Posts Tagged ‘health’
Thyroid Cancer – The Four Types
Thyroid cancer (cancer of the thyroid gland) comes in four types: papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic. Papillary and medullary are slow-growing and occasionally return, but respond well to therapy in patients under middle age.
Medullary also responds well to therapy, if it has not already spread. Anaplastic developes rapidly and responds badly to therapy. The extent of these types of cancer is not uniform throughout the world, but is roughly: 78% for papillary; 17% for follicular; 4% for medullary and 1% for anaplastic.
Usually, the first symptom of a problem is the growth of a nodule or nodules in the neck in close proximity to the thyroid gland. However, only 5% of these are malignant. Sometimes an early warning sign is discomfort or even pain; sometimes, the lymph nodes swell, the voice alters or there is hypo- or hyper- thyroidism.
Diagnosis usually takes place after a nodule is discovered during a (routine) physical examination. The patient is then referred to an endocrinologist or a thyroidologist, who will arrange an ultrasound test or a biopsy. Using a thin needle enough cells can be taken to perform an accurate test on the precise state of the thyroid and whether the nodules are cancerous.
Papillary thyroid cancer more frequently occurs in women and often in the 30-40 year old age group and is frequently characterized by bulging eyes. If the growth is less than 1cm in size a partial thyroidectomy or hemithyroidectomy would probably be recommended.
Greater than 1cm and a full thyroidectomy is favoured. Some surgeons would rather a full thyroidectomy anyway because the cancer cannot come back then.
Follicular thyroid cancer is more common in women over 50 years of age. Therapy is most often full thyroidectomy as the threat of recurrence of this aggressive form is quite big for partial surgery.
Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) starts in the cells that produce the hormone calcitonin. Increased degrees of calcitonin in the blood are a realistic indication of MTC, although these elevated levels of calcitonin are probably not harmful in themselves.
Changes in the DNA concerned in cell growth and development are responsible for nearly all cases of hereditary or familial medullary thyroid carcinoma. Hereditary medullary thyroid cancer is inherited as a 50/50 likelihood from every affected parent. DNA analysis makes it possible to identify children who carry the mutant gene.
Surgical removal of the thyroid in children who carry the mutant gene is effective if the whole thyroid gland is removed at an early age, before there is a spread of the tumor. Hereditary MTC accounts for around 25% of all cases of MTC. The other 75% of cases are known as sporadic MTC and normally occur in older patients.
Frequently the disease is well advanced in these cases as there has been no screening as in hereditary MTC. The first sign is frequently diarhoea. The likelihood of surviving MTC seem to be related to the rate at which the patient?s post operative calcitonin levels double.
Anaplastic thyroid cancer is extremely aggressive and likelihood of survival are virtually nil. It is resilient to all known cancer treatments and invades nearby tissue rapidly.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on quite a few topics, but is now involved with the stages of ovarian cancer. If you want to know more, please visit our web site at Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer
Is Solar Power Right For You?
Until approximately a hundred years ago in the West, people only had recourse to renewable energy for heat and light for their homes. They burnt wood and sometimes coal or peat (OK, fossil fuels) and got up when the sun came up and went to bed with the sun too. In, fact a large proportion of the world’s population still lives like that.
Things changed with mechanized industry and night shifts. Electricity providers sold the populace on being able to do more instead of just sleeping when it got dark, and the Western population got hooked on buying huge amounts of energy, mostly electricity and engine fuel, which was usually produced from oil and coal.
This idea soon travelled around the world and with rising prosperity came emulation and other countries wanted the same. Now we are in the sad predicament where we have to admit that we rode the fossil fuel gravy train to its terminus without thinking about what we would use when fossil fuels ran out.
This is where the typical civilian comes in. You have to think about how you want to draw energy in the future. Do you want to be powered by keeping sucking unrenewable resources out of the Earth, or do you want to have as little to do with it as you can? Would you prefer to have everything you have now, but know that the resources that are powering your lifestyle are renewable?
