Cancer – A Threat to Watch

Today, cancer is the leading cause of death all over the world. It is a threat to everyone to watch as it is a leading killer.

Cancer tops the list of causing death in Canada. It is a number one threat among people not only in Canada but all over the world. Others are lung diseases, diabetes, accidents, influenza, Alzheimer’s disease, kidney disease and suicide.

Cancer cases are high for people aged 55 to 64. Usually, 48 per cent of death of these age range is caused by cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women. It is anticipated that 1 in every 9 women shall develop breast cancer and 1 in 28 shall die because of it.

In 2007, 7.6 million people die of cancer. Researches and doctors who specialize in the study of cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment are called oncologist.
Prevention is better than the cure....even with cancer. But prevention is cheap and nobody wants to stop eating meat and dairy products. Nobody wants to exercise even if they can be threatened with this dreadful illness. So cancer rate is climbing and so is death rate.

How cancer works

When the body’s cells divide uncontrollably and abnormally fast, they invade nearby tissues. They can spread to the other body parts through the bloodstream and lymphatic system. This is when cancer occurs.

There are about 100 different types of cancer and they are labeled by the type of cell that is affected initially.

When cancer occurs, it forms masses of tissue or lumps called tumors (except for leukemia) which can interfere with the body’s systems as circulatory, digestive and nervous system. Cancer tumors can release hormones that change the functions of the body. Tumors that show limited growth and stay in one spot are generally considered benign and they definitely are a threat that one is already being attacked by cancer.

Tumors become dangerous when these two things occur: when cancerous cells spread throughout the body and destroy healthy tissues in a process called invasion; second, when the cells grow and divide, make new blood vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis.

When a tumor spreads, invades and destroys the body’s tissues, it has metastasized. The process is called metastasis. This can be very serious and extremely difficult to treat.