Health Information Center

Chemotherapy is the procedure to treat cancer cells by using chemicals. Cancer cells have the ability to divide rapidly. But in this procedure, both the good and bad cells are being killed although it is really aimed at killing the cancerous ones. There are a number of ways chemotherapy drugs are taken. It may be by mouth, by injection on the muscle or vein, by catheter inserted into our bladder, abdomen, chest cavity, spinal cord, liver and brain.

When oral chemotherapy is done, a patient is given a certain dosage to take. It may be daily, weekly or monthly. Most medications are advised to be taken on an empty stomach. There are times drinking juice is also recommended after taking in a medicine. The downside of an oral therapy is the possibility of a patient not to follow the prescribed dosage and time of medication. If done so, it may result to a less effective treatment or more severe consequences. Continue reading ‘The Truth Behind Chemotherapy’ »

Cancer hits many families and many people at all ages of life. It is a devastating diagnosis for the patient and friends and family. Leukemia is a form of cancer where immune cells proliferate without normal regression after disease has been terminated. It is named for the “milky” coloration of blood from the high count of white blood cells. Leukemia often hits children and symptoms can be disregarded and not properly diagnosed if not treated immediately.

Leukemia is actually a broad medical term. Leukemia cancer is separated into two, more defined forms named chronic leukemia and acute leukemia. Acute leukemia cancer tends to afflict children and young adults. Its proliferation of bone marrow cells inhibits bone marrow to make properly healthy cells. It is an extremely dangerous form of cancer since malignant cells are readily available to the blood stream to transport to other organs.

Chronic leukemia cancer is better known for the abnormal proliferation of mature white blood cells. When your body is faced with disease, white blood cells divide rapidly to quickly eliminate intruding microbes. A normal immune system will later destroy the excess white blood cells, however with leukemia they continue to proliferate. Chronic leukemia mostly afflicts older adults, and therapy is monitored through typical, regular doctor appointments. Continue reading ‘Background of Leukemia’ »

Breast Cancer – Aside from October being one of the cooler months of the year, and a special month for kids to go trick or treating dressed up as an eerie ghoul to scare people witless, it is however on a more serious note Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For some women being greeted at the door by a vampire, devil or witch, the fright at that moment is nothing in comparison to the fear they feel inside after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a time when women and young girls are alerted to the importance of early detection. This doesn’t mean that women are not made aware of what’s involved with breast cancer treatments, self breast examination and recovery issues all year round; it is just strongly more focused upon in October through Breast Awareness Campaigns. These types of campaigns have great pulling power where we see more and more women coming forward to get themselves checked out, and their questions answered.

As it is with most organizations and support groups they need financial help to keep up the good work. Breast cancer groups will include people who care, and are compassionate towards your feelings. It is also most likely that them who run the groups are, or, have been patients themselves. Cancer care workers will help you the best they can to come to terms with having breast cancer, be there for you when undergoing treatment for breast cancer Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Best Way to Beat Breast Cancer Is to Prevent It’ »

Hey, guess what? In today’s world we are finding more and more problems with people? Do you know why? Could it because our early detections are not working as well as we planned? Is it our health care system and the 45,000,000+ people with out health insurance or un-adequate insurance?

Maybe it’s it because you and I are sucking down more poison then any other time in history. People find it humorous almost to say, yeah this hamburger isn’t good for me but screw it! Well you and I can that see this type of position of your health, is unhealthy in itself. But what about those who seem to try to stay in good graces with their health and yet they still find themselves getting cancer or other diseases?

Well it’s not as far off as someone who says, the hell with it. The only difference is, they don’t know what’s hurting them. Foods and artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame (or AminoSweet) – Trans fats, bad water & EMFs (Electro Magnetic Field (or Electro Mangentic Chaos) – from microwaved food, cell phones and power lines) are killing people and they don’t even know it! Continue reading ‘Discover A Doctor With A .3 Success Rate With Cancer’ »

A cancer diagnosis knocks you flat and before you can get up off the floor, you are swamped by a tsunami of strange medical lingo, perpetual appointments, costly medications, dreadful treatments, possible surgery and an uncertain future. Everything moves along too fast to afford you the luxury of finding your emotional balance.

