When interviewing my family there are no hereditary diseases to where it’s been passed down from one member to another and some of the diseases were acute because the individual was 97 years old. Those were relatives on my dad’s side; on my mother’s side nothing is really hereditary as well. My grandfather has cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, and obesity. My grandmother has skin cancer and type two diabetes. My great grandmother was 97 years old and didn’t have and health issues until about a year before her death where she developed acute dementia.
These are relatives on my father’s side; my father on the other hand has no health issues at all. He is 49 years old and still lives an active life style of a police officer. He is currently the commander for Madera Police Department; he runs four to five miles or lifts weights almost every day. My grandmother had a stroke do to a brain aneurism, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. This is my mother’s mom, my mom on the other hand has one undeveloped kidney and she is the only one that has this.
When talking with my parents about this they advised me that even though we have some family members with certain diagnosed diseases, they are not hereditary. The reasons they say these are not hereditary is because they are passed down and are not found in other individuals in the family. Some of the reasons why certain members have some of these diseases is the neglect they have for their health in every aspect. My family’s habits and my own are the same for the most part; we eat as many meals together as possible. My daily habits include eating everything I feel like with disregard if it’s healthy or not.
For the most part I eat relatively healthy. Many of my meals are not only rich in protein but also high in fiber, good carbs, and good fats. I work eight hours out of my day along with school from anywhere from two to four hours. Along with that I go to the gym for one to two hours and watch my daughter for another three to four, the time I’m not at the gym, school, work or watching my daughter I’m watching TV or doing homework. My meals let alone my food vary based on if I’m on a diet for a show or if I go out to eat.
Like many young adults my age we not only eat out once in a while but we also go out to bars and drink. I do occasionally go to the bars and drink but that is rare. When you put it on a broad scale such as a month, In a month’s span I probably drink five to six days out of the month. On the other hand though I chew tobacco which is said and found not to be good for your health, for as much as I chew I could see how that could affect my health in the long run. I use to chew about a can and a half a day which is very bad, now I’m down to on average half a can a day.
My father chews I don’t know exactly how much but on average I would say about a can to a can and a half. I don’t really think it’s him that influenced me to chew tobacco but more of the personal curiosity of how it would be like. For the most part I feel like I’m in good health do to how good my blood pressure, glucose levels, and the ratio of my HDL to LDL are all in the optimal level. The period of time that I sleep verse the time I am awake may be the healthiest but I as an individual have learned to function on about six to seven hours of sleep.
I do not know if my body personally goes through every cycle of the sleep stages but I do know that I have developed a routine where my body gets tired at a certain point and wakes up at a certain time. I do live a very active lifestyle and it does have its pros and cons and for some people it may not work, but for me I have to make it work if I want to get everything done in the day that I want and need to. When doing my research on oral cancer, it is not confined to just a broad term. The mouth is actually broken up into many parts.
The oral cavity consists of the: lips, lining of your cheeks, salivary glands (glands that make saliva), roof of your mouth (hard plate), back of your mouth (soft plate and uvula), floor of your mouth (area under your tongue), gums and teeth, tongue, and your tonsils. Oral cancer starts in the soft parts in your mouth such as the tongue and the floor of your mouth. At least all the time the cancer is found in the flat cells (squamous) of the mouth that covers the surfaces of the tongue and lips; these cancers are called squamous cell carcinomas. When oral cancer spreads it travels through the lymphatic system.
When the cancerous cells enter the system they are carried along by the lymph, a clear watery fluid like substance. When these cancer cells appear they are found in the lymph nodes in the neck. Once this happens, the cancer cells spread to the other parts of the neck, lungs, and other parts of the body. When this occurs, the cancer cells have the abnormalities as the primary cancer cells found in the mouth. When doctors find these cancerous cells in other regions, such as the lungs, they do not treat them as lung cancer but rather as oral cancer.
The new tumor is sometimes called distant or metastatic disease by some doctors; since it is actually oral cancer cells in the lungs or other internal places on the body. Who’s at risk for oral cancer, doctors cannot explain why one individual develops oral cancer and another does not. Researchers have shown the individual with certain risk factors are more likely to develop oral cancer. These individuals are ones who partake in the use of tobacco, both smoking and chewing, individuals that are exposed to the sun, some who are susceptible to various high risk viruses and even other who don’t eat take their diets into consideration.
Individuals that use tobacco products make up the majority of individuals with oral cancer. This is due to if the individual smokes (pipe tobacco, cigarettes, or cigars), chewing tobacco (snuff, long cut, pouches, leaf or snus) and even individuals that use other tobacco products such as bidis or kreteks. People that smoke and consume alcohol are at a higher risk of oral cancer, even though it may seem odd but people that consume alcohol heavily can and are at higher risk of oral cancer as well. If an individual does neither of these, consume alcohol or tobacco, they are still at possible risk of oral cancer.
