GREAT! Dr. clearly explains what happens with cancer

The final type, basal-like cancer (often called “triple negative” because its growth is not fueled by the most common biomarkers for breast cancer — estrogen, progesterone and HER2), is the most aggressive, accounting for up to 20 percent of breast cancers. More prevalent among young and African-American women, it is genetically closer to ovarian cancer. Within those classifications, there are, doubtless, further distinctions, subtypes that may someday yield a wider variety of drugs that can isolate specific tumor characteristics, allowing for more effective treatment. But that is still years away.

Recent medical research suggests that the use of medical marijuana could play a significant role in reducing the progression of the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease. Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC that is its primary ingredient reduces and prevents the formation of neural protein deposits deep within the brain. These deposits are primarily responsible for this degenerative neural condition. Medical cannabis that is supplied supplied by medical marijuana dispensaries control the formation of these protein deposits or sticky amyloid plaques that result in neuronal damage, inhibits memory and cognition, cause severe loss of memory, and lead to confusion, irritability, mood swings, spatial disorientation, and speech problems.

The progressive and fatal Alzheimer’s disease destroys brain cells, which results in loss of memory, dementia, and disturbed motor skills along with diminished intellect and social skills. Alzheimer’s disease is among the top ten causes of death in the elderly in the United States. Research indicates that medical cannabis represents an effective drug treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and some of its symptoms.

While Medical Marijuana (MMJ) is legal in some cities of the United States, it is mandatory that all MMJ card holders obtain Medical Cannabis at legal the dispensary. A MMJ dispensary can also guide a patient in the process of obtaining their medical marijuana card.

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative condition that is marked by a continuous decline in memory and intellectual facility. It is incurable and terminal and usually affects people over 65 years of age. MMJ reduces the production of the neural enzyme acetylcholinesterase that triggers the formation of harmful protein deposits in the brain and lowers the level of the important neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.

As with most man-made medicinal products, each treatment also causes its own symptoms. For instance, the immunosuppressive medicines can cause nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. Steroids also cause these symptoms, with the addition of anxiety and depression, as well as bone thinning, peptic ulcers and other issues with prolonged usage.

The treatment of cancer has undergone evolutionary changes as understanding of the underlying biological processes has increased. Tumor removal surgeries have been documented in ancient Egypt, hormone therapy was developed in 1896, and radiation therapy was developed in 1899. Chemotherapy, immunotherapy and newer targeted therapies are products of the 20th century. As new information about the biology of cancer emerges, treatments will be developed and modified to increase effectiveness, precision, survivability, and quality of life.

Radiation therapy may be used to treat almost every type of solid tumor, including cancers of the brain, breast, cervix, larynx, liver, lung, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, uterus, or soft tissue sarcomas. Radiation is also used to treat leukemia and lymphoma. Radiation dose to each site depends on a number of factors, including the radiosensitivity of each cancer type and whether there are tissues and organs nearby that may be damaged by radiation. Thus, as with every form of treatment, radiation therapy is not without its side effects.

Cancer pain can be associated with continuing tissue damage due to the disease process or the treatment (i.e. surgery, radiation, chemotherapy). Although there is always a role for environmental factors and affective disturbances in the genesis of pain behaviors, these are not usually the predominant etiologic factors in patients with cancer pain. Some patients with severe pain associated with cancer are nearing the end of their lives, but in all cases palliative therapies should be used to control the pain. Issues such as social stigma of using opioids, work and functional status, and health care consumption can be concerns and may need to be addressed in order for the person to feel comfortable taking the medications required to control his or her symptoms.

The typical strategy for cancer pain management is to get the patient as comfortable as possible using the least amount of medications possible but opioids, surgery, and physical measures are often required. In the past doctors have been reluctant to prescribe narcotics for pain in terminal cancer patients, for fear of contributing to addiction or suppressing respiratory function. The palliative care movement, a more recent offshoot of the hospice movement, has engendered more widespread support for preemptive pain treatment for cancer patients. The World Health Organization also noted uncontrolled cancer pain as a worldwide problem and established a “ladder” as a guideline for how practitioners should treat pain in patients who have cancer.

Breast cancer in your breast doesn’t kill you; the disease becomes deadly when it metastasizes, spreading to other organs or the bones. Early detection is based on the theory, dating back to the late 19th century, that the disease progresses consistently, beginning with a single rogue cell, growing sequentially and at some invariable point making a lethal leap. Curing it, then, was assumed to be a matter of finding and cutting out a tumor before that metastasis happens.

Source: What is cancer? – YouTube