How To Treat Lymphoma
Experts say that aside from being unfamiliar with signs and symptoms of lymphoma, this condition can be hard to notice because the usual signs can be quite common. Some may even be mistaken for common ailments such as fever and even colds. But if you are one of those that are at risksomebody who have cancer history in their families or those that have weak immune system that are prone to infectionsit would be best to have an appointment with your doctor.
The most common signs of lymphoma would include enlarged nodes that can be seen as lumps the neck, groin or armpits, non stop fever, loss of appetite, drastic weight loss, too much sweating during bedtime, itchiness on all parts of the body, exhaustion or the constant feeling of being weak, and breathlessness that is usually accompanied by swollen face and neck.
It is advisable that the person who experiences at least three of the mentioned symptoms would go to the doctor for a check up. Once the doctor suspects that you might be suffering from lymphoma, he or she would request for diagnostic procedures including biopsy to confirm the suspicions and to also determine how much damage have the cancer cells brought to the organs of the body.
Once final diagnosis has been made, a series of tests will soon follow in order to get detailed accounts of the disease. These reports are crucial in determining what kind of treatment should be given to the patient.
Treatment options
For those who are diagnosed with lymphoma, it is a must to undergo treatment in order to open up to greater chances of recovery. However, since there are almost 35 different types of lymphoma, the treatment options may also vary and could be on a case to case basis.
When it comes to treatment, experts say that it would be possible to use the same treatment for at least three or more types depending on their nature and the way the patient’s body reacts to it. To get better understanding in lymphoma treatment, here is some overview of the four major treatment options available for you:
1. Chemotherapy. Here, drugs are administered including infusions in the patient’s veins or can be used as in the form of pills. The most common chemotherapy schedules are ABVD, R-CHOP and CHOP.
2. Radiotherapy. This is a treatment options wherein high energy rays are used and directed exactly towards the tumor. Experts say that this can be delivered over small areas which involves field radiation or in large areas which involves extended field radiation.
3. Antibody therapy. Also known as “biological therapy”, this type of treatment make use of drugs such as “rituximab” which is specially designed to target special molecules that are present on the cancer cells’ surface.
4. Bone marrow or stem cell transplant. This is probably the most painful, not to mention the most expensivelymphoma treatment available. Here, high doses of radiation or chemotherapy are used in order to eliminate all cancer cells by killing them. What is good about this is that while it targets cancerous cells, it helps save the bone marrow through stem cells or through the use of marrow transplant.
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How Doctors Test for Lymphoma
In all kinds of diseases and ailments knowing what you have exactly can mean life and death. Identifying, categorizing and understanding your current condition allow doctors to determine the proper and most effective means of making you better. Without proper diagnosis, the prescribed treatment can be useless and at times even prove to be deadly. In the case of lymphoma, one would encounter terms like biopsy, bone marrow examination, blood tests, spinal tap and scans which are some of the basic procedures employed by medical experts to determine or confirm the presence of lymphoma.
Usually, the very first thing that helps determine if one has lymphoma is self diagnosis. Those that observe enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpits or groin would more often than not trigger alarm bells in the their heads. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph nodes and the immune system. As the cancer cells develop, a tumor is formed usually in the lymph nodes which manifests as painless lumps. Upon consultation, your doctor will issue a battery of tests to confirm if it is lymphoma and if it is indeed cancer determine what stage it is at to know the possible course of treatment.
A biopsy is usually the first test that your doctors will employ to confirm the presence of cancer in your lymph nodes. In a biopsy, a small sample of tissue cells is taken from the lump either through a needle or via surgery. The cells are then examined by a pathologist to confirm lymphoma cells and the diagnoses. By studying the sample cells, the can also determine the basic kind of lymphoma the patient has, whether its Hodgkin or Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But to determine the subtle details, doctors revert to the procedure called as immunohistochemistry which simply means looking for the unique properties of the tumor cell surface through the application markers such as fluorescent dye, enzyme, or colloidal gold to accurately classify the tumor.
