Over 7. 5 million people die every year from cancer and fewer than 9 million survive every year from it. Compare the two and there’s a big different. Not many people understand the challenges people who are diagnosed with cancer go through every day. Cancers effects are something that cannot be controlled. Emotional and physical changes take place when dealing with cancer it doesn’t just affect the person with it; it also affects the people around that person.
Cancer is a sickness that interferes with a person’s life and changes it permanently. The journey that a person with cancer go through just to survive and fight back cancer also has a huge impact on their life it either breaks them down or make them stronger. Cancer is a term used for diseases which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues.
First, when a carcinogen (a carcinogen is a substance that can lead to cancer) injures the cell’s DNA, the cell can either be repaired which will cause it to be an healthy cell or can permanently kill the cell’s DNA (if to many cells are killed that can lead to mutations, or changes in genes that can lead to cancer) or the carcinogen can cause the cell to directly transform into an cancerous cell. It is not really understood what causes cancer and why does it cause cancer. It said by many specialist and doctors that this different factors causes cancer.
•lifestyle factors: including nutrition, tobacco use, physical activity •Naturally occurring factors: ultraviolet light, radon gas, infectious agents. •Medical treatments •Chemical exposures However, there are many more carcinogens that can cause cancer they all have a different affect on people. With this in mind, receiving cancer depends on age, behaviors, genetics, and health stage. Older people are more likely to get cancer because their body isn’t as healthy as it was when they were younger however all ages can get cancer older people are just at a much greater risk.
Behavior includes smoking, having a poor diet, lack of exercise, and heavy drinking. Which means getting cancer can depend on a person’s lifestyle choices. Genetics play a large role in getting cancer, if someone in an individual’s family history has cancer they could be at risk of getting it too including the same type they had. Lastly, a person’s health stage meaning if a person is already sick and have some type of virus or bacteria they are already very fragile and it is some what likely that the sickness can lead to cancer.
Secondly, cancer has effect on a person’s body (changes in their body) and appearance. Cancer affects a person’s body in a dramatic way; it makes the person extremely weak and sick. Cancer can cause flu like sickness which can make a person have constant fever, indigestion, constant coughing sneezing, and pains and aches. Also, cancer causes skin problems which include; skin either turning red, yellow, or darkening. In addition cancer causes excessive itching and hair growth and bloody sores. Cancer has an effect on a person’s bladder functions and bowel movements.
It can cause blood in stool, painful urination, blood in urine, and constant diarrhea or constipation. Not to mention cancer also causes unusual bleeding, memory loss, problems with thinking and paying attention, and lack of sleep. Cancer effects on a person’s appearance as I mentioned before the problems with skin and excessive hair growth. The medical treatment for cancer is what causes hair to be loss. Cancer affects a person’s immune system which makes it very easy for them to get sick from just being outside or in an environment where there are a lot of people.
There are many different types of cancer and they all have different effects on people. The most common types of cancer include breast cancer, lung cancer, and leukemia. Breast cancer is malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the breast that can grow and spread. Breast cancer usually occurs in women but men can get it too. Breast cancer side effects include; loss of appetite which can make it very hard for a person with breast cancer to eat. Next, nausea and vomiting can occur from being sick all of the time and from not eating.
It can also cause weakness and fatigue which causes depression, no eating, pain, and inactivity. Some other effects are mouth soreness, hair loss, weight gain, premature menopause, and bleeding. Lung cancer is a series of abnormal lung cells grown out of control. It occurs in both men and women and it most caused from tobacco smoking. The effects of lung cancer includes; shortness of breath because having lung cancer can affect the oxygen and air a person takes in. Next effect is heavy achy pain in chest area which kind of feels like a heart attack. Persistent cough and coughing up blood sputum from lungs.
Some other side affects are wheezing, hoarseness, unexplained weight loss, and infections. Leukemia is caused when immature blood cells (mainly white cells) become damaged and causes the blood cells to grow and divide. The bad blood cells crowd out the good blood cells leaving no room for normal cells. There are different types of Leukemia like chronic, acute, lymphocytic, and myelogenous. The effects of Leukemia include; Blood clotting which happens when the immature white blood cells crowd out the blood platelets and causes blood clotting which makes the individual bruise and bleed easily and heal slowly.
