Medical Health Care Advices

The fight against cancer has improved significantly in Algeria, with the creation of new medical oncology services, said Wednesday in Algiers, Dr. Kamel Bouzid, Department Head, Centre Pierre et Marie Curie (CPMC ) CHU Mustapha Pasha. “There was a significant improvement as regards the fight against cancer in Algeria, especially after the establishment of medical oncology departments in cities across the country,” said Professor Bouzid at the 4th Forum organized by the Post ASCO Algerian Society for Medical Oncology. He stressed that with these new services (such as Laghouat Rouiba Bordj Menaïl, Dellys and Mostaganem), many patients will no longer need to go to receive treatment in major hospitals in Algiers, of Oran and Constantine.

Professor Bouzid expressed in this respect, its desire to extend this type of project in other cities, and called for strengthening these services in terms of numbers “with a minimum of three doctors per service for better care for patients. Also on the 4th Forum Post ASCO, he said that this meeting comes just after the holding of the annual convention of the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) held recently in Chicago, and attended by Algerian specialists. “This is the opportunity for Algerian specialists who participated to make a synthesis of innovations and new processing techniques and present them to give them in Algeria in order to progress in treatment and care people with cancer, “noted Professor Bouzid. This 4th edition of the Forum brings together all professionals involved with the management of cancer in Algeria (oncologists, surgeons, internists, radiation oncologists, pulmonologists, pathologists, etc..). It revolves around the plans of new diagnostic and medical care and surgery for cancer of the head and neck, breast and lung and colorectal cancers.

How to treat Leukemia?

The treatment for leukemia will vary depending on the following factors:

* Type of leukemia and specific characteristics of leukemia cells
* Extent of disease
* Prior to whether the disease has been treated, if such type of treatment
* Age of the people and general health condition
* Nature of symptoms

Leukemia can be treated either as follows:

* Chemotherapy – helps to kill leukemia cells using strong anti-cancer drugs
* Interferon therapy – to slow the reproduction of leukemia cells and enhance the immune system
* Radiation therapy – high amounts of radiation energy is used to kill cancer cells
* Transplantation stem cell (SCT) – is done to allow treatment with high dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy
* Surgery – is done mainly in two cases, for the removal of an enlarged spleen or for the purpose of installing a venous access device (removing blood samples and giving medications)

The chances of recovery from leukemia are improving by the day, scientists and medical professionals are constantly striving to find new and more effective ways to treat this disease.

Leukemia symptoms often vary depending on the type of leukemia that concern him. Here is a list of general symptoms of leukemia:

* Frequent infections, fever, cold chills (or any other flu-like signs)
* Fatigue
* Malaise (bodily discomfort experienced)
* Excessive bruising and abnormal bleeding
* Frequent pain in bones and joints
* Loss of appetite, abdominal pain
* Weight Loss
* Node Tender or swollen lymph, liver, or spleen
* Pain in bones and joints
* Leukemia spreading to the brain can cause various disorders such as headaches, seizures, weakness, blurred vision, inability to balance, vomiting, etc.
* Shortness of breath, frequent coughing and very long, of suffocation, etc, could be caused if the leukemia T-cell (a type of lymphocytic leukemia)

How to diagnose leukemia?

There are many ways to diagnose leukemia. (more…)

Leukemia is a dreaded form of cancer that becomes the blood forming cells in bone marrow. The disease is typically characterized by excessive production of white blood cells, which cause crowding in the marrow and often spill over in to the peripheral blood. This in turn leads to decreased production and function of normal blood cells also reducing their ability to fight infections. In some cases acute leukocyte (white blood cells) do so abundant that the blood makes a whitish tinge. Although initially converted in leukemia cells in the blood, there are different types of leukemia affecting any areas of the body such as lymph nodes, spleen, liver, central nervous system and other organs.

Major Types of Leukemia

Depending on the type of cells involved, the leukemia is categorized as Myelogenous leukemia and lymphocytic leukemia. Each has both acute and chronic stages. The main types of leukemia are:

* Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)
* Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)
* Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
* Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

Acute lymphocytic leukemia is increasingly seen among children while acute Myelogenous leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia are more common among adults. (more…)

Close relationship between food and our health is nothing new. But now, in addition, has published a new study that concluded that the best prevention against cancer lies in eating a balanced diet (rich in fruits and vegetables) and preparing food properly.