You doctor would most likely require you to undergo several blood tests. The blood samples would be examined closely to see the state of your red blood cells, white blood cells and blood platelets. These tests would also help determine if the cancer has affected your bodys way of producing blood. The blood tests could also show the condition of your kidneys and liver. And more importantly, the information gathered from the tests could serve as basic foundations for the kind of treatments or drugs that could be used for your speedy recovery.
Doctors might also require you to undergo a bone marrow test wherein a sample of the bone marrow is taken from your hip using a thin needle. It is a common procedure used to test for various cancers and other blood diseases. A spinal tap or lumbar puncture can also be ordered by your doctor in specific circumstances. This checks the fluid in your spinal cord and determines if any cancer cells have invaded the spine. This procedure involves inserting a thin needle at the lower part of your back and I can be quite painful and uncomfortable.
CT scans will also help determine where the tumors are exactly since it takes pictures of your body from different angles. An MRI scan, on the hand, will help determine if the cancer cells have spread to your nervous system or other body organs.
How doctors tests for lymphoma involves logical procedures whose main goal is finding out what exactly the patient has in order to determine what kinds of treatments would be used.
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Cancer and the pH miracle diet
One of the most important points of the pH miracle diet is that cancer can be prevented and reversed by applying the principles of the diet. Although these statements have caused some controversy in the world of health and wellness, many people credit the use of the pH miracle diet in reversing their cancer and improving their overall level of health.
According to Dr. Robert Young, the creator of the pH miracle diet, cancer is not a sickness or a disease as commonly thought. It is an effect of the metabolic acids that are built up in the blood and then released into the tissues. Cancer, according to Dr. Young, is actually an acidic liquid that spills into the cells, tissues and organs. It is not a mutation of the cells.
No condition happens without a cause. There are clear and direct causes for cancer, and as the pH miracle diet books show, the cause for cancer lies in over acidity. Diseases like cancer are due to systemic acidosis, which is extremely low pH (below 7.4). Any pH below 7.0 is considered acidic, and the lower the pH is the higher the acidity level in a persons body is.
At the cellular level, your cells consume the food that you eat and produce metabolic acids. Those acids are normally expelled by the body through sweat or urine. When you consume a vast amount of acidic foods and lead a lifestyle that produces even more acidity, your body does not know what to do with the rest of the acid waste. When you eat highly acidic foods on a regular basis, your body simply does not have enough energy to get rid of the excess acids. They collect in the body, and create disruptions at the cellular level.
Metabolic acids are first kept in the blood and then they are kept in the tissues. When acid is kept in the tissue, it causes sickness, disease and cancerous tissues. Cancer is the acidic liquid from metabolism that pools in the body. It affects the cells around it and, like a rotten apple in a barrel, the effects spread from cell to cell causing disease. Cancer is not made of mutated cells. The cells themselves do not change form but they are limited in their function due to the presence of excess metabolic acid. There is no such thing as cancer cells; the cells are actually normal cells that have become highly acidic.
One of the most surprising parts of the relationship between pH and cancer is that tumors are in fact trying to help the body. They form in areas where the metabolic acid is becoming rampant and effecting cellular function. Tumors are your bodys attempt to prevent the spreading of the acidic cells to other parts of the body. The tumor is actually a signpost to where your body is collecting excess metabolic acid. Some people are genetically predisposed to collect metabolic acid in certain places. This is why some families have a history of, for example, breast cancer.
The tumors themselves are not the problem, but are just signs of what is going wrong in that part of the body. When cancer metastasizes, it is a sign of the acidic condition moving to other cells and making them acidic as well.
Cancer is not something that people get out of the blue. Cancer forming in the body is a sign of the choices that we make in what we eat, what we drink and how we live. An alkaline lifestyle that focuses on an alkaline diet and other calming behaviors will be much less likely to produce cancer, if it does at all. An acidic lifestyle and diet will be full of the pains of the build up of metabolic acid which can, in extremes, lead to cancer.
That is exciting news because it means that cancer is preventable and treatable. A cancer patient can start taking steps toward reversing the effects of cancer and preventing the spread of it. His or her alkaline centered diet may be more aggressive than someones who is just trying to get better overall health. However, by applying the principles of the pH miracle diet they can effectively reduce, control and eliminate cancer from their bodies.
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