Leukemia also cause the individual to have a weak immune system making it very easy to get sick and get infections. Some other effects are nausea, fevers, chills, flu-like sickness, headaches, and weight loss. Cancer has a huge impact on the individual life including personal life, friends, and family. Cancer affects the person personal life because it causes the person to always be in the risk of getting sick or being sick and having to make constant trips to the hospital. The person with cancer cant always go out and have and do what is they want to or many what they need to.
As far as having a job it could be really hard for that person to have a job and keep it because they might be always sick or even always in the hospital. Without a job they won’t have money and wont be able to maybe keep their house or buy things they need. If they have goals or things that they really want to complete it could be challenging for them to achieve those goals because cancer can keep them from doing so. Cancer has a big effect on the individuals family life it can turn their whole world upside down. The individual’s family has to take on important roles and responsibilities.
Some responsibilities include handling finances because the person dealing will be in and out of the hospital and like I mentioned before they might not be able to keep a job so they family have to step in and help that person out. Also, caring for children if have any and also caring for the sick person. They have to take care of the household maintenances overall. This is both physically and emotionally draining for their family. Communication skill is something they all will have to develop it is very important for them to communicate with each other, person with cancer, and doctors.
Cancer however also has an effect on the individual friend life meaning social life. Their friends will either walk away or they will gain friends. Teenagers especially diagnosed with cancer need all the support and friends they can have because it can be very tough on them. The communication between them and their peers might not always be very strong because it could be hard for that person to always communicate which can cause friends to walk away or not want to be friends with that person. Lastly, surviving cancer has a huge effect on the person with it.
Trying to fight back cancer can be very hard because of all effects and symptoms the treatment for cancer brings. There isn’t an absolute safe cure for cancer sometimes it practically impossible for certain people to survive the cancer treatments without getting very sick or even dying. It is most likely that a kid will die from the cancer treatments than an adult because of them being so fragile and young. However, It is not extremely impossible surviving cancer but being strong and having courage is both needed in the process. The most common cancer treatments include; chemotherapy, radiology/radiation therapy, oncology rehabilitation.
Chemotherapy is a treatment which damages the rapid growth of cancerous blood cells it can also wipe out normal cells. The effects of chemotherapy are hair loss because the drug is so strong it causes all of your hair to fall out. It also causes lots of pain, weakness, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Radiology/ radiation therapy is a treatment for cancer that involves using high-energy radiation to kill off cancer cells by damaging their DNA however radiation can also can normal cells which can lead to dangerous effects. Some of radiation effects to patient include; Memory loss, hair loss, and it can also cause women to develop breast cancer.
Oncology rehabilitation is a cancer treatment that basically just helps benefit the patient and help them deal with the side effects due to the other treatments. Oncology rehabilitation really help reduces stress which is extremely helpful. Cancer is proven to be beatable it is a challenge and requires lots of support and belief. I found an article about a girl named Kelly who survived cancer twice (as I mentions before cancer is unpredictable it can come back at any time). She is 29 years old and her and her mother both were diagnosed with breast cancer unfortunately her mother lost her fight and died at the age of 44.
The treatment she chose was chemotherapy it was very challenging for her to go through it but after four long months of nonstop treatment she was finally finished and beat cancer again for the second time. She is now living cancer free but she always very caution and aware that it can strike back at any moment. Overall, Cancer is a crucial illness that interferes and affects a person’s body, appearance, mind, health, and other big factors. The effect of cancer can vary depending on what type of cancer the person have but however their all quit challenging to live with.
Cancer is so powerful and controlling over someone’s life and changes it forever. Cancer can tear down a person slowly and take away everything that person had. Not many people understand fighting back cancer is harder than living with it sometimes. The treatments and the big effort put into it can really drain the patient. Even when a person gets rid of cancer it can always strike back at any given time. Once cancer is gone the effects of cancer doesn’t always go away when the sickness done so having support and being strong is what helps surviving cancer become easy.