Cancer- the Silent Killer
Cancer-The Silent Killer
Kimberly Hansen
COM/156
12/15/2012
Holly Overturf
This year alone, approximately 1 million people will die from cancer. It is one of the leading causes of death in the world, second only to heart disease. According to the American Cancer Society (2012) states that 1 out of 2 men and 1 out of 3 women will get cancer. In a world as medically advanced as ours, one would think that we would already have the upper hand where this disease is concerned, and have a cure-- but we don’t. According to “What is Cancer?” website n.d. “defined Cancer as not just one disease but many diseases in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and form tumors”. These tumors can either be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Crosta, P. (2006r, October 4) explains that once this happens the tumors have the ability to invade other issues and organs. When the abnormal cells form tumors and start traveling from one part of the body to another, it is referred to as metastasis. Additional symptoms may appear and will depend on the area of the body where the cancer has spread. For example, if the cancer spread to the liver, the liver may become enlarged and jaundice may set in. Also the bones can become painful, brittle and break easily. Human cancer is as old as the human race with the oldest known documented case found in an ancient Egyptian papyri and occurred during 3000 BC to 1500 BC.. This report details 8 cases of tumors or ulcers of the breast that had to be removed by cauterization (which is a method for destroying something with a hot instrument called a ‘fire drill.) Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that could be done, only pallative treatment (relieving of symptoms of a disease without effecting a cure). It wasn’t until 1932 when Louis Leakey found the oldest possible malignant tumor in fossilized bones recovered in Egypt, and had
Kimberly Hansen
COM/156
12/15/2012
Holly Overturf
This year alone, approximately 1 million people will die from cancer. It is one of the leading causes of death in the world, second only to heart disease. According to the American Cancer Society (2012) states that 1 out of 2 men and 1 out of 3 women will get cancer. In a world as medically advanced as ours, one would think that we would already have the upper hand where this disease is concerned, and have a cure-- but we don’t. According to “What is Cancer?” website n.d. “defined Cancer as not just one disease but many diseases in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and form tumors”. These tumors can either be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Crosta, P. (2006r, October 4) explains that once this happens the tumors have the ability to invade other issues and organs. When the abnormal cells form tumors and start traveling from one part of the body to another, it is referred to as metastasis. Additional symptoms may appear and will depend on the area of the body where the cancer has spread. For example, if the cancer spread to the liver, the liver may become enlarged and jaundice may set in. Also the bones can become painful, brittle and break easily. Human cancer is as old as the human race with the oldest known documented case found in an ancient Egyptian papyri and occurred during 3000 BC to 1500 BC.. This report details 8 cases of tumors or ulcers of the breast that had to be removed by cauterization (which is a method for destroying something with a hot instrument called a ‘fire drill.) Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that could be done, only pallative treatment (relieving of symptoms of a disease without effecting a cure). It wasn’t until 1932 when Louis Leakey found the oldest possible malignant tumor in fossilized bones recovered in Egypt, and had
References: 1. American Cancer Society. (2012). Cancer facts and figures. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsfigures/cancerfactsfigures/cancer-facts-figures-2012 2. National Cancer Institute of Health. 92012). What you need to know about cancer. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer 3. Crosta, P. (2006r, October 4). What is cancer. medical news today. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/cancer-oncology/#.UMmQ7uSv2z4 4. Medicine World (n.d.) History of Cancer Retrieved from http://medicineworld.org/cancer/history.html 5. Lisa Fayed (July 8,2009) Symptoms of Cancer Retrieved from http://cancer.about.com/od/causes/a/symptomscancer.htm 6. Fayed, L. (2010) What Causes Cancer Retrieved from University library http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/index 7. Center for Disease Control (Dec. 6, 2012) Health Disparities in Cancer. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/healthdisparities/ 8. Duncan, D Your Cancer, Your Cure. Discover Vol. 33 Issue 9 Retrieved from University Library (EBSCO) 9. National Cancer Institute for Health What is Complementary Medicine Retrieved from http://www.nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam.