CANCER

Hey Folks. Today DietVita has come up with a very sensitive yet very important topic – CANCER. Its one of the most common disease affecting the population of almost all countries. Though it’s a life-threatening disease, early diagnosis and condition of the disease can help to a certain extent.

What is Cancer?

Cancer is a condition where cells in a specific part of the body start growing abnormally. These cells can spread and destroy healthy tissues including organs.

There are different from benign tumours which do not spread to different body parts.

Types of Cancer:

1. Carcinoma
2. Sarcoma
3. Leukaemia
4. Lymphoma

Cancer can occur in any part of the body. The most common in males are Lung cancer, Prostate cancer and stomach cancer. In females breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancer are common. However, cancer can spread rapidly and other tissues as well.

When to get worried?

Potential symptoms could be:

1. A lump in any body part
2. Abnormal bleeding
3. Unexplained weight loss
4. Severe anaemia
5. Prolonged cough
6. Change in bowel movement

Causes of Cancer:

1. Poor diet:
2. Excessive consumption of red or any processed meat can lead to colon and gastric cancer.
3. High intake of fat can lead to prostate and breast cancer.
4. Excessive consumption of alcohol leads to digestive tract cancer and liver cancer. Excessive beer consumption can cause colorectal cancer.
5. Sedentary lifestyle- Inactive lifestyle and obesity both can lead to the origin of cancerous cells in the body.
6. Tobacco Use- This is the most common cause of Cancer leading to 22% of cancer deaths. Despite of life-threatening hazard, marketing and consumption of tobacco is at its peak.
7. Infection: Hepatitis B virus acts as a cofactor for liver cancer. Human papillomavirus, Epstein Barr Virus and few other are considered to be oncogenic.
8. Radiation: Prolonged exposure to any kind of radiation can alter cell growth leading to the origin of cancerous cells. People working or staying near chemical factories are at high risk.
9. Hormones: Post-menopausal women who do not use hormone replacement therapy are prone to breast, cervical, ovarian and uterine cancer.
10. Autoimmune diseases- Such diseases alter the growth of the cells give birth to cancerous cells.
11. Age: Risk of colorectal cancer increases with age.
12. Stress: Stress affects thymus gland and immune system which affects food behaviour ultimately affecting the nutritional status of a person.

Diagnosis:

1. Regular whole-body check-ups
2. Not ignoring any of the potential symptoms (mentioned in the beginning of the blog)
3. Screening
4. Doctors can go for Medical imaging followed by biopsy to further investigate.

Treatment:

Cancers can be treated with combination of therapies like Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, Targeted therapy and surgery. The course of treatment depends on the affected body part and its surrounding. However, pain and symptom management are equally important part of care.

Problems of cancer therapy:

1. Related to surgical treatment- Surgery and healing process can lead to indigestion or malabsorption of food.
2. Radiotherapy- Loss of taste sensation, anorexia, nausea, surrounding cellular damage with tissue oedema, necrosis, ulcers, diarrhoea, malabsorption, etc.
3. Chemotherapy- Excessive vomiting leading to fluid and electrolyte disbalance, depression and food intolerance.
4. Any therapy used to treat cancer cells can cause burns, hair loss, depression, etc.

A cancer patient should have frequent meals with high calorie, high protein and high fluid diet as prescribed by a dietitian.

Though this disease cannot be ignored but with proper care and treatment many can be cured.

Precautions:

By following the below, one can try to prevent the occurrence of oncogenic cells.

1. Healthy balanced meals
2. Active lifestyle
3. Maintaining healthy body weight
4. Proper medication for any illness
5. Vaccination to prevent any type of infection
6. No smoking / drinking

Diet rich in lycopene, isoflavones can really help to prevent formation of carcinogenic cells. Some foods can help to prevent or delay Cancer whereas some foods aid the cancer production. They are as follows:

FOODS TO EAT REGULARLY:

1. TOMATOES
2. WHOLE GRAINS
3. BRINJAL
4. PEPPERS
5. YELLOW, ORANGE AND GREEN VEGETABLES
6. LEAFY VEGETABLES
7. ONION AND GARLIC
8. LEEKS
9. UNDERGROUND ROOTS

FOODS TO AVOID:

1. RED MEAT
2. FATTY, PROCESSED FOOD
3. REFINED FLOUR
4. ALCOHOL, SUGARY BEVERAGES
5. EXCESSIVE FISH SAUCE

On this WORLD CANCER DAY let’s all take a pledge to try and make everyone aware of this deadly disease just by following few necessary steps. For any assistance click on www.dietvita.com