How? Here you have the key.

Teacher Attilio Giacosa and Jaak Janssens, two big names in cancer research, prevention and explain the importance of dietary intake of fruits and vegetables play an important role in preventing oral cancer, lung, esophagus, stomach and intestines.

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The discovery of certain types of genes that promote cancer development has been a major advance in cancer research. According to observations, over 90 percent of the cancers with a certain type of genetic alteration. Some of these alterations are inherited, while others are sporadic, meaning that occur by chance or by environmental exposures (for many years in most cases). The following are the three main types of genes that can affect the growth of cells and are altered (mutated) in certain types of cancer:

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As mentioned above, certain cancers, especially in adults, have been associated with repetitive exposure to risk factors. A risk factor is anything that may increase a person’s chance of developing a disease. The risk factor does not necessarily cause the disease, but decreases the body’s resistance to it. It has been suggested that the following risk factors and mechanisms contributing to cancer:

* Factors related to lifestyle such as smoking, high fat diets and management of toxic chemicals can be risk factors for cancer in adults. However, most children with cancer are too young to have been exposed to these factors during a period of time.

* Family history and hereditary and genetic factors may play an important role in certain types of childhood cancer. It is possible that various forms of cancer are present in a family in more than one occasion. In these circumstances, it is unknown whether the disease is caused by a genetic mutation, exposure to chemicals near the home of the family, the combination of these factors or a mere coincidence.

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Cancer does not have a single cause. Scientists believe that cancer is caused by the interaction of many factors together. The factors involved may be caused by genetic, environmental or constitutional an individual.

Diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of cancer in children are different than adult patients. The main differences are in the survival rate and cause cancer. The survival rate of children with cancer is 79 percent, while the adult is 64 percent. It is believed that this difference is that children respond better to therapy and can tolerate more aggressive therapy, so the prognosis is better.

Often, childhood cancers occur or begin in stem cells, which are simple cells capable of producing other types of specialized cells that the body needs. Normally, childhood cancer is motivated by a cell change or mutation sporadically (by chance). In adults, epithelial cells are most likely to become cancerous. These cells line the body cavity and the body surface. Cancer is caused by environmental exposures to these cells over time. For this reason, cancer in adults is called “acquired”.

The incidence of pancreatic cancer has been estimated at 10 cases per 100,000 population, the average age of clinical presentation is 69 years, with a slight preponderance in males (ratio 1.2-1.5 to 1 for females ).

Overall survival at 1 year of diagnosis is made very low (12%) and even survival at 5 years (0,4-4%), the lowest of all cancers.

Early symptoms of pancreatic cancer are usually nonspecific and are therefore often ignored by the patient and physician. Among these early nonspecific symptoms include: bloating, malaise, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation.

As the disease progresses and is already at an advanced stage the patient presents to the doctor with a painless jaundice and a history of weight loss.

The prevalence of symptoms varies according to location (head, body or tail of the pancreas) and size of the tumor growing within the pancreatic mass.

When the presence of jaundice is associated with a tumor that sits in the body or tail of the pancreas invariably coincides with a clinical presentation very late, which makes the chances of being able to remove the tumor are minimal due to the almost certain existence metastases in the liver and regional lymph nodes.

Surgical removal of the tumor and the organ that sits (whether partial or total) is the treatment that offers the greatest chance of cure, although more than 80% of patients present the physician in an evolutionary phase in which the cancerous disease is already well advanced or unresectable, which explains the very low percentage of cases in which it is possible to remove the tumor, ie the tumor is “unresectable” and, consequently, the disappointing survival rates of this malignancy.

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MADRID .- So far, some research had suggested that people who work night shifts have more cancer risk than the rest of the population. The key to this phenomenon is called circadian rhythm, our internal biological clock that regulates sleep-wake cycles. And judging by the latest results of a Spanish investigation, also plays an important role in the case of tumor cells.

This clock runs from the brain activity of all organs of our body to become more active at certain times than others. And such activity is also regulated in each cell individually, except in the case of the tumor, which appears to be ’spoiled’, according to results of a study conducted by Professor Manel Esteller.

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