| Bladder cancer is the most
common cancer of the urinary tract. It normally affects mature men who have been
exposed to cigarette smoke and/or industrial carcinogens. Possible symptoms
include blood in the urine, along with frequent, painful, and/or urgent
urination. Over 45% of all bladder cancers involve smokers.
Other causes and risk factors for the disease include a history of working in
the cigarette, dye, or rubber businesses and contact with a called chemical
2-napthylamine; the use of cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), a drug used to treat
other forms of cancer; radiation therapy for cervical cancer; excess consumption
of painkillers like acetaminophen the active ingredient in Tylenol; and
recurring kidney stones or urinary
tract infections. Bladder cancer can spread to other organs like the colon,
pelvic bones. The current thinking is bladder cancer develops in a 2 stage
process at the cell level. During the first stage, a cancer causing agent
destroys part of a gene known as gene p16. Damage to p16 causes no change to the
cell exterior, thus the immune system does not respond or attack. |
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The damage to the DNA inside the cell; however, causes the cell to make
excessive copies of itself. The body has a second line of defense against
genetic damage, gene p53. This gene acts like a "molecular policeman"
making sure that defective cells do not multiply too much. But gene p53 can also
be damaged, allowing the cancer cells free to multiply and spread. Also, bladder
cancers pick up hormonal signals to grow and multiply, especially from estrogen,
the main female sex hormone. (Note: men's bodies also produce estrogen, but in
smaller amounts.) Fortunately, estrogen's effects occur more slowly, so bladder
cancer often produces visible symptoms that can be caught in time for effective
treatment.
click here for more information
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| Bladder cancer characteristically causes blood in the urine;
this may be visible to the naked eye or only detectable by using a
microscope. Other symptoms include pain during urination, frequent urination
"polyuria" or feeling like urinating but cannot. These signs
and symptoms are not specific to bladder cancer, and are also caused by
non-cancerous conditions, including prostate infections and cystitis. Kidney
cancer also can cause hematuria.
Most people with a history, signs, and symptoms indicative of bladder
cancer are referred to a urologist or other type doctor trained in cystoscopy,
that is a procedure in which a flexible tube with a camera and various
instruments is put into the bladder through the person's urethra. Suspicious
lesions may be biopsied and sent for pathologic analysis.
The main standard for diagnosing bladder cancer is a biopsy thru cystoscopy.
But other times it is an incidental finding during the cystoscopy. A urine
cytology may be obtained in voided urine or at the time of the cystoscopy also
known as "bladder washing". Cytology is able to give very
specific positive result is highly indicative of bladder cancer, but suffers
from low sensitivity or inability of a negative result to reliably exclude
bladder cancer. There are now newer and non-invasive urine "bound
markers" to help in the diagnosis of bladder cancer, that include human
complement factor H-related protein, high molecular weight carcinoembryonic
antigen, and nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP22) that is now also available as a
prescription home test.
In the USA, bladder cancer is the 4rth most common type of cancer in men and
the 9th most common type of cancer in women. Over 50,000 men and 16,000 women
are diagnosed with bladder cancer every year. Smoking can really only explain
some of this higher incidence in men. Another reason is that the androgen
receptor that is much more active in men than in women may play a major role in
the development of the cancer. |
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The medical treatment of bladder cancer depends on how deep the tumor embeds
into the bladder wall. Superficial tumors which are those not entering the
muscle layer can be shaved off by a electrocautery device connected to a
cystoscope. Immunotherapy in the form of BCG instillation may also be used to
treat and/or prevent the recurrence of the superficial tumors. BCG immunotherapy
is effective in over 60% of the cases at this stage. Instillations of
chemotherapy, such as valrubicin "valstar" into the bladder may
also be used to treat BCG-refractory CIS disease when cystectomy is not an
option, but urocidin is phase III trials for this.
People whose tumors came back after treatment with BCG are harder to treat.
Many doctors recommend cystectomy for these type of patients. And this
recommendation fits with the official guidelines of the European Association of
Urologists and the American Urological Association. But, many people refuse to
use this life changing operation, and choose to try more novel conservative
treatments before using to this last radical resort. Device assisted
chemotherapy is such one of the novel technologies used to treat superficial
bladder cancer. These technologies use various mechanisms to help the absorption
and action of a chemotherapy drug put directly into the person's bladder. Other
technologies use an electrical current to increase drug absorption. Another
technology called :thermotherapy" utilizes radio frequencies to heat the
bladder wall that together with chemotherapy produces a synergistic
effect, enhancing each other's capacity to kill cancerous tumor cells.
Left untreated superficial tumors may slowly begin to infiltrate the muscular
wall of the patients bladder. Tumors that infiltrate the bladder require more
radical surgery where part or all of the bladder is removed by a cystectomy and
the urinary stream is changed. And in some cases, a skilled surgeon can create a
substitute bladder "neobladder" from a portion of intestinal
tissue, but this depends upon person's preference, patient age, renal function,
and the area of the disease.
A combination of radiation and chemotherapy may also be used to treat
invasive disease. But it has not yet been determined how effective this form of
treatment compares to that of radical ablative surgery.
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Read these
Doctor's Comments about Drugs
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"The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once
from the disease and once from the medicine." William Osler, M.D.
"The cause of most disease is in the poisonous drugs
physicians superstitiously give in order to effect a cure." Charles E.
Page, M.D.
"If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea,
it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity."
O.W. Holmes, (Prof. of Medicine Harvard University)
"Every drug increases and complicates the patients
condition." Robert Henderson, M.D.
"In sickness the body is already loaded with impurities. By
taking drug - medicines more impurities are added, thereby the case is further
embarrassed and harder to cure." Elmer Lee, M.D.
"The necessity of teaching mankind not to take drugs and
medicines, is a duty incumbent upon all who know their uncertainty and injurious
effects; and the time is not far distant when the drug system will be
abandoned." Charles Armbruster, M.D.
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See the website www.drugs.com
to look up possible side effects
of any prescription drugs or medications that you are using.
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Let
Your Body Heal Itself
There are natural alternatives including: vitamins, minerals,
herbs, enzymes, probiotics, and many others that when combined in the right way
can support you body's own healing power. Is is magic? No it is the way that our
Creator God made us and the world's gifts for us. It is up to all of us to
use these gifts wisely. |
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Did
You
Know ?
|
 You
have a wonderful human body that when given the right nutrients in the right
amounts can heal itself.
"Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet
alone. Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, it
appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements." - JAMA
Journal of the American Medical Association 6/12/2002 Vol 287
There are
hundreds of studies which show the risk of cancer, heart disease, and other top
killers is reduced by eating more than just the minimal RDA standards.
Prevention
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balance is the treatment. Natural foods, herbs, vitamins and supplements to
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If you need help learning how to take care of yourself
then click here
for free health consultation
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You would not think of exposing yourself to an Atomic Bomb fallout or
excessive X-rays. But not getting enough vitamins and minerals is just as
dangerous. Cells in your body not getting their vitamins and minerals suffer
both DNA and mitochondrial damage. These cells under a microscope look like they
have been hit with radiation. This type of damage may cause you to age faster
and can lead to Cancer
and other degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and others.
- Vitamin deficiency = DNA damage
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"It's virtually impossible to get sufficient quantities of some
key nutrients from food alone - even with the most healthful diets."
-
Jeffery Blumberg PhD professor of Nutrition Tufts University
 |
Dr. Mark Crapo
"Would you like to live longer - look and feel better ... find out about
people who are doing it and how you can improve your health and life." |
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