Cancer : What Causes It?

The CDC estimates that each year, more than eight million people are diagnosed, and consequently died from cancer, and this statistic was even higher in the 1950s. During this period, little was known of cancer’s effects on the

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which irregular cells divide without any control and have the capability to penetrate and infect normal body tissue through the blood and lymph system. Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in the United States, exceeded barely by heart disease. According to the CDC Cancer Statistics and Data, there were more than 1.45 million people diagnosed with various kind of cancer between 1999 and 2007 and out of those more than 562,000 people died due to cancer (cdc.gov, 2012). Currently there are more than 200 different types of cancer that have been discovered. Cancer could be

Throughout life, many individuals experience difficulties due to growing up in everyday life. While going in depth of the human life, it is discovered that there are many diseases and disorders that affect humans’ everyday functions. A very popular disease that has traumatically affected the human body is cancer. Cancer is a disease that spreads throughout your body in many ways. The purpose of cancer is to attach to a blood cell in your body and cause a plague within itself, causing the body to initially shut down and die. This disease contains many forms and have many causes to it. However its main goal is to destroy the human body.

Breast cancers have been plaguing women since ancient times as it was mentioned in almost every recorded period of history. One of the first to note this disease, more than 3,500 years ago, were the Ancient Egyptians when they referred to “bulging tumors of the breast that have no cure”. Hippocrates who is referenced as the father of Western Medicine had his theories about breast cancer. His suggestion was that the cancer was caused by excessive black bile. In A.D. 200, hundreds of years after Hippocrates ventured his thoughts about the disease, Galen also went on the record suggesting that some breast cancer tumors were more serious than others. It was also believed that this cancer affected the entire body rather than being limited to the breasts.

Long times ago, even during the 19th century, scientist all over the world had started to find the cure for cancer, one of the most feared disease you can ever imagine, simply because you don’t know what the cause and how to turn it off. Cancer started

Schottenfeld discusses what can cause cancer, how to survive this deadly disease physically, mentally, and emotionally, genetic risks of cancer, moralities, and incidence. The book contains five sections. These sections are labeled Basic Concepts, The Magnitude of Cancer, The Causes of Cancer, Cancer by Tissue of Origin, and Cancer Prevention and Control.

Paleopathological findings indicate the presence of tumors through animals well before prehistoric times. Steven Hajdu explains that written descriptions of cancer date back to the Egypt, Byzantine and other Indo-European civilizations where medicine men attempted to cure it using herbal remedies and did not hesitate to use concoctions of iron, copper, sulfur and mercury (1), elements known for its toxic nature. Failing to treat the diseases because of both the lack of knowledge of the human anatomy and DNA or proper equipment, they would claim that the wrath of God had struck upon the ill patient. Medicine Men of this time also did not strive to further study cancer since mortality rates were low due to lack of food, clean water and constant

Cancer affects everyone – the young and old, the rich and poor, men, women and children – and represents a tremendous burden on patients, families and societies. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, particularly in developing countries.

The word cancer comes from the word Karkinos which is greek language. Physician hippocrates used this word to describe carcinoma tumors sometime between the periods 460-379 B.C. Although there were many accounts and evidence of cancer before, which were found in mummies in ancient Egypt during the period 1600 B.C. The oldest evidence of cancer was found in 1500 B.C in a tomb in egypt. Cancer treatment were non existence during those days. There were small palliative treatments which relieved pain and suffering temporarily. However we still use similar surgical treatment for surfaced tumors today that was used during that period. Early hippocrates also discovered that cancer returned after surgery. Cancer treatments has evolved tremendously

There are twelve major types of cancer that affect most Americans and they can be related by the mutation of genes. Cancer is not just one disease, but a massive group with over 100 diseases by unrestrained and vicarious growth of the cells in the body and have the ability of the cells to propagate. One out of every four Americans will die from cancer. It is the second leading cause of death in this country, surpassed only by heart disease. Five to ten percent of cancer are genetic and hereditary. 1.2 million new cases are found in every year the United States, “Men have a one in two lifetime risk of developing cancer, and for women the risk is one in three” (Freivogel 201).

Cancer is the leading cause of death in economically developed countries and the second leading cause of death in developing countries. Based on the GLOBOCAN 2008 estimates, about 12.7 million cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths are estimated to have occurred in 2008. The leading cause of cancer mortality in females is breast cancer, accounting for 23% followed by lung cancer and cervical cancer accounting for 11% respectively. Furthermore, estimates show that, the leading cause of cancer mortality in males is lung cancer accounting for 17% of the total new cancer cases and 23% in total cancer deaths. [2].

I chose this topic because I have an interest in science and the human body. Also, when I am older I wish to work in scientific research, researching diseases. This essay will give an insight into the different ways that cancer is researched, treated and the ways that the risk of cancer is reduced.

Cancer is a leading cause of death and devastating experiences for patients’ family members and close friends. The disease undermines the emotional wellbeing of the survivors during and after treatment. It often affects the physical appearance and exposes the family members to financial constraints thereby leading to depression, reduced productivity at workplaces and many other social problems. However, the controversies over the causes of cancer continue to impact the awareness campaigns and the general population attitude towards treatment options. According to Thun, Linet, Cerhan, Haiman, and Schottenfeld (2017), many people believe that gene composition is the leading risk factor for cancer. In contrast, etiological studies have confirmed

“The Emperor of All Maladies” captured the whole essence of cancer. This book gave a very good narrative of the historical record of cancer, the scientists and important public figures who contributed to the fight against a disease that has so much caused despair, pain, disfiguring of the body and worst of all, death. Cancer is seen as the abnormal growth of cells. A normal cell becomes cancerous when there is a defect in the regulation of its growth. Cancerous cells also tend to be elusive and resistant to treatments. Numerous attempts have been channeled into demystifying the nature of cancer. Some of these attempts proved abortive while a few served as a harbinger of hope. Cancer have proved to be part of our genetic makeup, hence, total eradication of it remains a future accomplishment.

Scientists and researchers are working to learn why some people get cancer and others do not. Inevitably, a better understanding of the causes of cancer will aid in the development of more effective treatment and preventative interventions. There are some genetic, environmental and behavioural factors that are known to play a role in making people more susceptible to developing certain types of cancer.