Wednesday, February 23, 2011

3 Natural Treatments for Thinning Hair

The more scientists learn about male pattern baldness, the clearer it becomes that genetics are one of the main contributors to hair loss. Some of us are genetically predisposed to start thinning in our 20s, some of us in our 40s, and some of us never at all. When this predisposition is genetic, it unfortunately cannot be changed without very expensive medical intervention, usually involving laser treatments, transplants, or hair grafts.
But what we have to remember is that predisposition is never a sure bet. If you are predisposed to hair loss, you can still keep your scalp in good shape by living a healthy lifestyle and not engaging in any behaviors that do damage to the scalp or otherwise contribute to hair loss.
If you want to increase your chances of keeping your hair, try these natural treatments for hair loss:
1. Herbal supplements: There are several types of herbs and herb complexes that have been found to decrease hair loss. While they may not be able to restore hair that has already been lost, they can at least slow down the process. Here are a few of the most popular herbal supplements for hair loss:
• Saw palmetto: From the saw palmetto tree that grows in the southeastern U.S., this herb is thought to have the same effects as the prescription drug Propecia, blocking the types of hormones that lead to hair loss.
• Green tea: Like saw palmetto, this herb shifts the hormonal balance within the body and makes the effects of hair loss less severe.
• Other herbal supplements: Other herbs that have been shown to have anti-hair-loss properties include ginger, apple cider vinegar, and licorice extract.
2. Caffeine: Several studies in recent years have shown that topical application of caffeine can have real anti-balding benefits. Since this news became public, several companies have released shampoos that contain caffeine, and this may be the best route for applying caffeine to the scalp. In order for caffeine to be effective, it has to be applied topically. Drinking it doesn’t have the same effect.
3. Lifestyle treatments: Ultimately, the best way to treat hair loss is to live a healthy lifestyle in every possible way. For example, certain types of exercise have the effect of reducing free testosterone in the circulatory system, and this can translate into a decreased risk of baldness. Having a toned and moderately muscular body helps establish the right balance of testosterone.
Meanwhile, reducing stress is always a good idea, and it also helps to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night. If you can combine these things with a balanced diet and plenty of exercise, your scalp will thank you.

Hair loss treatment for men

The acknowledgeable options are choosy enough for a man to have absolute control over the acute baldness of the scalp through easy and quick results out of various forms of therapies.

Hair loss Treatment for Men

The first treatments taken for the hair loss fall can be the Cosmetic treatment under such criterion the therapy doesn’t basically treat the actual hair loss rather simply change your appearance of the bald patch of the head. Male demand hairpiece under hair loss and they are derived from natural or synthetic hair. A patient cannot simply bank over synthetic hairpieces as they are used in temporary forms but permanency itself has many complications and complexities.
If the section of the scalp wants to be treated through a specified treatment therapy then usage of cheap products available in the domestic market is a wrong option as they are easily identifies by others in the society. Men for their hair choose delicate treatment where any treatment done shouldn’t make them feel as though some strange thing is sitting over their head with a specific weight it does happen as some of the dermatologists have received reports of such nature.
The non-surgical Bio-matrix treatment is the key to achieve the target of hair restoration from one strand to another. Under Bio-matrix therapy the spiraling crown is observed thoroughly by the dermatologist and then a new hair strand is added to the scalp of the male head. No sooner the therapy completes the hair styling expert could adjust the hair according to the customers demand. The Microscopic transplantation therapy is extremely advanced by nature the microscopic study of the root of the scalp helps prevent the formation of either bacterial or fungal infection over the surface of the head skin and is instantly eradicated with the help of sophistication of the medical equipments used upon by the dermatologist.
It isn’t just the bald patch section is minutely studied but the section from which the new hair lining is taken from is studied as well the fungal infection might not recuperate at that section. Extreme hair therapy treatment is only a process of revitalizing the hair strands as well as hair follicles of the head scalp. Its job is to stimulate the hair growth. The conditioning and cleansing of the hair strands are necessary knowing the male hair type is extremely different from the women type due to environment factors such as: Dust and dirt, having said that the male hair pattern doesn’t get easily cleaned up and the dust keep entering the scalp of the head and as no proper attention is levied by the men to condition the hair after shampooing in every alternate days the situation reaches bad to worst.
An FDA approved medicinal chemical which isn’t harmful for the hair scalp can be employed which is known as minoxidil. It is made up of monoxide chemical. It is also available easily in a form of natural nutritional supplement for monthly in-house hair fall treatment. The thinning of the hair follicle and shrinking principle vanishes instantly by it.
Injections of steroids are also very valuable that helps treat the acute baldness syndrome of Alopecia Aerate of the scalp. The surgical treatment for a hair fall from the scalp is it expensive but is also a form of proven treatment of the head scalp. A piece of another hair strand is grafted over the lost hair section in order to let it grow willingly. The famous surgical procedure is called as galeoplasty or scalp reduction surgery whereas tissue expansion surgery involves silicon bags to be placed beneath the head scalp and removing it in the due course of six weeks.

Chemotherapy Hair loss

Usually the cells are attacked which are hidden in the root of the scalp of the head. If chemotherapy is utilized in excess amount then it also becomes the cause of major hair loss of the scalp rather then treating the same where the hair lining of the eyelashes; eyebrows; pubic hair lining and armpit (underarm) hair etc. fall at a rapid pace.

Chemotherapy Hair loss

The dose of the medicine should be in such a form that the drugs might merely not thin the delicate hair follicles of the scalp and baldness can be prevented. If excessive hair fall tendency occurs then with the help of non-treatment of the chemotherapy drugs the hair could re-grow over the surface of the scalp of the head and a complete growth is visible by a naked eye within six to one year time period.
When one notice an accumulation of loose hair over the pillow or at the hair brush or even at the shower draining section then with the help of chemotherapy treatment the excessive hair fall of the scalp can be prevented easily without much difficulties. The dermatologists experience a growth of generally of about a quarter inch of growth of a hair every month.
The hair loses when once occurred with catastrophic effects are now treated upon with a more curly hair outlook and shining appearance to make it look soft and fluffy in nature. Another method introduced by the dermatologists for the hair fall is to utilize Cryo-therapy. It is also known upon as Scalp Hypothermia. During chemotherapy certain amount of packs of ice and other similar devices are utilized to be placed directly over the head to cool down the head out of slowing down the blood supply so that the chemotherapy could work efficiently but in most of the cases it is seen that the chemotherapy drugs reacted in reverse order where there emerges a tiny risk of cancerous cells formation and it recurs over the bald scalp of the head.
Another form of the treatment for chemotherapy is taking the medicine Rogaine. This particular medicine help hair to start grows back earlier as expected by a bald men or women. There should always be an attunement of chemotherapeutic drugs with the hair loss problem which should be carefully dealt and controlled for ex: In order to be gentle towards the hair with no bleaching; coloring or perm the hair line which weakens the impact of drugs in the bloodstream of a person with tonsured head. Hot rollers and curling irons should also be avoided thereupon as air-drying is recommended but not in excess amount.
Patients should cover their head as well to avoid unwanted and unnecessary dust and dirt from the head scalp that further protects the drugs inside the bloodstream to act properly with uniformity to the scalp and wigs; scarves etc. are the perfect example of head coverings to prevent hair loss but not tightly tucked in to for any form of stretching of the hair follicles etc. When a chemotherapy drug is being suggested it is told by the doctor not to go for a hair cut as long hair shouldn’t be made short and a vice-versa situation arising for a person to do because that tends to have a sudden unusual hair fall of the head scalp.
The specific drugs for hair fall also come along with other precautionary measures such as: having a gentle shampooing experience of the head scalp; Usage of pillowcase made up of satin and soft brushing of the hair follicles etc. Alcohol can be applied directly to soften the hair with the help of drug intake.

Hair Loss Solutions

either due to deficiency or other causes implied for complete baldness of male or female. The fact of understanding the hair loss remains entangled from real fact to fiction to receive back the normal growing of the hair.
The myth of the hair loss among the public in this day-and-age is further more exploited to a level where spurious or duplicate bogus products have been launched to attract as many customers as possible for it and therefore these products are sold very efficiently in the domestic market appeasing others for it.
A patient suffering from baldness mustn’t be so enough to discuss the same or be reluctant to talk about to the loved ones because this issue is far more complex in nature as it appears before one for protection of the scalp.
A tonsured head of men or women is a genetic disorder which is given to a baby through a mother from inside the womb. It’s the interaction of several forms of genetically coded genes that a person receives from his parents.
In comparison to men it’s the women who are conscientious to hide upon there baldness and adopt various products available to avoid it but immediate treatment of the hair loss comes along with unusual side-effects. The timing as well as the pattern of the hair loss either half- or full in nature differs from women to men.
With the help of ultimate solution techniques and technology the hair-restoration surgeons all around the world move inch-by-inch for a prolonged hair treatment so that the infectious agents due to virus or bacterial formation can vanish slowly and gradually.
Alopecia is a medical treatment for controlling the baldness of the scalp as such medicine regulates the flow of blood properly into the hair follicles of the scalp and thus helps in sending the blood efficiently to the head to make them healthy and fluffy by nature. The problem of hair loss doesn’t only occur to the hair follicles of the scalp but if it is increased to a substantial level there is an immediate loss of eyelashes and eyebrows as well.

