YMedia (English): 2008

Around 800.000 people of Indonesia attacked by cancer every year.

Cancer disease sounds familiar among us. From that 800.000 people, may be some of them were our relatives or colleagues who was being a victim of this disease's malignant.

World Health Organization (WHO) even mentioned that 7.6 million people died in 2005 and other 84 million people would die for next ten years if there was no real acts against this disease.

Indeed, the cancer disease are one of the biggest threat for human's health in the industrialized countries and developed countries.

In industrialized countries, the cancer disease has been categorized into an epidemic disease, while in developed countries it increased sharply. Estimated that 43 per cent of death caused by cancer is caused by smoking and unhealthy diet and infections.

Knowing Cancer

We've often heard about it. But do you know what exactly it is?.
Cancer is a class of disease which marked with uncontrollable duplicating cells. The cells grow excessively and it doesn't follow the normal growth pattern of cells, and followed by the cells' abilities to attack the other biological tissues, with both of invasion (attacking the side-by-side tissues) or metastasis (moving into another cells).

The uncontrollable growth was caused by DNA damage (deoxyribonucleic acid, nucleic acid which has function to arrange growth of biological cells), that caused mutation in vital gen which is controlling the cells' splitting. That mutations were caused by chemist or physical agent called by carcinogenic. Mutation could be spontaneous or by inheritance.

The cancer cell has characteristic i.e.; it can duplicate itself excessively. It can be a derivative to be blood-vessels; and has an ability to keep alive and not die until it appear as a protruding tumor (from Latin "swelling"). A tumor can be benign or malignant. Only a malignant tumor can attack another tissues or be metastasis.

Classifications of cancer

Most of cancer is just identified through an accurate medical check up, and the check up can be clearer by biopsy (the way to get sample of cell's tissue to help doctor diagnoses cancer).

10 Biggest Cancer Cases in Indonesia
Cervix Uteri 16.5%

Women Breast 11.9%

Skin 8.3%

Secondary Lymph 8.0%

Nasopharynx 6.4%

Rectum 4.0%

Ovary 4.8%

Lymphosarcoma 3.9%

Soft Tissue Sarcoma 3.0%

Thyroid 3.0%

Cancer can cause a lot of different symptoms, according to locations and characteristics of the malignance and metastasis. After diagnosis, cancer a cancer usually be treated by a surgical operation, chemotherapy, or radiation.

Most of cancer can be treated and healed, especially if it was treated from the beginning. But if it was not treated, most of cancer can cause death.

Until now, we don't know what caused cancer generally. We just know what the risk factors which can cause cancer, like a lifestyle that may cause cancer, i.e. smoking, junk food, and obesity.

Advanced Cancer

Why is most of cancer's patient coming late for treatment?. There is a lot of reason, such as:

In the early stadium of cancer, most of patient didn't notice this disease. Because the symptoms of early stadium are mostly common and not scary.

If the cancer disease has started to spread to the lymph and caused a protruding tumor, the patient still doesn't notice. because sometimes the patient thinks that it just an any kind of black magic.

If the patient has already noticed that the disease is not any simple disease, sometimes the patient has no courage to check up because the patient is to afraid of any surgical operation.

And the most things happen is, the patient notices that his disease isn't a simple disease, and he's not afraid of any surgical operation, but he doesn't have any money to get any treatment.

And because of that, the patient of cancer just comes to treat if he feels that his disease is really annoying, like a sharp pain, bleeding, hard to breath, etc. More malignant the cancer, more painful the patient feels. Sometimes the patient just couldn't help it.

If the cancer has spread to all of part of body, there is no way to heal it. Sometimes healing this disease just makes the patient feels more painful. The side effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is so irritate and makes the patient feels uncomfortable. The symptoms like queasy is a very common symptom. Because of that symptom, the patient will be more painful and die in a hard suffer.

Integrated treatment is really needed by advanced cancer's patient. One thing we have to attend about this disease is how we could live a healthy life so we can prevent cancer.

Let's live a healthy life!

(from Askes Jejak Sehat)

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