THG Formulations

Melanoma is the most common kind of skin cancer and skin cancer is the most prevalent kind of cancer in the Western world. It begins in skin cells called melanocytes.

Melanocytes are found under the skin, which is made up of two strata: the epidermis on the outside and the dermis below that. To be accurate, melanocytes are found in the lowest levels of the epidermis, but not actually in the dermis.

These cells produce melanin, which has an effect on the epidermis? pigmentation, both natural skin colour and because of exposure to the sun as in tanning.

Sometimes, a group of near-by melanocytes combine with a little local tissue to form a mole (also called a nevus; plural nevi). The average individual has between ten and forty moles, which usually seem before the fortieth birthday. They often fade or disappear with age.

Moles are non-malignant (non-cancerous) and can be flat or raised in shape and almost any colour. Usually, they are a little darker than one?s natural skin colour. Dark skinned individuals tend to have more moles.

Cancer begins in cells where the regular cycle of decay and replacement by regeneration has been disrupted. In these conditions, cells do not always die when they should and new cells are produced needlessly.

This, in turn, creates a growth (also known as a tumor), which can be either benign or malignant (that is to say cancerous or non-cancerous).

Benign tumors can be surgically taken away and hardly ever come back. They do not spread or affect adjacent tissue.

Malignant tumors are cancerous and can have an impact on adjacent tissue and organs. In these cases, cancerous cells can break away from the primary tumor and affect other organs or enter the blood stream (lymphatic system), wherein it will spread to other parts of the body (metastasis) quite quickly. The incidence of metastasis is a deciding factor in how a physician treats cancer.

Melanoma happens when melanocytes become malignant. It can occur at any age, but the likelihood rise with age. Fair-skinned people are more probable to develop it than dark-skinned people. In fair-skinned races, men tend to get it on the torso and neck, whereas women get it on their calves (lower legs).

Dark-skinned people hardly ever suffer from melanoma, but if they do, it is usually under the finger and toe nails or on the soles of the feet or palms of the hands. When cancerous cells from melanoma enter the lymphatic system and affect other organs, it is still attributed to melanoma. For instance, if the liver becomes affected by cancerous cells from melanoma, it is referred to as metastatic melanoma, not liver cancer.

Frequently, the first indication of melanoma is a change in the size, shape, colour, or texture of an existing mole, although it often first manifests itself with a new mole or moles. Self-diagnosis is not to be relied on – always seek professional advice if you have any problems relating to your skin. However, it is wise to keep in mind ?The ABCD of Melanoma?, which goes like this:

Asymmetry: the shape of one side of the mole is not the same as the other side.

Border: the border or edges of the mole are not plainly defined; a bit ragged or the colouration ?blurs into the adjacent skin.

Colouration: the mole is not uniformly of one colour, although it is not so vital what that colour is.

Diameter: there is a transformation in size or a new mole gets bigger than 5mm in size.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on quite a few subjects, but is now involved with the stages of ovarian cancer. If you want to know more, please visit our web site at Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

Cervical cancer is a disease that can easily be treated. Early detection of the disease through paps smear test can reduce the chances of the problem escalating to severe cervical cancer. Having this test early, many women will reduce risk of spreading Human Papilloma virus that causes this disease. In United States of America, more than 9,000 women used to get this disease annually. But today, this number has reduced significantly. Not all women who are having a cervical cancer can be treated easily; hence it is good to know that there are various ways in which this disease can be prevented. These are listed below:

Ensure you go for regular pap smear test

This is the main way that you can realize whether you have the disease or not. You are supposed to visit your physician regularly. In case your doctor will detect the cervical disease at an early stage, it will be possible to be treated. When the disease is detected at later stages, the treatment can be hard.

Being faithful to one partner

You reduce chances of getting cervical cancer by avoiding many sexual partners. Having many sexual partners puts one in danger of getting Human Papilloma. Therefore, you are supposed to remain faithful to your partner.

Avoiding smoking

Smoking cigarette can increase the risk of getting cervical cancer When the Human Pipilloma virus is added on top of smoking cigarettes, it will cause an infection on the cervix leading to cancer. So, you should avoid smoking to reduce the chances of cervical cancer.

Immunization against HPV

For the young people who are below the age of 27 years, immunization against Human Pipilloma virus is recommended. This vaccine will prevent the young woman from getting Human papilloma virus, and is highly endorsed by the FDA. The girls who are as young as nine years can also be immunized. It is advisable for the young generation to be vaccinated before they involve themselves in active sex.

Protection when having sexual intercourse

This method of prevention can be mostly applied to those people who are sexually active. It can also be used by the majority who have multiple sex partners. This will prevent them from getting the HPV virus as well as any other disease that is transmitted through sexual intercourse including AIDs and other STDs.

Learn more about Cervical Cancer. Stop by Hazel Mccoy’s site where you can find out all about Signs of Cervical Cancer and cervical cancer prevention.