Just a simple statement from your doctor instantly topples everything familiar and comfortable. Your home, your relationships, your job and your future all change in an instant and will never again be quite the same. Continue reading ‘Cancer: Between Diagnosis And Treatment’ »

These days people spend more money then ever for prescription drugs and it seems for every health problem doctors suggest some kind of a drug. So if doctors suggest drugs for most health problems, then certainly these drugs should be very effective, right? Well, if you think about how many people are using chemotherapy to treat cancer and how many people beat cancer with it, then it is clear that drugs do not work very well.

Money and power are the main driving forces behind the production of drugs. The goal for drug companies is to make as much profits as possible, because it is all a business. The more people are ill, the more potential customers there are. Treating cancer with chemotherapy is a great way to make money. Continue reading ‘Using Chemotherapy to Treat Cancer – Is There a Better Way?’ »

Breast cancer treatment is usually a multi-pronged approach. The most common breast cancer treatment plan, in this order, involves surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormonal therapy. But there are many different types of breast cancer, so there are many variations in treatment. Also, the stage of breast cancer (0 through IV) will determine which treatments are best.

Surgery

Surgery is often the first step in breast cancer treatment. Removal of the lump and the cancerous tissue is imperative in most cases to keep the cancer from spreading any further. Depending on the stage (which is judged by the size and the spread of the disease) a woman with breast cancer may have a mastectomy or a lumpectomy.

A mastectomy is removal of the entire breast, where a lumpectomy saves the majority of breast tissue but removes only the lump itself and the very nearby affected breast tissue. A doctor will recommend which is the safest course of action for each type of cancer. Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer Treatment’ »

These vary a bit depending on the lab, so the ranges that follow are guidelines rather than absolutes. Be sure to ask for a copy of the CBC each time it’s performed, and look at the lab results sheet for the normal range for that lab. Still, there are some general rules of thumb:

Red blood cells (RBC)Normal for men: 4.5 to 6.2 million per microliter (a single drop). Normal for women: 4.2 to 5.4 million per microliter.
White blood cellsNormal for men and women: 3,700 to 10,000 per microliter. Lowest level at which someone is safe from infection: 1,000.
PlateletsNormal range for men and women: 150,000 to 450,000 per microliterLowest level at which someone’s blood can still clot normally: 100,000. Level at which there’s a risk of spontaneous bleeding: 50,000. Level at which bleeding can become life-threatening: 5,000.

Hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that oxygenates the blood, provides the body with energy, strength, and stamina. When there isn’t enough oxygen in the blood, he’ll feel tired, weak, and sometimes faint or dizzy. He may have trouble catching his breath or feel pain in his chest as he tries to breathe. Extreme fatigue can bring with it memory or concentration problems, so he might seem confused or act like he’s not thinking straight. Continue reading ‘How Blood Test Results Can Affect Chemotherapy’ »

In November 2004 I was diagnosed with cancer in the lower bowel – but it was pure luck that I found out about the cancer when I did.

I remember vividly how the events unfolded – it was a beautiful, warm Spring day and my wife Eve and I decided pick up a couple of chicken yiros’s for lunch.

They went down really well and I headed off to Channel Seven (Adelaide Australia) to read the news.

By the time I got home about 8 pm I felt a slight chest pain – like moderate indigestion – we’ll it gradually got worse to the extend that Eve had to rush me to hospital in the early hours of the morning. Continue reading ‘When told you have cancer your life changes forever, but for many people it changes for the better’ »

Mesothelioma is a notoriously difficult asbestos related cancer to treat. Most chemotherapy drugs that have been used to treat this type of asbestos cancer have not had appreciable success in the treatment of this deadly cancer.

Among recently approved medications, Alimta stands out as having the most promise in prolonging the life of mesothelioma patients, as well as improving their quality of life.

Alimta, also known as Pemetrexed is a newer chemotherapy medication that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2005. Most times it used in combination with Cisplatin ,and Alimta is the first medication that is specifically approved for the treatment of mesothelioma and is considered to be the most effective chemotherapy treatment for pleural mesothelioma patients especially those that have advanced cancer that are not candidates for surgery. Continue reading ‘Mesothelioma Chemotherapy-What is the Role of Alimta?’ »