Hair Loss Solutions

An average individual whether man or woman sheds away at least 50 to 100 hair each day. If a natural solution is applied to the scalp the hair lining follicles have a life expectancy longer then it is predicted previously. As dermatologists have predicted that improper diet chart plan of the patient to show dependency over the oily food diet in breakfast; lunch and then night dinner get responsible for baldness but due to specific medicinal supplements of the hair the hairline are re-gained automatically. Age baldness syndrome can be cured through chemotherapy and radiation therapy but it is assured that for regaining the hair loss it is needed by the patient not to have excessive weight-loss or else the medicines starts reacting oppositely.
Anemia; lupus; thyroid gland contingencies and even sometimes the formation of cancerous cells get responsible for the loss of hair immediately through the scalp. Hair transplantation is yet another solution to baldness of the scalp as hair mites; plugged follicles and a protein as well as vitamin deficiency over-control the growing stages of a thin hairline and thus provide results to the patients which are disasters for him to deal with.
Regular shampooing and sufficient amount of hair oil in the scalp protect the healthy coding of the hair follicles and unplugged the follicles as new laser comb is introduced by the scientists to control the baldness excessively all over the head region. In practicality the dermatologists recommends that it’s only the healthy vitamins that controls the healthy hair lining of the head as are known to us in a form of copper; drinking glasses full of 8 to 10 water a day; iron; zinc; biotin and Vitamin C etc.
Oranges; read and yellow vegetables and other fruits convert the vitamins into the body-building cells of the bloodstream and in turn make a body healthy. The non-vegetarian dishes in the diet such as: Fortified milk; Eggs; Liver and fish oil etc can be taken to stop the baldness of the scalp.

Hair Loss - Complete Guide

How Does Hair Loss Occur?
The relationship of hair loss is vast and remarkable by nature which could be triggered from any of the reasons such as: wealth; intelligence output to concentrate or contemplate more then actually required; specific job of an individual; genetic or hereditary imbalance; ethnicity or racism difference; virility and many other causes of having tonsured head where especially men community focuses and retains the cause of worry in comparison to their opposite sex counterparts. Each hair of a human body grows according to scientists approximately to less then half an inch i.e. one centimeter in height (per month) during the hormonal change phase of the human growth. Out of 90 percent hair growth outcome or tendency of the head the remaining 10 percent is left or remained as a resting phase to grow later in life someday due to certain contingencies whatsoever. The degree of underlying truth is determined by various myths as scientifically validated due to lack of warranted skepticism of the people to accept the noble cause and their acceptance to know the reality of it on the first quarter is their prime objective to focus upon. In hair anatomy after 2 to 3 months the remained resting hair of the head falls down to take the place of new grown hair in large bunch of hairy head of an individual. Women who use high-rollers for hair fashion to roll bunch of hair and wear cornrows or pigtails are susceptible to tightness of the hair and causes traction alopecia a type of cancer for hair loss. Hot hair oils and chemicals are also such causes of hair loss in the first stance.
Excessive emotional stress or unnecessary trivial tensions and frustration of proper sex drive are the major causes of having baldness or hair loss in normal terminology. A protein called keratin is formed or produced by our hair of the head and the hair shafts with a root is governed as a hair follicle from which root grows. The last lower end is the hair bulb of the follicle where melanin is produced and hair’s color pigments. A severe and complicated contingency of complete baldness is the presence of specific type of hair eating bacteria which doesn’t even get washed away and eat the important hair oil and other proteins from the head which demands certain treatment from a dermatologist only.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Dangers of Diet Pills - Are They Safe?

Just because you hear those pills are over-the-counter or "of herbal origin" it doesn't mean they don't have side effects.
Always think before you take any kind of pill especially if you are on medication from your doctor. Diet pills can have major interactions with the drugs you already might be taking so do not forget to ask your doctor if it is OK to start weight loss pills.
A major substance of many diet pills is caffeine. Despite its so wide spread use, caffeine can cause some of the dangers of diet pills. As it increases your metabolism and makes your heart beat faster it can make you feel jittery, dizzy and sleepless. On top of that, especially if you suffer from certain medical conditions or you are caffeine-sensitive, it can even cause irregular heartbeat and chest pain.
Some weight loss pills contain a substance called synephrine or citrus aurantium. In common words this is derived from bitter orange and is used after the ban of ephedrine as a safe alternative. It is not as innocent as they promote it to be! Problems with the gastrointestinal tract-colitis- and heart conditions have been reported in people taking supplements containing synephrine.
Other diet pills contain white willow bark. This has been used throughout ancient times and it has been found that is similar to aspirin. The active ingredient is salicin. The danger of these diet pills surface when aspirin sensitive people come to consume them. A series of side effects can also occur as with aspirin such as stomach pain, ulcer formation etc. A potential serious danger is salicin being consumed by people taking blood thinners and/or aspirin. This combination could tamper with your coagulation ability and could result in heavy bleeding.
Apart from these dangers of the above diet pills there are hundreds of ingredients inside them and since most of them lack original scientific researches it is unclear whether they are safe or not. One might add here that all prescribed pills can have side effects. This is true but the major difference is that prescribed drugs are scientifically proven to work, have well known side effects and doctors know how to manage them.
Always read the package of any diet pills you might consider to buy and be aware that what you are taking is by no means safer than a prescribed pill.
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Easy Weight Loss for You

