World cancer day: Researches show two Nepalis fall prey to tobacco every hour
Every year February 4 is observed as World Cancer Day. This year’s theme of the day is “Together It Is Possible”. Cancer is a burgeoning problem all over the world, which according to the WHO, claimed around 7.6 million lives in 2008. Though cancer is curable and preventable, many people in Nepal are falling prey to the disease. Therefore, it is so important to understand cancer.
Cells make up human body. By nature, cells die and are replaced daily. However, when there is an uncontrolled growth of the cells or abnormal proliferation, called tumour. The tumour can be either cancerous, which can cause cancer or malignant tumour (non-cancerous), which is called benign tumour.
Cancer can develop in almost all parts of the body, though heart cancer is rare. It can develop in lungs, breasts, skin, prostate, brain, uterine, and many other organs. Even one percent of men can have breast cancer, a disease common among women. But the point is cancer can occur in any age, any sex and any parts of the body.
Cancer can be caused due to various reasons. For instance, consumption of excessive alcohol, tobacco, exposure to harmful chemicals, and radiations develop cancer. However, 5 percent of cancer is genetic that is it gets transferred through the genes of family members. A study that surveyed 900,000 people, conducted by the American Cancer Society, found obesity responsible for 14 percent of all cancers.
The cancerous cell in the body shifts to other organs through the blood stream or through other fluids secreted by the body. People have misconceptions that cancer is transferred to other people when one gets close to patients. That’s not true. It is just that cancer spreads only within the body, hence is is called non-communicable disease.
It is hard to say the signs of cancer. Still scientists have identified eight main signs as of now, to which the medical fraternity throughout the world has agreed to. The signs are anaemia, blood in urine, coughing up blood, difficulty swallowing, breast lump or mass, post-menopausal bleeding, abnormal prostate test and rectal blood.
These signs can pinpoint the cancer in colon, cancer related to urology, lung-cancer symptoms, food tract cancer, breast cancer, related to gynaecology, prostate cancer and rectum cancer respectively. Therefore, one should be aware if they develop such symptoms and should immediately consult physicians. The WHO estimates by 2020 around 20 million people will develop cancer, which is a two fold increase from 2010. Likewise, the cancer related deaths will also see a twice fold increase from 6 million to 12 million people, says the WHO. It says 70 percent of cancer cases will be from developing countries.
Initially, it was said “cancer has no answer”. But now we proudly say “cancer has multiple answers”. In Nepal, researches have shown that two people die every hour due to tobacco. Nepal has made significant progress in developing treatment for cancer: Surgery, Radio Therapy and Chemo Therapy. Around 90 percent of the cases of cancer can be cured or prevented. The government should launch awareness programmes to control cancer deaths and also prevent the disease from developing. Cancer is caused mainly by our lifestyle. Increasing exercise hours, avoiding the common risk factors of cancer such as tobacco, alcohol can be an answer to cancer. If we work shoulder to shoulder we can combat cancer.
(Dr Baral, senior consultant clinical oncologist and vice president of Nepal Cancer Relief Society, spoke to Manish Gautam)
Posted on: 2012-02-05 10:00
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