Cells are fundamental to our body structure. According to scientists we have more than 200 types of cells in our body and each cell is different with its specific function and structure. One have heard about the following for sure, especially:
Cell type | Function |
Red Blood Cells | It delivers oxygen to the tissues in your body and CO2 back to the lungs. |
White Blood Cells | These cells help us in keeping our body immune from illness. |
Platelets | Such cells are helpful in creating a clot in case of a wound either inside the body or on skin. |
Nerve Cells | They ensure the sending of signals (info of senses) to the required part of the body from the brain. E.g. touch, smell, see, hear, etc. |
Muscles Cells | A muscle cell is a compact bundle of many myofibrils. Each myofibril is made of many sarcomeres bundled together and attached end-to-end. |
What is a cancer disease actually?
Or
How does this information relate to cancer disease?
Since our body keeps creating new cells and if a cell dies it removes that one cell or group of cells. However, when an infected cell attacks on the healthy cells the process of creation or division of cells becomes haywire.
This is where some of the cells either grow abnormally and it can spread to other parts of the body. Sometimes the cancerous cells accumulate at a single place and form a tumour. Not all tumours are harmful, some could be benign and can be handled well by WBC.
However, if the tumour is malignant or cancerous the person would need a suitable treatment immediately.
TYPES OF CANCER
So, cancer falls in NCD. The researchers have identified multiple types of cancers till date, they can be categorised on the basis of source or location on body into the following four categories.
- Carcinomas
- Sarcomas
- Leukemias
- Lymphomas
Carcinomas
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Leukemias (Types: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), Acute Myeloid leukemia (AML))
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Lymphomas
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TYPES OF DISEASES
Further diseases can be divided into the two categories nowadays. Communicable disease and Non communicable disease
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What is Mesothelioma cancer? Mesothelioma Symptoms
Mesothelioma is a malignant tumour that is caused by inhaled asbestos fibers. A person inhales or swallows microscopic airborne asbestos fibers.. The asbestos fibers become lodged in the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart. Embedded fibers damage mesothelial cells and cause inflammation. Over time, tumors form on the damaged mesothelium, leading to mesothelioma. (Source: https://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma/)
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Figure 1: Depicting body organs where mesothelioma could develop
Mesothelioma causes, why mesothelioma happens?
Exposure to Asbestos
The primary cause of Mesothelioma is Asbestos’ microscopic substances. A person who either works at an asbestos mine or he/she installed an asbestos made ceiling or other product at home is likely s/he may inhale such microscopic substances of asbestos.
Family history: In 1% of cases it has found the reason is genetics – ie. transfer to a child from Parent.
Living with someone who works at Asbestos mine/ factory: There are high chances that clothes or belongings of the person can carry substances of the asbestos home, then it further may be inhaled by other occupants of the house.
Common Mesothelioma Symptoms
Treatment for mesothelioma
One may not know if s/he has developed this type of cancer until the tumor grows and spreads around the lining of lungs or Pleura. However there is a high probability that a person/ doctor might misdiagnose it. However there are a few symptoms that can signal starting of the illness and treatment in the initial stage can help a patient to recover well.
Though if one is aware that s/he is going to work with asbestos minerals or other medium s/he should inform the doctor so that one may undergo the appropriate diagnosis methods and, so the treatment.
If the asbestos particles has been lodged on Pleural area:
- Dry cough
- Shortness of breath
- Respiratory complications
- Chest or abdominal pain
- Fever or night sweats
- Pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs)
- Fatigue
- Weakness in the muscles
If the asbestos particles has been lodged on Peritoneal area (Abdomen area):
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal swelling
- Nausea
- Unexplained weight loss
Pericardial mesothelioma (Heart area)
- Breathing difficulty,
- Chest Pain, etc.