Many women and men try to lose weight in our days. Many of these people don't get to the weight loss targets they set. Possible causes are: unrealistic weight targets, choosing the wrong weight loss pill(s) or ignoring the possibility of consulting diet experts. So how can you make your dieting journey a success?
First things first, try to set weight targets that make sense. If it took you years to add up all the extra pounds, you can't expect to shed off all the excess lbs in a couple of months.
One thing lots of people forget while creating a diet and fitness plan is to consult health professionals. A few examples: a doctor, a dietitian and more. That kind of experts should got tons of knowledge and experience, use the advices that you get from them.
When creating a weight loss plan you need to include the two basic parts: balanced nutrition and effective exercise. When you have a balanced weight loss plan that includes diet and exercise you can consider using a weight loss pill to ease things up. It is important to choose the right weight loss pill if you choose to give a try to weight loss pills.
It is important to include both fitness and diet sub plans in your weight loss plan. Avoid making the mistake of creating a plan that doesn't include both parts. Both of the sub plans are very important for your weight loss success.
Your diet plan should be balanced and include the entire variety of nutrients. Make sure not to remove a nutrient from the diet completely as the human body needs all nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, to function as it should. Remember that there is no extreme diet that is healthier than a balanced diet.
For many overweight people on a weight loss plan, the fitness part of the weight loss plan is what makes them lose less weight than they would want to. If you want to make the exercise part of your plan a success, make sure that it is balanced and include some rest too.
If exercise bores you, try to find new ideas that are both fun and effective for your fitness plan. Think about different types of sport you like and try to check if you know any people that play in any of them close to your home. Found some? great!, try to join the fun.
One of the greatest ideas for people that get bored of ordinary fitness plans is video games that involve exercising. Wii Fit, EyeToy games, Dance Fest and more can help you both enjoy a game and exercise at the same time. You can make a progress with your weight loss while playing super fun games, isn't it awesome?
We still need to discuss the last part that you can add if you need to. There are many types of weight loss pills that you can choose from, many of those are sold over the counter. You can find good products online. What should you pay special attention to when looking for a diet pill? You need the product to be effective and you want to use the product without worrying about negative treatment effects.

Low Fat Recipes to Lose Weight

There are many diets on the market that claim to shed pounds without any exercise. This is not a healthy way to diet, nor is there any diet that will work without exercise. However, if you are tired of dieting without results, it may be time to revamp your everyday food intake. Here are a few low fat recipes to help you lose weight naturally.
Filling Chicken Bake
You will need 2 boxes of chicken stuffing, a can of cream of chicken soup, 2 egg whites, 2 chicken breasts, a pat of butter substitute, 1 bag of egg noodles and 2 cans of chicken broth. First grill your chicken breasts and then cut into bite sized pieces. Add the egg whites, chicken broth and cream of chicken soup to a baking pan. Mix these together well. Cook the two boxes of chicken flavored stuffing by following the directions on the box. Add the chicken breast pieces into the mixture in the baking pan along with the egg noodles and butter pat and mix well. Spoon the stuffing over the top of the entire pan and spread out evenly so that the entire mixture is covered. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes and allow to cool before serving.
Many low fat recipes to lose weight don’t allow for any trading of ingredients, but the above creation allows for you to substitute egg whites for egg beaters, chicken noodle soup for the egg noodles and chicken broth and even regular butter for the butter substitute. You can change the cream of chicken soup to any cream style soup as well.
Low fat recipes for weight loss abound on the internet. Here is another tasty recipe to try out:
You will need ten ounces of frozen spinach, 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, one egg, a bag of low fat mozzarella cheese, a box of manicotti shells, 16 ounces of fat free ricotta cheese and a tablespoon of parmesan cheese. Boil the manicotti noodles to your desired tenderness. Mix the ricotta cheese and desired spices together with an egg and add half a cup of the mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese together in a bowl. Defrost the spinach and then squeeze out all liquid. Add the spinach to the cheese mixture and then blend all other cheese based ingredients together. Using a spoon, stuff the manicotti shells with the mixture and lay in the bottom of a baking dish. Add spaghetti sauce over the top of the shells and place in the oven at 350 degrees for half an hour. Remove from oven and immediately place half a cup of mozzarella over the top of each shell and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
You can substitute freshly diced tomatoes for the spaghetti sauce to avoid additional salt, as well as using wheat manicotti shells to bring down the calories. Low fat recipes to lose weight do not have to taste bad, as you can see. Simply avoiding calorie stuffed, fat laden foods will help your body to not store fat eaten, and will cause the body to use the fat storage already present.

