 Allergies [27]
Allergy is a disorder of the immune system often also referred to as atopy.
Antidepressants [29]
An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia.
Arthritis [12]
Arthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body.
Cancer [26]
Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth
Cardio & Blood [1]
Risk factors for heart disease: infections
Cholesterol [2]
A fat-like substance called a lipid. It is used to build cell membranes, hormones and bile acids
Diabetes [23]
The inability of the body to produce, or the inability to metabolize, the human hormone insulin; Diabetes insipidus, usually a disorder of the ...
Epilepsy [6]
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures
Gastrointestinal [2]
The digestive tract is the system of organs within multicellular animals that takes in food...
General Health [144]
The infant, child or young person?s current health condition
Herbal [18]
Herbal tea, herbal medicine
Hormonal [21]
Hormones - Proteins produced by organs of the body that trigger activity in other locations.
Men's Health [1]
For men on fitness, health, sex, caree
Pain relief [16]
Pain management is the medical discipline concerned with the relief of pain.
Skin care [15]
The skin is the outer covering of the body
Weight Loss [21]
Loss of body weight by dieting or due to various easting disorders or medical conditions.
Women's Health [20]
Find information on women's health issues, and lifestyle at the Women's Health
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Your cancer your life – natural history of cancer (introduction) YOUR CANCER YOUR LIFE – NATURAL HISTORY OF CANCER (INTRODUCTION)
Just as we cannot exactly predict for any individual what organ will be affected by secondary growths, so we cannot exactly predict what will eventually cause death. Most causes of death from cancer fall into one of the two following groups. Firstly, cancer may destroy so much of a vital organ (such as the liver, brain or lungs) that it can no longer carry out its normal function. Secondly, cancer can weaken the body and immune system so much that infections such as pneumonia are fatal. These causes all act gradually. Less commonly, cancer causes death through haemorrhage, blood clots or other more sudden processes.
The 'natural history' of an illness means what happens if there is no treatment. It is important' to have some idea of how your cancer might behave without any treatment before you decide what, if any, treatment to have. Of course, cancer behaves in exactly the same way if it is not sensitive to the treatment chosen. Unless you are cured, your cancer will behave like this sooner or later.
As we have learnt, a cancer starts with one or a few cells. These have to double (each one split into two) about thirty times for the cancer to reach the size of a 1cm cube. It is unusual to detect a cancer smaller than this. This means that by the time a cancer is diagnosed, even when it is very tiny, it has actually been there for quite a while. It would be at least a few weeks even in the case of very rapidly-growing cancers and many months or even years for some of the slower-growing types.
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