Is Mesothelioma a Lung Cancer?
treatment for mesothelioma
It is *not* a type of Lung cancer. There are the following differences:
LUNG CANCER | MESOTHELIOMA CANCER |
Lung cancer develops in the lung itself | It usually develops in the lining of the lung. |
It can spread to other organs | It grows locally in a particular area. |
It can grow faster than the other | It grows gradually. |
Root causes of lung cancer might be tobacco consumption, second hand smoke, and other environmental exposure to Radon gas. | It is primarily exposure to Asbestos. |
If detected in early stages it is curable with a high success rate. | However it has no cure. Though a person might not live more than 2 years after a successful detection in the early stage. |
Diagnosis of Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma Treatment
A patient can know if s/he has developed mesothelioma via the following tests available near his/her location:
CT Scan/ MRI Scans/ PET Scans (Also known as Imaging scans):
These procedures can be used to identify the malignant tumors in the suspected body area.
X-rays
Biopsy
A biopsy is a definitive way to confirm if the patient has symptoms of Mesothelioma. When a patient opts for the biopsy, tissues from his/her body are taken and after a careful inspections doctors can determine the following:
- Type of cancer cell
- Stage of the cancer
- Further what treatment can help the patient in concern.
Blood Tests
Using Blood tests doctors can determine about mesothelioma and they can also rule out the possibilities if there are other diseases and track the response of treatment a patient is undergoing.
What is Mesothelioma Treatment?
A surgeon might combine surgery with radiation therapy, or can apply each of the therapy according to the status of the health of the patient.
Surgery
Surgery can be applicable to the younger patients and whose health allows doing so. Since surgery for pleural mesothelioma are extrapleural pneumonectomy or pleurectomy and decortication
Extrapleural pneumonectomy
It involves the removal of the cancerous lung and associated structures.
Pleurectomy and decortication
Pleurectomy removes the entire pleura, and decortication consists of removing visible tumors from the chest cavity.
Peritonectomy to treat Peritoneal tumor/ tissue
It is used to cure the peritoneal tissue on the abdomen area. In this procedure a surgeon would remove such cells.
Pericardiectomy:
This surgery is used to remove pericardial tumors, which removes the protective sac surrounding the heart.
Chemotherapy
- Chemotherapy is given in cycles and focuses on killing off cancer cells, shrinking tumors, and preventing growth of new dangerous cells.
- There are several chemotherapy drugs that are given intravenously, such as cisplatin, pemetrexed, carboplatin, gemcitabine, and more.
- To treat peritoneal mesothelioma, many specialists will use heated chemotherapy drugs to coat the abdomen and kill remaining cancer cells after performing cytoreductive surgery.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy can also be used to treat pleural mesothelioma. In this treatment type specialists use radiation therapy with and without surgery. However the Radiation therapy may not be suitable for peritoneal mesothelioma due to its tendency to damage vital organs throughout the abdomen.
Best Hospitals in the world
Below are the best institutions for the treatment of Mesothelioma:
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston.
- Lung Institute at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
- UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer CenterLos Angeles, Los Angeles
- MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
- Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL
- Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL
- Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY
- MedStar Washington Hospital Center, NW Washington, DC
- UChicago Medicine, Chicago, IL
- Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, Santa Barabara, CA
- Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA
- UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA
Treatment costs
The treatment cost could be dependant on the various factors as given below:
- The location of hospital (if a metro city or 2 tire city),
- Whether accommodation has taken for the attendants,
- Whether a Private ward is chosen
- Kind of treatment a patient has chosen,
- Medical bills,
- Diagnosis charges,
- If a health insurance plan was there,
One can assume the tentative cost of cancer treatment in India in a range of $13,000- $15,000 at Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai.
Recovery Stories
According to the Asbestos.com people who have successfully defeated the cancer has the following things in common:
- They have chosen to Not give up.
- They have tried all the resources to cure this – surgery as well as herbal methodologies
- They have firm beliefs to live the current moment with full enthusiasm and happiness.
- After successful recovery they helped other survivors.
Awesome story of Cancer Recovery
Government Aids (if any)
The GOI has the following schemes to help its citizens pay bills for expensive treatment of cancer.
Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (for people living Below the Poverty Line)
Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund – to provide financial assistance to poor patients living below threshold poverty line and suffering front cancer, for their treatment at Regional cancer center (RCCs/Tertiary Care Cancer centers (TCCC) and State Cancer Institutes (SCf.)
Government has already added 27+ hospitals for the treatment of cancer and more hospitals are in the process.
Happiness and Mesothelioma
Emotional Support
How a patient is supposed to react to the announcement of this chaotic news. Realizing such information is extremely tough for a patient, in the first place. They might start hiding from the people and sometimes not talking at all, and it is totally natural for someone who has been actively working for all his/her life, singing, dancing, or maybe s/he was a people’s person, and suddenly you officially announced to him/ her that you have got a few years, or a few months to live. We can easily deduce that they might be stuck at themselves – what’s next!? A big question mark, indeed!
Well, after getting diagnosed with cancer the life of a cancer patient never remains the same. It is the period when one is supposed to get maximum emotional support from his/ her near and dear ones.
Family members or friends of a cancer survivor should remain in touch with them.
You know studies show that, with the emotional support a cancer survivor is able to adjust with unfavorable changes that cancer brings to them.
This has been experimented by Psychologists and available for further knowledge sharing purposes.
Source:
Emotional “Patient-Oriented” Support in Young Patients With Ist–IInd Stage Breast Cancer: Pilot Study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6290028/
Authors: D. Di Giacomo, J. Ranieri, E. Donatucci, E. Perilli, K. Cannita, D. Passafiume, and C. Ficorella
Published at: National Library of Medicine.
Year: 2018
Other Source:
Clinical management of emotions in patients with cancer: introducing the approach “emotional support and case finding.”
https://academic.oup.com/tbm/article/10/6/1399/5985304
Authors: Joost Dekker, Jeanet Karchoud, Annemarie M J Braamse, Hilde Buiting, Inge R H M Konings, Myra E van Linde, Claudia S E W Schuurhuizen, Mirjam A G Sprangers, Aartjan T F Beekman, Henk M W Verheul
Published: Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy, Research (TBM)
Year: 2020
Does Happiness Sounds Same?
Further, researchers or doctors around the world have done extensive research in identifying the meaning of Happiness for a human brain.
Psychologists (Doctors): Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R.
Research topic: Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?
Published in: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Year: 1978
The above research shows the impact of happiness of two events on two entirely conditioned human brains. Where one is a lottery winner (USD 314 Million) and another one is a paraplegic.
Hope you are able to understand the depth of the situation.
You might have assumed a lotto winner would be the happiest person against the paraplegic. While you may be thinking that once a person gets such an illness it would be impossible for him or her to be happy again but nothing could be further from the truth A pathbreaking research by Dan Gilbert proved that even people who are paraplegic do not become significantly unhappy over time.
In the research psychologists have successfully proved that the brain of both persons may have the same levels of happiness even after the two life changing events in their life.
https://www.nextavenue.org/the-surprising-science-of-happiness/
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_the_surprising_science_of_happiness
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1980-01001-001
What’s next after this AKA what should you do to keep yourself positive?
Now the most interesting part of this post, that is we are going to talk about those 6 things that can really help a cancer patient overcome this illness without any single extra pill.
You should not skip this one part of this post, do read it until the end.
Globally, between 30% and 50% of the approximately 32 million people living with cancer. experience moderate-to-severe pain.
Cancer pain, which may arise from both cancer and its treatment, leads to both physical and psychological health problems. Many patients with cancer (41.5%) report chronic pain and suffer from psychological symptoms such as depression and lower quality of life (QoL)
This can be controlled using Pain-killers or analgesic medicines, but it comes with a cost, that is, side-effects. E.g. One of the Pain-killer is called:- opioids, etc.
So what should a cancer patient really try?
There are practices which can make a cancer patient happier (or calm) in a serious condition like Mesothelioma too.