The 7 Day Diet

The 7 day diet is based on the fat burning food cabbage. The 7 day diet can be very rigid and hard to stick to, but promises up to 10 pounds a week weight loss. Basically, the 7 day diet plan with cabbage soup consists of this:
On day one you can eat all fruits except bananas, as well as cabbage soup. The only drinks you are allowed is water and unsweetened tea. The cabbage soup is created by using a head of cabbage, an onion, green peppers, onion soup mix, garlic cloves, 2 vegetable bouillon cubes, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato juice, and additional spices to suit your tastes. Simply chop or dice all vegetables together into a large pot. Add water to cover all the ingredients and place on the stove on high heat. Allow this to come to a rolling boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes until all vegetables are tender.
Day 2 of the 7 day diet allows for a person to eat all the raw or cooked vegetables they choose along with the soup outlined above. There are no fruits allowed on this day, but for a dinner a dieter can include a baked potato with a small pat of butter. For day 3 of the 7 day diet, a dieter can eat all of the soup outlined above as they choose, along with fruits and vegetables without the potato for dinner. Drinking a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day is required.
Day 4 of the 7 day diet requires that you eat bananas and skim milk, up to 8 bananas this day alone along with as much soup as a person wishes to eat. There should again be 8 glasses of water taken in on this day. Day 5 consists of eating 20 ounces of beef and 6 fresh tomatoes as well as 10 glasses of water. The soup should be eaten once this day at least, but the dieter can also eat skinless chicken instead of the beef.
Day 6 allows for eating as much vegetables and beef or chicken as a person wishes along with the soup. It is also recommended that 8 large glasses of water be taken in on this day. Day 7 of the 7 day diet allows that brown rice and unsweetened fruit juice as well as vegetables be eaten. The soup should be eaten twice this day along with 8 glasses of water.
For the 7day diet to work, it is recommended that the water be drank with each meal as well as between meals with snacks. Water allows for the stomach to feel as though it is fuller, thus lessening the amount of food that is eaten. It is also recommended that daily vitamins be taken to help keep the body nourished, as the foods that are prescribed in the diet are not able to wholly nourish the body with the required amounts of daily vitamins.

Natural Weight Loss over Diet Pills

In the present time, many products are surfacing out in the market which promises weight loss to the user. Those chemical products might give you the body that you are dreaming of, in exchange to many inconvenient side effects that is irritating and may risk your body and health.
Diet pills and other diet medication pills have various side effects on its user. Some experiences loose bowel movement, oily stool, stomach pains and many more. Those side effects might affect the person, especially when they need to work every day, this will be a hindrance to their work and will affect their performance.
Side effects from diet pills can be from being minor to being fatal. In some cases, there are people claiming after effects and having diseases like cancer. That is why many are advised to try natural methods in losing weight. It might take a longer time than diet pills do, but nothing beats the effects of natural weight loss, no side effects but certainly have health benefits.
The natural weight loss methods are more reliable when it comes to shredding weight. It consists of exercise, a healthy diet, and a healthy lifestyle. If followed and done correctly, one can attain the body that they like without experiencing any side effects and risking their own health.
What are the benefits of natural weight loss?
The first and foremost benefit that you will have is a much healthier body. This is the best thing that you can have, while doing a natural weight loss method. This kind of method makes you shred some extra pounds by practicing a healthy lifestyle. Providing you all that you dreamed of without any bad effects.
Next is having a fitter and leaner body. To have a body in shape, you must exercise at least three times a week or more, depending on your exercise routine. By doing exercise, your body will build muscles and burn the fats. It is a good way to lose weight and it will definitely shape up your body the way you like it.
Exercise alone is not good enough to lose some weight; you must also have a healthy diet. What is a healthy diet? It is choosing the right kinds of food and eating the right amount without starving or minimizing your appetite. By eating right, it will help you to burn more calories and soon you will have a better body.
Last but not the least is practicing a healthy lifestyle. One must live a healthy lifestyle to achieve their goal weight and body. Some people think it is fine to live their life to the fullest because they exercise and eat well. However, this is all wrong, to achieve something one must always follow that path that he chose to have a better result.
It is always convenient to do natural methods most of the times. It is a lot safer to do and will not cost you too much. Regardless of what method you will pursue, it is always important to think what is best for you and your health, because no one knows yourself and your body well, not the way you do.