If, like millions of others around the world, you would rather say ‘No!’ to conventional power production methods, then you have to take a stand. But not only in words, you really have to do some something about it physically.
This will mean investing a lot of money up front, which may not be a problem for you or you may even consider that taking a stand is worth asking for a bank loan. These are admirable feelings, but I would like to propose that there is another way to self-sufficiency.
You could build your own!
Why not? The technology has been around for years and is fairly straightforward. Most reasonably competent teenagers can put together a bank of photovoltaic cells into a solar panel and then plug that into your home’s electrical system. And if a teenager can manage it, so can you. All you (and the teenager) will need is a solar panel kit and a schematical diagram. A plan in other words.
A solar panel kit can be bought locally from a Do-It-Yourself shop or from the Internet. A typical solar panel will take a few hours to assemble and will produce 100 watts of electrical energy. The electricity produced from these panels is then passed through an inverter that changes the current from DC to AC, making it usable by household appliances and the utility grid.
Do yourself and the planet a favour, get off the grid and start saving money and the planet’s resources, you will be surprised how straightforward it is once you get going. And do not forget, you can do it in stages of, say, one 100 watt panel a month until you hit self-sufficiency. It is not a question of ‘All or Nothing’.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with a favourite topic, types of renewable energy. If you are interested in Sustainable Energy At Home, please click through to our site.
Is There A Link Between Birth Control And Cervical Cancer?
Birth control is a large topic, there is no doubt about that and women are more aware than ever that having children is not a compulsory outcome of having sex. They are also aware that having children at the wrong time can ruin their careers and they are also conscious that passions or alcohol get in the way of safe sex using condoms very frequently.
This results in women taking care of the vast majority of birth control by taking ‘the pill’. The contraceptive pill caused an uproar in the Sixties with the Establishment and the Churches predicting the downfall of society and morality. And after a fashion, they were correct. But what happened was to sweep away a lot of social barriers and privileges that previously merely the rich (and men) had had. The ‘old order’ lost a bit of ground.
The problem with the way that women took control of their sex lives was or is twofold: firstly, men leave ‘that type of thing’ to the woman and secondly, taking the pill can lead to cervical cancer. The chances of getting cervical cancer from taking the pill are small (15,000 Americans a year, of which a third dies), but they do exist.
However, there are no recorded cases of men developing cancer from using a condom.
Women usually contract cervical cancer from having sex. They pick up the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Most of the time, the woman’s immune system will prevent that virus from causing cancer, but research has shown that women who take the pill for over five years in a row have a higher risk than women who have not.
Consequently a condom would be useful here.
Regrettably, there are no indications in the early stages of cervical cancer, but later on, there might be heavier losses of blood, pain after sexual intercourse and even unpleasant smells. Periods could also last a great deal longer than ‘usual’.
The difficulty with studies is that, there often comes another study to prove something else and this is true here as well. Some studies have shown that the use of the contraceptive pill lessens the incidence of ovarian cancer.
It is like old sayings, there is always a opposite, as in: ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’ and ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’.
If you listen to the ‘experts’, you would be in a permanent state of dilemma. Therefore, the only actually safe course to take is to go for regular tests or screenings – at least once a year, unless your doctor or gynecologist tells you different and if he or she does, query it.
The pharmaceutical companies have been promising a male contraceptive pill or implant for decades. In fact, the pill might even be there. But that is not the point usually. The problem is normally men. The majority of men cannot be depended upon to supply sufficient contraception while they are concerned in casual relationships.
As long as this state of affairs continues, women will continue to take risks so that they are not bogged down by a family of 10 kids like their great-grandmothers were.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on quite a few topics, but is now involved with the stages of ovarian cancer. If you want to know more, please visit our web site at Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer
What To Look For In A Diamond Engagement Ring
Surprising your girlfriend with a beautiful diamond ring is a moment both of you will cherish your entire life. So do not make any mistake that will spoil that momentous occasion, and the first step would be to choose the diamond ring that will give justice to your girl friend and make her very proud and fortunate.
