November is Breast Cancer Awareness Month as well as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and Diabetes Awareness Month, and it’s also the month for lung cancer awareness. Along with breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and diabetes, lung cancer is also a problematic disease that affects many people—it’s the leading cause of death by cancer in the US for any ethnicity, and it will claim about 437 deaths a day on average. Lung cancer becomes more difficult to treat as its stages advance, so it’s important to spread awareness about this devastating condition so that people can prevent themselves from developing it or seek treatment for lung cancer as soon as possible.

Some of the symptoms of lung cancer include coughing, chest, shoulder or back pain, shortness of breath, coughing up blood, feeling hoarse, face and neck swelling, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia, loss of appetite, and fluid in the pleural cavity, which inhibits breathing. These symptoms are associated with the earlier stages of lung cancer. Other symptoms develop when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. When lung cancer metastasizes it can affect the bones, liver and brain. Symptoms of lung cancer that affect other parts of the body can consist of bone and stomach pain, jaundice, headaches, seizures, nausea and vomiting. Developing lung cancer is highly associated with smoking—smoking damages the cells of the lungs by exposing them to carcinogens, and about 87% of lung cancer cases have to do with the patient smoking, or having formerly smoked. Other lung cancer causes are exposure to radon and asbestos, toxic substances often found in old houses that were not constructed recently.

There are many types of treatment for lung cancer, and choosing which option to take is a complicated choice that depends on the patient, the stage of cancer, and the location of the cancer in the lungs. Medical treatment for lung cancer consists of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, which are all techniques intended to remove cancer or to kill cancer cells. Sometimes these options don’t appeal or work for cancer patients, so they might look to holistic treatment for lung cancer, which consists of a variety of techniques like altering diet, doing regular exercise, aromatherapy, and much more. More recently researchers are looking into developing drugs that might help control the symptoms of lung cancer. But whichever method patients choose, it’s important that they start treatment right away to fight the cancer more effectively.

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Patients might look to alternative treatments for cancer because they are reluctant to undergo standard treatments like chemotherapy, or they’ve already tried standard treatments that don’t seem to be working. Sometimes alternative treatments for cancer appeal to the public because of their reputation for being natural, easier and less intense methods of treating cancer including pancreatic or lung cancer. It’s uncertain whether alternative treatments are better than standard ones—for some people they won’t work, and for other patients they might. Even if alternative treatments are effective, it’s important to remember that they’re alleviating the symptoms of cancer and not necessarily curing it. Doctors recommend not replacing standard treatments for cancer with alternative treatments because they might not be strong enough. Instead, they recommend that alternative treatments for cancer be treated like supplementary treatments that are used in addition to standard treatment. If standard treatment by itself isn’t helping, then the combination of standard and alternative might.

Some alternative treatments for cancer include acupuncture, aromatherapy, meditation, biofeedback (giving patient info about their physiological condition so they can have a sense of control over it), and hypnosis, massage, and relaxation techniques. The treatment suggested can depend on what symptom of cancer is being targeted such as anxiety, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, sleeping problems and stress.

Any treatment is subject to the unique biological makeup of the patient, so different patients will react differently to any of these options. Treatments are also subject to the power of thinking. These days science is more open to the role of the mind in how the body functions and responds to events. For example, stress is now viewed as a valid contributing factor to illness, and the placebo effect suggests that people can get better simply from the belief that they are being treated. Reader’s Digest once covered a couple of patients who had overcome cancer in unusual ways—one of them got rid of cancer after constant prayer, another took a huge amount of vitamin supplements. Many would doubt the efficacy of these methods and a research trial would be potentially unethical and disastrous. Still, there have been many examples, both scientific and anecdotal, in which the way a person thinks can have a big impact on their outcome, even physically. The bottom line is that every patient needs to choose the treatment that’s right for them, and one that they also believe is right for them. Motivation is part of the healing process, and it should be a supplement to whatever treatment is implemented.

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Diabetes is caused when the body produces little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the organ known as the pancreas and is used to regulate the sugar in the bloodstream. In the case of someone having diabetes, the blood sugar does not get absorbed inside cells due to a lack of insulin and as a result, this causes a number of problems. There are two main types of diabetes, Type 1 or diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes. In case of a type 1 sufferer, the organ pancreas is completely unable to make insulin. Some evidence have suggested that this may be caused, in part, by a viral infection. In type 2, the problem occurs when there is not enough insulin made by the pancreas and whatever is made is soaked up in fat cells. Type 1 diabetes usually has its onset with young people under the age of 30 while type 2 diabetes, sometimes referred to as adult onset diabetes, usually occurs in people over 30 years.