Cancer symptoms and Diagnosis

All cancer patients suffer a lot and have to go through complicated procedures and proper treatment to ensure that the disease can be dealt with. However, till just a couple of decades back most patients died from cancer. With excellent developments in technology cancer has become a disease which can be easily treated and that is excellent news for a lot of patients. But do you wish you could look for signs of cancer so that you can deal with it very early on? There are certain symptoms which you can look for which might diagnose any sign of cancer early on.
First of all, women and girls need to be taught the importance of looking for early signs of breast cancer. It is the most potent form of cancer that has been affecting women and girls and it is difficult to know at what age this might start. You can start with being cautious. If you feel a lump near your breasts or underarm than instantly have it checked out. High chances are that it will just be some kind of a boil but in some cases you can prevent any form of infection from spreading if you deal with it very early on in the day.
All women need to go for checkups because cancer can also affect other parts of the body like the cervix. Proper check up and treatment just might help stop that. If you are getting a splitting headache which is blinding and extreme then go in for a checkup for tumors in brain. Of course there have been cases when cancer patients did not have many signs to look for before being afflicted with the disease but you can always stay safe. Stop smoking too much or avoid company of people who smoke to reduce chances of lung cancer.

Cervical Cancer: What it is and How to Prevent It

Although most causes of cancer could not be ascertained, two cancers that doctors know the causes of are cancer of the liver and the cervix. This is good news because it means it is possible for women to prevent cervical cancer, a killer that hits one woman every two minutes across the world. The virus behind 99.7% of cervical cancers is known as the Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV. This is the same virus that causes warts to break out on other parts of the body, but just because you may have warts does not mean you are cursed to have cervical cancer. Only 15 to 20% of HPV types that affect humans are said to be cancer-causing. The virus that results in warts on hands and feet are fortunately not the same virus type that causes the cancer.
This means that the best way to prevent cervical cancer is to minimize, or if possible, eliminating, the spread of the HPV types that are oncogenic. However, it is not simple because infection with this virus typically does not cause symptoms right away.
This is why screening at an early stage is crucial, as catching it in its pre-cancerous stage still has it curable. Factors that increase a woman’s risk of developing cervical cancer include the following: having warts in the anal and genial areas; having sex early in life, usually just after getting your period; having or having had STD or any of your partners having it; being a smoker or being regularly exposed to second-hand smoke; having used diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy or when your mother was pregnant with you; having five or more children; and a generally poor resistance to diseases.
Meanwhile, the virus is transmitted through various ways. The first one is by sexual contact, since the types of HPV that are oncogenic also infect the genital area. This makes the virus a sexually-transmitted one, and this is perhaps why most women do not get treatment early on from embarrassment at admitting to having STD.
Non-sexual transmission is also possible, usually through skin-to-skin contact of private parts. Heredity is also a factor, as the virus can be passed from mother to baby. And the last, still debatable mode of transmission is by passing through contaminated undergarments, biopsy forceps, and even surgical gloves.
Whether or not you find yourself at high risk, it is best to do the following to keep yourself in check early on:
1. Getting a Pap smear is crucial, since this is the standard for screening cervical cancer. Of course, it tends to be expensive and it take a while for the results to come in, but at least you get a certain level of peace of mind when the pathologists returns the results to you.
2. Living a healthy lifestyle is another key to prevention. This way, you will have your immune system at peak to help you ward off diseases. You can boost up your body’s defense system with regular exercise, enough sleep, not smoking or drinking, and making sure you go for your routine medical examinations.
3. Getting vaccinated is also another way to prevent the spread of the HPV virus. Although the vaccines do not necessarily prevent the cervical cancer itself, it can help you fight against the most common type of oncogenic HPV. Of course, doctors admit that the currently available vaccine is still not enough for all the cancer-causing types of HPV, at least it lessens your risk. It just means that it is no time to be licentious just because you have gotten yourself vaccinated. You should still continue to go for your regular checkups. Interestingly, experts determine that the best time to get the first vaccination is before anyone ever has her first sexual intercourse!
Hopefully these simple principles behind making sure you detect any cancer-causing HPV in your system early will help you avoid this silent killer. After all, that is what makes it more complicated, since the disease does not usually show symptoms until it is in its later stages, and usually too late for an effective cure. In any case, being aware of the ways to detect it early on and making sure you are at least vaccinated against the most common types should at least up your chances of not contracting the disease.