Sun exposure to an individual’s lips, where they develop cancer of the lip due to the lack of use of lotion or lip balm can put a person at risk. This can be prevented if the individual has a lotion or lip balm with sunscreen in it. Just something as simple as wearing a hat with a brim to shield the sun’s rays can help. If an individual does not protect themselves from all three of these risk factors, they are putting themselves at a higher likelihood to develop oral cancer.
Another key factor that should be recognized and looked into more is, does the individual consume enough of the proper fruits and vegetables which can also cause oral cancer. Even some viruses can affect the greater likely hood of developing oral cancer, such as the human papilloma virus (HPV). Some symptoms of oral cancer can be seen by the naked eye, these are usually patches in the mouth or lip. They are red, white or sometimes a mixture of both red and white patches. White patches are the most common and sometimes become malignant, the mixture of both red and white are more likely to become malignant then the just white patches.
The all red patches are smooth, brightly colored and are often malignant. Some of the indicating signs of the onset of oral cancer or even the findings of it are: sore on your lip that will not heal, bleeding in your mouth, loose teeth, difficulty or pain when swallowing, difficulty wearing dentures, lump in your neck and even an ear ache. Even though other problems or infections can cause these symptoms, individuals should consult with a doctor or dentist to positively diagnose the cause of the symptom. The information and findings obtain when conducting this paper I was somewhat knowledgeable of.
The other information I found on oral cancer was new to me, even though I do chew tobacco I still have the mindset that I will not be that individual to develop oral cancer. In saying this I have made the effort to cut back and in the near future stop, not only for my benefits in the long run but to prove to myself and my child that have the mental toughness and capability to do so. Oral cancer due to chewing tobacco is one of those few things that not only is a disease or illness due to cancer but it is also an addiction. Being that it is an addiction it makes it that much more prevalent to stop.
This is because it not only affects your physical health but your mental health as well. I did not research what I am about to state but it is a personal finding and felling I’m portraying. Chewing tobacco is an addiction after a certain period of time when you become dependent on it to calm you down, a part of your everyday routine and even as just an oral stimulant you’re seeking to suppress. I have not only seen this in myself but in my family as well. My father and my uncles chew, my uncles to my knowledge have quit but with my father and myself I feel like it is a never ending battle, not that we cannot stop but if we want to stop.
The reason I say this how I do is because it has become a part of us more so in my father because he has been chewing for 33 years. Granted he has not had any symptoms of oral cancer but like my research has stated it is a time clock not for if it will happen but when it will happen. As I am getting older and have a daughter of my own I not only want to be around for her but I want my father to be as well. Not only to be around but to be at his most optimal health and to be active in her life like he was in mine and my siblings when we were younger, let alone how is is now today.
Within saying this I feel like this is not only a goal I hope to pursue but one I hope others try to partake in as well. Not only for my cultural background but for my heritage as well family is a big aspect in how we conduct our life and make decisions. We always invite every relative distant cousin or bother, regardless if we have personal quarrels with them or are in business together. We always watch out for one another even if it means doing something we know may not be entirely the right thing to do but we do it anyways because we watch out for one another.
This type of family bond comes with no boundaries to age money or selflessness. We hold our families input close and our values even closer. The one person I have seen hold all of these values to its highest and not only reap the rewards of it not for personal gain but because he is the true definition of a selfless person. With him doing so I have seen him take on the hardships of it as well but my father being the man that he is just picks up and does what he knows is right and teaches us kids including myself that no matter what the only thing you have in this world worth protecting and fighting for is your family.
This is why when doing this heritage project and receiving the answers on if our family has any hereditary diseases and he says we have no hereditary disease. It is not that he is trying to hide anything or be pompous but the mere fact to show and state to me that because we have our family and we take care of one another regardless of the outcome or situation nothing is out of our reach to overcome. This is why when writing this paper I feel like I’m not only helping myself recognize these prevalent issues but that ill open his eyes up to them as well.
In doing so that we can conquer this small but vital issue to ensure the ongoing healthiness we have. Since this is not only about the health of ourselves but the ones around us that we care for and want to see succeed to better lives than the ones we have created for ourselves. In doing so the only way we can do this is if we listen to the ones around us, most of all our family to ensure we are around long enough to see how our knowledge has helped guide them to the life we know they can achieve. Just like my parents try to show and guide me to a path were I can obtain a greater healthier life then was given to them.