To avoid the complications of diabetes, type 1 sufferers must take measures to regulate the blood sugar. Treatment can either involve taking preventive maintenance or through insulin replacements. In preventive measures, the sufferer must watch the food he or she eats as this will determine the blood sugar. Having a well-regulated diet is essential. Such a person also avoids sugar, honey, sweets and soft drinks that are packed with sugar. If a sufferer of type 1 diabetes does not watch what he or she eats, this can result in blood sugars getting out of control that this can have long-term complications and can result in quick and severe illnesses.

In the case of the type 2 diabetes, the sufferer has to control what he or she eats as this type of diabetes is usually worsened by excess weight. Usually with a good diet, it is possible to regulate this type of diabetes. While some doctors recommend use of pills to make the pancreas produce more insulin, there is a limit to this. In both of these two types of diabetes, it is essential to ensure that a balanced diet is maintained and that regular exercising is undertaken. A positive outlook is also essential and so is following medical direction to the letter. Having a positive outlook will help a sufferer to maintain a regular balanced schedule that can go a long way in ensuring that he or she lives a happy productive life.

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Our nation often takes on a utilitarian approach when it comes to social issues. Generally, it’s our way to promote the greater good—we take the course of action that will benefit the most amount of people and ideally hinder the least. It’s statistically impossible to benefit everybody, at least in the way our society (and world) works, so logically it seems like the best solution to at least help everybody that we can when faced with a challenge or threat.

This is the impetus of infectious disease control. Infectious disease is a danger to the entire population, and ideally as few people as possible will be infected by illness. The goal of infectious disease control is to prevent epidemics, and if they break loose, to contain them before they become pandemics. It’s important to stop disease from spreading because obviously we want people to live being physically healthy as well as free from hysteria, but every so often we have incidents like the Black Plague, and more recently SARS and swine flu.

Common forms of infectious disease control that come to mind are vaccination and quarantine. Vaccination prevents people from developing illness in the first place. But say that the disease has evolved so that our treatments no longer protect against them and new treatments must be developed. In the meantime more and more people become infected and one way to stop it from spreading is to confine those who have the disease so that they can’t transmit it to others.

If we can contain everyone who’s already been infected and we successfully stop the epidemic, it’s a job well done and we’ve saved the majority of the population. But what about the people who are left in quarantine? If we don’t have any known treatment for what they have, then they’re stuck with it and there’s really no hope for them if it’s a life threatening illness. Essentially they become like martyrs and we’re thankful to them, but we wouldn’t want to be them. They came into that position by chance—it could have been any of us, why them? But the fact is that they’re the ones who were “chosen” to be robbed of life. It seems a bit unfair, but there doesn’t seem to be any choice on our part. Should these people be allowed to live out their lives at the risk of the lives of others? The answer is most likely to be an uneasy “no.” Infectious disease control works on a global level, not an individual one. Again, we have to look to the greater good and unfortunately, someone will always get left behind.

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The devastating thing about Alzheimer’s Disease is the amount of suffering in not just those afflicted, but also in those that care for them. That is not to say that there is anything easy about Alzheimer’s when it affects you, but that it also is a very trying mental and emotional toil for the caregivers and loved ones as well. What is worse is when the disease hits and people don’t know enough about Alzheimer’s. So here is some basic information about Alzheimer’s to help you prepare if this unfortunate disease ever appears with you or your loved ones.

The first thing to understand about Alzheimer’s is that it is a lethal brain disease without a cure. Everyone, currently, that has Alzheimer’s does pass away; in the United States, it is the seventh leading cause of death in adults. It is also a progressive disease. This means that, unlike an illness such as cancer, which has improvements and declines in health, Alzheimer’s is a relatively steady descent towards death; as time progresses, the disease invariably worsens.

The most prominent fact about Alzheimer’s is, of course, the dementia that follows. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. This severe form of memory loss is usually the most tragic thing about Alzheimer’s; patients forget who they are, and who they people are around them. This is painful, as many patients are elderly and have been involved with their loved ones or family members for decades.

While scientists are not clear what exactly causes Alzheimer’s, there are a few risk factors that you can control. While the exact cause of Alzheimer’s isn’t known, medical experts agree that brain health is of paramount importance. Taking precautions against head injuries, such as wearing a helmet during any appropriate activity and always wearing a safety belt in moving vehicles are a couple of steps that will prevent serious head injuries, which have been linked to cases of Alzheimer’s. Scientists have also found a strong link between heart health and brain health. Taking appropriate dietary and exercise measures to promote healthy heart function can help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. Finally, Alzheimer’s is a disease that is found most often in the elderly, so healthy aging strategies such as minimizing alcohol and eliminating tobacco and drug use as well as a healthy diet and weight should go a long way to preventing Alzheimer’s.

Knowing more about Alzheimer’s is crucial for those either diagnosed or close to someone that has succumb to this life-altering and life-ending disease. While there is no cure, there is a lot of treatment available and with the medical attention about Alzheimer’s at its highest levels ever, the cure for the disease may be right around the corner.

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