Important Information about Asbestos and Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare aggressive cancerous disease of the mesothelium, which is a type of protective tissue that surrounds organs found in the thoracic and abdominal cavity such as the lungs, heart, liver, and abdominal organs. Most of the time, cancer does not occur with a single cause; rather it is a group of diseases with multiple causes, symptoms, treatments, and prognosis. But in the unique case of mesothelioma, there is a specific cause for this cancer which is asbestos.
Risk Factors
Several agents or factors are implicated in the development of mesothelioma. However, generally, asbestos is still the leading cause of mesothelioma.
Virus
In very rare situations, a Simian vacuolating virus (SV40) may act as a carcinogen and potentiate asbestos in causing malignant mesothelioma. The SV40 is a highly controversial virus due to the contamination of polio vaccines between the year 1955 and 1963. Millions of people in the United States were said to be exposed to the virus.
However, there is no clear evidence yet whether SV40 is responsible for certain mesotheliomas.
Erionite (Zeolite)
Exposure to erionate, a type of zeolite mineral which has similar properties with asbestos, is suggested to be one of the causes of mesothelioma in some villages in Turkey.
Radiation
Therapeutic radiation using thorium oxide (thorotrast) has been reported to increase the risk of developing pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma in certain people.
Smoking
Smoking alone is not considered to affect the development of mesothelioma, however, when smoking is combined with asbestos exposure, the risk of having mesothelioma significantly increases.
Asbestos
For several decades, asbestos remains the primary cause of the development of mesothelioma and a number of lung diseases. Inhalation of the particles is the most common route of entry, which is why most cases of mesothelioma occur in people working in the asbestos industry.
A Closer Look on Asbestos
Asbestos is the given name of a certain family of minerals that occur in fibrous form. These fibers can be processed into a variety of materials that are uniquely resistant to fire, heat, and corrosion. Asbestos can be spun and woven into textiles, matted into insulating materials, or used with other substances to make numerous products, including brake linings, clutch pads, and roofing and flooring materials. Because of these, asbestos is almost irreplaceable as no other substance provides its desirable properties.
Nevertheless, manufacturers are developing replacement materials because of the issues surrounding the production of asbestos products. Inhalation of asbestos’ very minute fibers over a period as little as one to two months has been linked to cancers of the lung, lung-cavity lining or mesothelioma, asbestosis, and severe lung impairment.
Types of Asbestos
There are two general varieties of asbestos: serpentine and amphibole.
Serpentine
Chrysotile, obtained from serpentine rocks, is the most abundant and widely used form of asbestos accounting for 90% of asbestos used for production of new materials.
Amphibole
Amphiboles are long, thin fibers that are more potent in causing lung cancer and associated diseases. Amphiboles include amosite (brown asbestos), crocidolite (blue asbestos), tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite. Among these, crocidolite is the more potent carcinogen which is due to its rod-like appearance that enables the fiber to easily penetrate the lungs and into the pleura. They may cause irritation and long-term inflammation of the mesothelium altering cellular structures leading to cancer. Asbestos can also cause the production of free radicals that damage cells that further potentiate cancer growth. It has been suggested that some of the fibers may be coughed up and swallowed into the gastrointestinal tract. In this way, asbestos can cause peritoneal (abdominal) mesothelioma.
People who are working with asbestos have the highest risk of contracting mesothelioma. But family members of these workers may also incur the disease due to particles that may be carried along with the worker’s clothing and hair. Aside from that, those who are residing in a room with products built from asbestos are likely to inhale the particles without knowing it. Houses and structure built in the late 1800s to mid 1900s are more prone to use such materials because asbestos has been widely used commercially during this period. The latency period of mesothelioma can last between 20 to 50 years following exposure to asbestos.
Diagnosis
Mesothelioma must be diagnosed using the medical history of a person and adiologic studies such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI, and PET scans. But because mesothelioma may mimic several lung conditions, there may be a need for chest tube thoracostomy, pericardiocentesis, or paracentesis depending on the location of the tumour. A biopsy will confirm the diagnosis of mesothelioma. The disease will be staged according to the TNM system: tumor (T), lymph node involvement (N), and metastasis (M).
Unfortunately, most cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed when it is already at its late stage. Treatment options vary depending on the staging and extent of metastasis. Surgery in adjunct to radiation and chemotherapy are the best options available. In advanced stages, treatment would be difficult; hence, palliative (supportive) care is rendered to treat the symptoms. However the disease itself is still there.
Despite the many dangers of asbestos usage, many people are still exposed to asbestos especially in countries like India, China, and Russia. The Environmental protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that 3,000 to 12,000 cases of cancer, usually fatal, are caused annually in the United States by asbestos exposure. But controversies continue to surround the issue of asbestos as a health hazard. Thousands of asbestos-related diseases and mortalities have been documented and yet, some countries have not placed any ban on asbestos products.