Choosing a diamond is both easy and difficult, the easy part is that you have plenty to choose from and the difficult part would be choosing the right one. What would be difficult is the selection process because you have to take into account so many things.
It would do you good to be aware of some basic tips on buying diamond jewelry before you buy one for your girlfriend. There are the so-called 4 Cs that define a diamond, the color, its cut or shape, the clarity of the stone and the carat. Diamonds could come in many colors, and white is considered top quality and therefore will cost more. Diamonds are the hardest known material, but an expert with the proper tools can cut it into any shape and size. Shaping and cutting will remove some flaws of the diamond and improve its shine.
When buying a diamond for your girl, take into account her personality type. Common sense will dictate that you buy a small stone for a small girl, and a big stone for the big girl. Diamonds are judged by its shine, and that should be the main criteria instead of size. Clarity of the diamond ensures a dazzling shine every time the light passes through the stone. Carat, or the weight of diamond, also contributes to its price and value in the market.
Educating yourself about the ‘four c’s’ will keep you from buying imitations. Even though it is conventional to spend two months salary on your engagement ring, you can buy synthetic diamonds, which will be easier on your wallet. The difference between an original and synthetic diamond is in the manufacture rather than in the substance because both have similar physical properties. Finally, do ask the jeweler to provide a purity certificate, which will serve as a guarantee and later help in insuring your gems.
Want to know how to get the best deal? Read the latest on send free efax.
High Blood Pressure In Adolescents
High blood pressure, which is also known medically as hypertension, is a state where the pressure of the blood coursing through your arteries is considerably higher than standard. Most medical practitioners will state that the beginning point for people over eighteen years of age is 120/80. However, there are causes that could render those numbers not normal. Age is one of them.
The first number is the systolic arterial blood pressure, which means that it is the pressure read when the heart contracts, beats or pumps out blood. The second number is when the heart sucks in blood, ready to pump it out again.
These statistics are given in millimetres of mercury and are written as mmHg. Higher readings of either of these figures can indicate a difficulty. One thing to make patent here is that it is impossible to guess or estimate the pressure of your blood without using either a sphygmomanometer ( the one your physician uses in the surgery), which is the gold standard for blood pressure monitoring devices or a home blood monitoring machine.
Blood pressure can become affected by numerous things such as: time of the day, age, weight, height, mood, fitness, diet, degree of activity and stress, which may or may not be part of ‘white coat syndrome’ amongst others. ‘White coat syndrome’ is the anxiety experienced by some people while they have to be examined by a physician. This applies to children more than to any other age group.
Blood pressure also changes during the day, so in order to acquire an accurate reading, it is necessary to take several all at the same time of day. It is also prudent to wait 45 minutes after drinking caffeine or ten minutes after arriving before taking a reading.
So, what is standard? The real answer, although it is annoying, is that only a medical doctor can tell you, but for an adult, they say that it is 120/80, for an adolescent it is 110/70 and for an infant it is 80/45.
However, whilst measuring and evaluating the blood pressure of adolescents, you have to remember that age, sex and height matter. Therefore, an adolescent is said to have high blood pressure if the blood pressure is over that of ninety percent of people of his/her age, gender and height.
The causes of hypertension are classified as primary or secondary. Primary means that it is all your body’s fault and secondary means that the reason is something else, say, medication. Hypertension can also be caused by race or other hereditary reasons. Males of African descent are especially at risk.
One of the things you can buy to keep you knowledgeable about your family’s blood pressure concerns is a home blood pressure monitor. These devices are quite cheap yet are very accurate, so buy an automatic digital monitor and take it to your physician to make sure that it is accurate and get the readings that are applicable to all the members of your family.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several of topics, but is currently involved with work on the cause of high blood pressure. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at High Blood Pressure Recipes.