Cancer
Cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths in the United States. Cancer has several different causes. One major cause of cancer is by smoking. Smoking is called a carcinogen. What a carcinogen is, is anything that might cause the cancer to occur. Smoking can eventually lead to lung cancer which is the second most common type of cancer in men. On top of that some might have cancer from birth and not even know it. This is caused by the cells genetic make up that as a person gets older it will mutate and become a cancerous cell. Lastly the most common type of cancer in the United States is skin cancer which comes from overexposure to the sun.
Cancer continues to be a growing disease in the United States with over 467,000 cases being treated in 2003 alone. Cancer is also growing more and more common because it can occur on anyone no matter how old they are. Cancer is also more common to people over the age of 50 and is one of the leading causes of deaths in the United States.
Cancer can at first be detected by the person infected by the disease by noticing irregular lumps, tumors, or even pain in the body. Cancer also has the ability to grow and spread throughout a person's body or in other words metastasize. Usually a doctor wants to eliminate cancer before it has metastasized to improve the chances of being cured, but if noticed too late the disease will turn deadly. Also a lot of irregular weight loss could be an additional indication of a person having cancer. If a person is thought to have cancer then blood tests and X-rays will be performed to make a definite decision on the person's health. Most people would see a pathologist for a final opinion on their condition and with a pathologist they will be treated with the appropriate treatment.
In addition doctors will check your past family history and your own medical history to determine your chances for having cancer. On the other hand, there are such types of tumors called benign...
View Full Essay