Thyroid cancer (cancer of the thyroid gland) comes in four types: papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic. Papillary and medullary are slow-growing and occasionally return, but respond well to therapy in patients under middle age.

Medullary also responds well to therapy, if it has not already spread. Anaplastic developes rapidly and responds badly to therapy. The extent of these types of cancer is not uniform throughout the world, but is roughly: 78% for papillary; 17% for follicular; 4% for medullary and 1% for anaplastic.

Normally, the first symptom of difficulty is the growth of a nodule or nodules in the neck near the thyroid gland. However, just 5% of these are malignant. Occasionally an early warning sign is discomfort or even pain; occasionally, the lymph nodes swell, the voice alters or there is hypo- or hyper- thyroidism.

Diagnosis usually takes place after a nodule is discovered during a (routine) physical examination. The patient is then referred to an endocrinologist or a thyroidologist, who will arrange an ultrasound test or a biopsy. Using a thin needle enough cells can be taken to perform an accurate test on the precise state of the thyroid and whether the nodules are cancerous.

Papillary thyroid cancer more often occurs in women and often in the 30-40 year old age group and is frequently characterized by bulging eyes. If the growth is less than 1cm in size a partial thyroidectomy or hemithyroidectomy would probably be recommended.

Above 1cm and a full thyroidectomy is preferred. Some surgeons would rather a full thyroidectomy anyway because the cancer cannot come back then.

Follicular thyroid cancer is more common in women over 50 years of age. Therapy is most often full thyroidectomy as the threat of recurrence of this aggressive form is quite big for partial surgery.

Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) starts in the cells that produce the hormone calcitonin. Increased degrees of calcitonin in the blood are a realistic indication of MTC, although these elevated levels of calcitonin are probably not harmful in themselves.

Changes in the DNA concerned in cell growth and development are responsible for nearly all cases of hereditary or familial medullary thyroid carcinoma. Hereditary medullary thyroid cancer is inherited as a 50/50 likelihood from each affected parent. DNA analysis makes it possible to identify children who carry the mutant gene.

Surgical removal of the thyroid in children who carry the mutant gene is effective if the entire thyroid gland is removed at an early age, before there is a spread of the tumor. Hereditary MTC accounts for around 25% of all cases of MTC. The other 75% of cases are called sporadic MTC and normally occur in older patients.

Frequently the disease is well advanced in these cases as there has been no screening as in hereditary MTC. The first sign is frequently diarhoea. The likelihood of surviving MTC seem to be linked to the rate at which the patient?s post operative calcitonin levels double.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer is highly aggressive and likelihood of survival are almost zero. It is resistant to all known cancer medications and invades nearby tissue rapidly.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on quite a few subjects, but is now involved with the stages of ovarian cancer. If you want to know more, please visit our web site at Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

Dry skin is quite often sensitive as well, which just makes it harder to care for. Dry sensitive skin is taut because of the lack of natural oils and has a tendency to develop small expression lines that will eventually become wrinkles. Furthermore, this kind of skin makes one more liable to allergic reactions, rashes, capillaries rupturing and sudden flushes. Therefore, taking care of dry sensitive skin is a real challenge sometimes. It is worth mentioning that it affects people of all ages, colours and genders.

You need to follow stringent rules in your choice of cleansing, moisturising and make-up products if you have dry sensitive skin to take care of. First of all, you have to reduce the amount of products you put on your face. The fact is, the more chemicals you come into contact with, the higher the chance of developing rashes. The products ought to be fragrance-free and hypo-allergenic so that you don’t develop red, irritation blotches. Blusher and foundation could pose some problems for dry sensitive skin.

Try not to use too much make-up in order to permit the skin to breathe properly. When shopping for make up, other than the hypo-allergenic label, you should also make sure that they are oil free. The foundation or the blusher should be water-based because they don’t clog your pores. Oil-absorbing foundations are not recommended for dry sensitive skin, because they will make your epidermis even drier.

Furthermore, the use of exfoliants or astringent products is not to be recommended on dry sensitive skin because they can irritate the thin epidermis. The same thing must be said in relation to washing – too much washing of the face will result in eliminating the natural oils that oil the skin, which will result in an accelerated dryness.

Furthermore, your day-time moisturiser should have a sun-protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 in it. However, although you may enjoy sunbathing, dry sensitive skin does not really allow you to enjoy such outdoor, skin-parching pleasures.

If you have dry sensitive skin, don’t expose it to the sun unnecessarily to tan it, because you will only achieve premature ageing and possibly even quite serious health problems. And last but not least, a warning must be given that you should change some of your cosmetic products for other ones along the lines mentioned previously.

If you decide that you want to change to another brand of skincare products, it is very important that you test the product on a small section of skin in order to test whether it triggers any allergic reactions.

Skincare is vital in these days of pollution and ozone deficiency. If you require information on Dry Skin Care Products, please visit our website entitled Hypoallergenic Skin Care Also published at Dry Sensitive Skin.

