetics. Environmental, as used by cancer researchers, means any cause that is not inherited genetically, not merely pollution. Common environmental factors that contribute to cancer death include tobacco (2530%), diet and obesity (30-35%), infections (15-20%), radiation (both ionizing and nonionizing, up to 10%), stress, lack of physical activity, and environmental pollutants. It is nearly impossible to prove what caused a cancer in any individual, because most cancers have multiple possible causes. For example, if a person who uses tobacco heavily develops lung cancer, then it was probably caused by the tobacco use, but since everyone has a small chance of developing lung cancer as a result of air pollution or radiation, then there is a small chance that the cancer developed because of air pollution or radiation.

What are the different kinds of Cancer? Breast cancer Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, being responsible for almost 20 percent of all cancer deaths in women. It ranks second after lung cancer. Roughly 180,000 women are diagnosed with this disease each year, of which 44,000 will die. With increased awareness and increased use of routine mammograms, more women are diagnosed in the earlier stages of this disease, at which time a cure may be possible. For every 100 women, one man is diagnosed with this disease. The disease is more common in women after age 40. It is also more frequent in women of a higher social-economic class. Colorectal Cancer Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men and women. An estimated 131,000 Americans are diagnosed with this disease each year and some 55,000 die as a result of it. Certain genetic factors play a role in the development of this cancer. The specific cause of Colorectal cancer is unknown, however, environmental, genetic, familial factors and preexisting Ulcerative Colitis have been linked to the development of this cancer. It is more common among African-Americans. Lung cancer Lung cancer is the second most common malignancy affecting both sexes. Roughly 180,000 Americans are diagnosed with this illness ever year. It is considered the most rapidly increasing cause of death from cancer. Since 1987, lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death in women, surpassing breast cancer. And while lung cancer incidence has leveled off among men, it continues to rise steadily among women. The average age of patients with lung cancer is 60 years. It is more common in African-Americans and Hawaiians. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of this disease. Even passive inhalation of the smoke increases the chance of developing this illness. Radon exposure is another cause of lung cancer, killing 14,000 Americans every year. Asbestos exposure also increases Lung cancer risk. The risk becomes astronomical in exposed individuals who also smoke.

Prostate Cancer Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, with roughly 185,000 men diagnosed in 1998 and claiming 39,000 lives from it. Risk of developing this cancer increases with age and it is more common in men over ages 60-65. It is significantly more common in African-American men. Lifetime risk of developing this cancer is about 16-20% (1in 5 to 6). It is estimated that 40% of men over age of 50 have microscopic areas of cancer in their prostate gland. However, only 8% of men will develop clinically significant disease and only 3% will die of this disease. Prostate cancer grows very slowly in older men and does not contribute to the cause of death in majority of cases.