- Mindfulness Practices:
- Breathing Exercises
- Gratefulness Journal
- P3T 2M Technique
- Keep your social network alive , don’t avoid people.
Let’s get to know all of these techniques one by one:
A) Mindfulness Practices:
Mindfulness is being used increasingly in various aspects of cancer management. Benefits of mindfulness practices are being observed to manage the adverse effects of treatment, symptoms from cancer progression, and the cost-effectiveness compared to conventional contemporary management strategies. In this review article, we present clinical trial data showing the benefits of mindfulness in various aspects of cancer management as well as techniques that have been commonly used in this practice
Source: Evidence for the Role of Mindfulness in Cancer: Benefits and Techniques https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6623989/
Author: Ria Mehta, Kirti Sharma, Louis Potters, A. Gabriella Wernicke, and Bhupesh Parashar
Published in: National Library of Medicine – PubMed Central
Year: 2019
B) Breathing exercises:
The slow breathing techniques act enhancing autonomic, cerebral and psychological flexibility in a scenario of mutual interactions. It helps a cancer patient to connect with other people they could be a friend or a family. The output of healthy harmonious activities with family / friends, while reduction in Anger & similar symptoms been noted in the following research.
Source: Effectiveness of Relaxation Breathing Exercise on fatigue in gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6626290/
Author: Mulhaeriah, Yati Afiyanti, Engkus Kusdinar Achmad, and Moh Syafar Sangkalaa
Published in: National Library of Medicine – PubMed Central
Year: 2018
Other sources: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping/physically/breathing-problems/treatment/breathing-relaxation-techniques
Author/ Team/ Published: Cancer Research UK
Year: 2019
C) Gratefulness Journal
Gratitude has been studied as a disposition that reflects the extent to which people appreciate what they have in life knowing that it has not been given to them forever.
Being grateful has been found to promote quality of life, which is why it may be used to cope in difficult times including during breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Source:
Author: Tomczyk J, Krejtz I, Kornacka M, Nezlek JB
Published in: International Journal of Women’s Health
Year: June 2021
D) P3T 2M Technique
Thoughts are inevitable and constant. While we all know that having positive thoughts is absolutely essential for happiness and well being but the challenge lies in how to convert your negative thoughts which seem to occur very spontaneously and naturally, into positive thoughts.
This technique actually helps a patient to transform their negative thoughts to positive thoughts by learning and implementing the following formula in his/ her daily life.
- Pause,
- Process,
- Postpone and
- Transform
and the other two are Magic Minutes (2M.)
Source: Transform your negative thoughts to Positive thoughts.
Author: Anupma Chandra
Published in: Academia.edu
Year: 2018
Social support is regarded as a complex construct which has long been suggested to have direct and buffering effects on patients’ well being and emotional adjustment to cancer. Cross-sectional and prospective studies show a positive association between perceived social support and psychological adjustment following cancer treatment. Research findings suggest that the evidence for the relationship between social support and cancer progression is sufficiently strong. This report points out the importance of social support in cancer and provides recommendations for health care professionals.
Source: http://koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO201202950482203.page
Author: Usta, Yasemin Yildirim (Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu School of Nursing, Department of Medical Nursing)
Published in: Importance of Social Support in Cancer Patients – Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention)
Year: 2012
F) How to become friend with cancer patients:
Today, most people with cancer are treated as outpatients, meaning they don’t have to stay in the hospital. During this time they often need help, support, and encouragement.
Many studies have found that cancer survivors with strong emotional support tend to better adjust to the changes cancer brings, have a more positive outlook, and often report a better quality of life. Research has shown that people with cancer need support from friends. You can make a big difference in the life of someone with cancer.
Source: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/caregivers/how-to-be-a-friend-to-someone-with-cancer.html
Author & Published by: Researchers (Doctors) at American Cancer Society medical
Published in: 2021
We hope this post helped you a lot and we wish you very best to recover from this illness shortly. Don’t forget to take your happiness pill & stay healthy.
Thank you.