Breast cancer has been broken out with great havoc. Approximately 40,500 women become victim of this chronic disease each year in England and Wales. Men also have not been saved from this trauma, though women are the major sufferer of this bloody bug. This syndrome has not left Pakistan too with its effect. Breast cancer requires very much attention and awareness among our people so that we may save ourselves with this ailment.

In the country like Pakistan lack of awareness, hesitation, lump of problems and shortage of financial resources make patient unable to cure and he goes into the mouth of fatality soon. There are a number of treatments carried out for the cure of breast cancer. The treatment varies from patient to patient depending upon his immune system, age and stage of the cancer. A number of ways can be opted like surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy and so on.

Above all one should know about this disease and its symptoms. It is always recommended that women above 40 years should have their regular medical checkup because they have greater chances of breast cancer. Everyone can have his/her own check up at home. According to Consultant breast surgeon Clive Griffith, when someone feels any abnormality in the shape of his/her breast or some deformity near the breast must consult the physician. Different people face different behaviors like some women have lump at their armpit or the darkening or zit on the breast, thickening of tissues, behavior of breast during menstrual time period, sometimes become tender near armpits. After hysterectomy (removal of the womb) and menopause women should be conscious about their health.

Sooner the cancer is detected effective is the therapy. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) advises to check out regularly for the symptoms of breast cancer. The classification of breast cancer has been done on the basis of development of the disease and hence has been categorized into four stages. This classification helps in treatment of the disease in a clear way.

Early (zero) stage of breast cancer is the most initial stage when the tumor is limited to only breast tissue and is not regulated towards lymph node.

Stage 1 of breast cancer is the stage when the tumor size grows to 1 cm and other tissues and organs are not affected.

In Stage 2A the tumor involves lymph node with the increase in size less than 2 cm but when the size ranges from 2-5 cm it may not involve axillary lymph nodes.

In Stage 2B the tumor size increases from 5 cm with or without involvement of axillary lymph nodes.

Late (metastatic) stages of breast cancer are the phase when the trauma has been spread to lymph nodes and other tissues.

Stage 3A is the local spread of the cancer in which melanoma spreads to size 5 cm with or without axillary lymph nodes with the network structure of tumor cells with surrounding tissues.

Stage 3B is when the tumor size is not definite but metastases and penetrates into the skin, chest wall and internal lymph nodes of mammary gland (present inside the chest below breast).

Stage 3C is the stage when sarcoma has been spread with greater metastases with involvement of lymph nodes. The tumor may be of any size.

Stage 4 is the tumor that has spread to the parts of the body like bones, lungs, liver, brain or distant lymph nodes.

Different treatments have been developed to cure the cancer to protect and save the life of patient as soon as possible. The doctors say that sooner the patient comes sooner they try to chuck out this disease from him. Sometimes surgery is carried out to remove cancer cells. Some lymph nodes are taken from the underarms to check out whether it is infected with the cancer cells, this process is called biopsy or lymph node dissection. It is just a method to detect the infected cells.

Breast-conserving surgery is a sort of surgery to remove cancer cells but the breast is not removed. Lumpectomy is a surgery to remove tumor cells and tissues around. In another type of surgery, Partial or segmental mastectomy the infected part of breast and the tissues around are cut off.

Total mastectomy is the operation in which the whole breast is removed from the body because it has been so infected that it may affect other body organs and no treatment can cure it. Modified radical mastectomy is done when many of lymph nodes underarm, chest wall muscle have also been infected. In this case too breast is removed from the body. Even after the removal of complete cancer part visible at the time of operation procedure, some other therapies are also conducted to remove the suspected cancer cells left into the body. These therapies include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted therapy.

Sometimes after mastectomy when some part of breast that is infected is removed is surgically reshaped. The process is called breast reconstruction. In this case patient’s own tissues from any part other than breast are implanted filling with saline or silicone gel. All such facilities are FDA recommended.

Radiation therapy is the therapy in which cancer cells are killed by applying high energy x-rays onto the infected part. For external therapy x-ray device is placed outside the body while for internal therapy radioactive substance sealed in needle, wire, seed or catheter is placed directly near the infected site.

Chemotherapy is another traditional procedure of treatment in which drugs are given to the patient to stop the growth of cancer cells. Drugs can be administered orally, muscularly or through spinal cord depending on the stage of the disease.

In hormone therapy hormones are removed to block the growth of cancer cells. The hormone estrogen gives medium to cancer cells to grow produced from ovaries. Ovaries ablation is another therapy to stop the ovaries to make estrogen.

Targeted therapy is a method of killing cancer cell using drugs without harming normal uninfected tissues.

Other newer techniques are also being adopted due to their efficiency like sentinel lymph node biopsy followed by surgery in which the first infected lymph node is treated and operated out to save the rest part of the body from this infection. High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant is also conducted.

Though the life risk of breast cancer is 10% but the important is to have a life with quality rather than quantity. The war against breast cancer has increasing daily. Every person must go for regular checkups to avoid or detect such diseases.

Want to know more about my work read my breast cancer treatments blog, and also must read my post on breast cancer stages