Journal 3/11/16 What do you know about cancer? Is it scary? Objective Tonight’s Homework To learn about body disorders including cancer none

Disorders and Cancer Disorders are any health problems not caused by bacteria or viruses. These fall into 3 categories: - Inherited These are problems with DNA. Either a problem is passed on directly, or a person gains a tendency for that problem. Disorders like sickle-cell anemia and hemophilia are inherited genetic problems.

Disorders and Cancer - Trauma and Permanent Damage These disorders come from physical damage. It can be as simple as a scar, or as complicated as a mental problem developing from a stressful injury. The low end can be scars, weather-sensitive body parts that ache, or twitches and slight malfunction. The higher end can be things like missing limbs or PTSD.

Disorders and Cancer - Organic These are health problems that come from the body itself. One type is in deficiency. If you don’t get enough of a nutrient, your body can have problems because it’s missing something vital. A similar effect can also happen from poisoning. Or it can come from radiation, in the form of radiation sickness.

Disorders and Cancer But the last type of organic disorder is in the form of tumors. But don’t worry. Not all tumors are bad. A tumor is simply a collection of cells that have malfunctioned in some way. Most are what we call benign, meaning they won’t grow, spread, or cause harm. The simplest of these are moles.

Disorders and Cancer Most benign tumors aren’t dangerous and don’t come back or spread once they’ve been removed by a doctor. The kind of tumor we’re more interested in learning about and stopping are malignant tumors. These are tumors that can cause harm. Maybe they keep growing without stopping, or maybe they spread to other areas of the body. Some shut down functions and organs. Most malignant tumors are cancerous.

Disorders and Cancer Cancer is scary for many reasons. One of the biggest is that it can be very random in the way it works, and some work in ways that we don’t understand. Most cancerous cells are bigger than normal ones, look different (like having these spiky bits), and often have more DNA in them than they should. They reproduce extra fast and can spread and lodge in other parts of the body, letting the cancer grow.

Disorders and Cancer So how do you get cancer? Like we said, there are different kinds. Any part of the body can develop cancer. Some parts can develop it in different ways, based off many factors. But no matter where it comes from, all cancerous cells have 2 stages. Initiation Promotion

Disorders and Cancer In Initiation, a cell has messed up in some way and has the chance to become cancerous. What makes it cancerous are these complex factors we just mentioned. But in Initiation, all we have so far is just a messed up cell. So how does it get messed up? There are 3 ways: Carcinogens These are chemicals or substances that have been known to increase the chance of cancer. They’re most commonly found in cigarettes and charred black meat.

Disorders and Cancer Initiation can also come from radiation. Intense nuclear radiation can warp and mess up cells, making them potentially cancerous. However, not all radiation will do this all the time, and sometimes it can be from what we call “background radiation”, which is found all around. The last method of Initiation is viral. About 12% of human cancers are caused by a virus. HPV and Hepatitis B are the most common ones we encounter.

Disorders and Cancer No matter how it happens, an Initiation cell can become a Promoted cell if the right, complex conditions are met. A Promoted cell is a cancerous one. Since there are so many ways a cell can become cancerous, and so many ways it can spread and grow, we don’t have any one cure for cancer. Some cancers are very easy to treat and almost never come back. Some are very hard to treat and will usually come back until the patient dies. It all depends on the type of cancer.

Disorders and Cancer So what are the different ways to treat cancer? Surgical Removal This is the first thing that’s tried. If you can cut out the cancer cells, you might eliminate the problem. But this only works if you get all the cancer cells. Radiation Therapy It’s weird, because we said radiation can cause cancer, but if it’s used right, it can kill cancer cells before the rest of the healthy cells die. This usually makes the patient quite sick, but can save their life.

Disorders and Cancer Chemotherapy This is where the patient takes chemicals that are designed to attack cancer cells more often than normal cells. There are many ways that this works and it depends on the kind of cancer, but generally, these drugs attack cells that reproduce quickly. This hits the cancerous ones, but also includes other fast-growing cells like skin, hair, and blood cells. This will also usually make the patient sick, but can be an effective way of treating and curing some kinds of cancer.

Exit Question What does a benign tumor mean? a) That it’s not particularly harmful b) That is won’t just keep growing forever c) That it won’t spread d) That it’s not cancerous e) All of the above f) None of the above