Symptoms and Causes of Mesothelioma

The protective tissue that covers serous membranes of the lungs, heart, and abdominal organs is called the mesothelium. Depending on its location, the mesothelium may be called as the pleura¬, the membrane surrounding the lungs; pericardium, the sac that protects the heart; and the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal organs. When a person has mesothelioma or the cancer of the mesothelium, the organs mentioned above are most likely affected.
It has been suggested that the pathogenesis of mesothelioma begins when a person inhales asbestos fibers that may lodge deep into the lungs that may penetrate the pleural linings. This deposition of the asbestos fibers is recognized by the immune system that causes the attraction of macrophages (special types of white blood cells) leading to localized inflammation and cellular changes. This will eventually lead to the formation of a malignant tumor that is very difficult to treat.
There are 3 types of mesothelioma, pericardial, pleural, and peritoneal mesothelioma. Basically, it is a similar disease process but the symptoms may vary because of its distinct location. There is also a possibility that various types may occur simultaneously.
Pleural Mesothelioma
Pleural mesothelioma means that the tumour arises from the pleura or the delicate membrane enclosing the lungs. The pleura can be divided into two layers--the visceral pleura, the layer that covers the lung, and the parietal pleura, which line the chest wall. In between, there is a space that holds a small volume of fluid that serves as a lubricant, making it possible for the two layers to slide efficiently over each other as the lungs expand and contract with each respiration.
Because of lung involvement, pleural mesothelioma manifests as lung problems. The person may experience pleural effusion, or the abnormal accumulation of fluid in the spaces between the two layers of pleural membrane. This may manifest as shortness of breath, non-productive cough, chest wall pain, and difficulty of breathing. Mesothelioma that affects the pleura may also cause fever, fatigue, blood in the sputum, anemia, and subsequent weight loss.
Majority of mesothelioma cases affects the pleura, making up 70% of all mesothelioma.
Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma that develops in the membrane that lines the entire abdominal cavity is termed as peritoneal mesothelioma. Also known as abdominal mesothelioma, this type of cancer may cause severe abdominal pain and swelling due to the build up of intraperitoneal fluid within the peritoneal membrane called, ascites. This may also cause fever and increase in abdominal girth. A person may experience changes in bowel habits such as diarrhea and constipation which will eventually lead to weight loss.
Typically, the manifestations of mesothelioma appear 20 to 50 following exposure to asbestos.
Pericardial Mesothelioma
Another type of mesothelial tissue is found on the sac covering the heart for protection and lubrication. This is called the pericardium.
Similar to the abovementioned mesothelial tissues, the pericardium may also become affected with mesothelioma. This type is very deadly as this already involves the major organ of circulation. However, this form of mesothelioma is very uncommon and makes up about 1-5% of the total diagnosed cases.
The development of pericardial mesothelioma is not clearly understood. One theory is that asbestos particles may be transported from the lungs to the bloodstream which may lodge to the linings of the heart and cause chronic inflammation leading to cancerous tumour growth. This may cause rapid expansion of the pericardial sac resulting to the accumulation of fluid called pericardial effusion. A person may experience chest pain, palpitations, irregular heart beat (arrhythmia), and some degree of difficulty of breathing. The cancerous growths may also metastatize (spread) to nearby organs such as the lungs.
Causes
The special thing about mesothelioma is that this cancer has a specific cause--asbestos.
Exposure to asbestos, may it be from one’s occupation, environment, and asbestos products, has been considered a major risk factor for the development of mesothelioma.
Occupational Hazards
Working in the asbestos industry has posed a number of health risks for the workers and their families. Several illnesses have already been linked to asbestos inhalation such as lung and throat cancer, gastrointestinal tumors, diffuse pleural thickening, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Family members of workers in asbestos factories also have an increased risk of developing these ailments because of the dust particles that may have settled in the worker’s clothing and hair.
Product Exposure
Asbestos has been widely used around the globe because of its useful properties. It is present in a wide array of materials such as vinyl asbestos tile, drywall jointing compounds, plaster, cement panels, brakes pads, shoes, insulation in floors, ceiling, pipes, ducts, and walls, fireproofing, gaskets and many more products. Through these materials, the public may be put at risk for asbestos exposure. A good example for this is the destruction of the World Trade Center that was thought to release a lot of asbestos particles in the air. But even without such happenings, as long as asbestos exists in home and building materials, people are being killed silently.
Because of the long-term and fatal effects of asbestos and to put to an end the damages caused by asbestos to people, it has been banned by many countries including Australia (2003), France (1997), Italy (1992), Japan (2004), New Zealand (1984), and United Kingdom (2006). Several nations and environmental groups have also imposed policies and controls in asbestos handling and disposal.

How dangerous is cancer?

Needless to say, cancer is a dangerous disease and has been labeled as a very common cause because of which a lot of people die everyday. There has been a lot of speculation on how difficult and dangerous cancer is. And that is true because patients have to go through a lot to survive the disease. But if you are diagnosed with cancer and have given up all hopes on survival then you are probably mistaken. There have been so many miracle stories where people have braved cancer or fought the battle for an incredibly long time because of sheer strength of mind.
You cannot treat cancer by yourself because complicated procedures, therapies and a lot more is involved. You most certainly need to go a physician who will recommend a cancer specialist. There are many institutions all across the world, primarily dedicated to the cause of treating cancer and if your medical insurance is in order then you can try your luck in such institutions which have some of the best doctors, very well equipped to deal with cancer. It is also important for all patients to remember and keep in mind that a lot of expense is required and it is important to keep your hopes high.

If you are a cancer patient you will be going through a lot. You will feel weak, look weak, feel disheartened and have a lot of complicated therapies conducted on you. But do not compromise on who you are and feel hopeful even if you are all worn out because the mind controls the body. If you can cheat your mind into feeling stronger then you might just emerge out of the entire process a winner and this has been a time tested method that has worked on a lot of cancer patients.