Hello parishioners of steemchurch peace be with you all. Today is another blessful day the Lord has made.

Service to God and #steemchurch requires a healthy life. So for this reason #sc-g has decided to educate members of #steemchurch every week on some common diseases. For your health is your life..!

Today let us look at cancer

OVERVIEW, DEFINITIONS AND SOME STATISTICS

In many parts of Africa, cancer is not the major concern when it comes to health related issues. Most Africans, except some Southern and Northern African countries have malaria as their major health threat. But the story changes for Europeans, Asia and some parts of America. Their major health concern is cancer. Statistics conducted by the the World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRFI) reveals that in the year 2012, Denmark recorded the highest rate of cancer with 338 for both men and women per 100,000. The age-standardized rate was at least 300 per 100,000 for nine countries; Denmark, France, Australia, Belgium, Norway, US, Ireland, South Korea and the Netherlands. The rate continues with more than 8.2 million deaths from cancer in 2012.

From the statistics, it was also shown clearly that the top 10 countries come from Europe, Oceania, Northern America and Asia without any record of Africa. Despite the low cases of cancer in Africa, there have been cases of breast, cervical and prostate cancers, which are the major types of cancer in Africa. There is the possibility of liver cancer, Karposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The rise in the prostate and breast cancers in Africa has drawn the attention of Governments in various countries to put preventive measures to curb it. With that said, what is this cancer I am talking about?

CANCER: Cancer is a condition that results when the normal regulatory components of the body refuse to work or when the cells refuse to follow the command from the regulatory mechanisms. The body has its own ways of switching on and off some biochemical reactions. When these biochemical reactions fail to be controlled either by external sources (carcinogens) or faulty cells within the body then we have cancer occurring. These changes happen primarily in the genome of the individual. Changes can either be deletion of the portion of the genetic makeup, inversion or substitution as a result of transposons (jumping genes). Cancerous cells multiply about 10 times that of normal cells and eventually lead to the development of tumours.

TUMOURS: they are the aggregation of highly dividing cells which have escaped the normal regulatory mechanisms of the body. A tumour can be non-cancerous (benign), precancerous or cancerous (malignant). Benign tumours if not dealt with can become precancerous and can eventually become cancerous.

CARCINOGENS: Carcinogens are the agents that cause cancer in the body. Example can be radiations, tobacco harmful use of alcohol, lack of physical exercise, asbestos, unhealthy diets, HIV induced immunosuppression, Hepatitis B and C, Human Papilloma virus etc. These carcinogens may start carcinogenesis, the initial stages of cancer development. Also Linear Energy Transfer (LET), which is the amount of energy dopisted per unit track length can cause cancer.

HOW TO PREVENT YOURSELF FFOM GETTING CANCER

As I have said earlier, cancers are contacted when one exposes his or her body to carcinogens. But we must also remember that genetics play a key role in cancer development. Unlike the cancers caused by carcinogens, genetically obtained cancers are not easily controlled. It runs in the family. Such abnormal cells obtained by a parent from carcinogens may have a permanent impact on the genome and may be passed on to offspring. But those caused directly by carcinogens can be prevented.

• Those who work in the hospitals using radiation machines like X-ray machines have to apply the inverse square law which states that the intensity of the radiation emmited is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the radiation source (1/d2). This means that doubling the distance from the radiation source reduces dose absorbed by a factor of 4. The general rule is that at 3m from radiation source, dose is insignificant.
  
• Also those in the radiation field can use shields and minimise time.

• For safety, those who work with radiations should use radiations detectors to measure its intensity in the surrounding before work starts. Those measurements can be made using gas filled detectors, scintillating detectors, solid state detectors, ZnS Alpha detectors etc. If dose exceeds the limit normal for working, one has to stop and leave the place until it reduces.

• In addition, as I have said earlier on, LET have carcinogenic effect on the body. High LET radiation , has greater chance of depositing radiation by direct action. Examples can be X-rays and gammas. There is also another type of LET radiation which is less dangerous as compared to the high LET, and only affects the body by indirect actions. Their effects are minimal until it exceeds it's threshold. Examples are alphas, fission fragments and low energy neutrons. One has to be very cautious when in contact with any of these radiations. Since their effect stochastic ( probability depends on absorbed dose) or deterministic (damage depends on dose absorbed), one has to be very cautious when with low LET radiations.

• Furthermore, there are some cells in the body that are more sensitive to these radiations. They are the mucous membranes, esophageal epithelium, spermatogonia, ovarian follicular cells, lymphocytes etc. Those cells must be kept far from radiations. Even X-rays that cover these parts must not be frequent.

• Some foods contain carcinogens. Especially food preservatives that contain nitrosonium ions can undergo hydrolysis to produce nitrous acid which can have a negative effect on the genetic strands by causing breakage of the backbone. Hence foods that are stored in cans should not be taken frequently. They contain substances that can cause cancer.

• Tobacco is one of the main causes of cancer in Africa and some other parts of the world. It has carcinogenic effect on the airways namely larynx, trachea, throat and lungs. It also has effects on the bladder, esophagus, liver, cervix and rectum. Smokers in general are at high risk of getting cancer of the airways especially lung cancer.
  

• HIV, hepatitis B and C also play major role in cancer development. HIV and hepatitis suppress the immune system and make the individual prone to carcinogens. Even doses that shouldn't have a negative effect on the cells can be cancerous since the body cannot fight it. There individuals are at high risk of getting cancers. Therefore, immunisation against hepatitis B and C must be taken seriously especially for those in Africa. HIV should also be prevented by the use of contraceptives like condom.

TREATMENT OF CANCER

There are many types of treatments for cancer. It takes a multidisciplinary action and specialised technology in order to deal with it. This makes treatment of cancer very expensive. Cancer can be treated with only one type of treatment but for effective and relatively quicker results, the combination of treatments is more advisable. The various ways of treating cancers are as follows;

• SURGERY: surgery is done to remove the cancerous cells from the body to prevent it's spread to other healthy cells.
  

• CHEMOTHERAPY: Drugs that combat the cancerous cells can be taken to kill them.

• RADIATION THERAPY: this treatment method employs the use of high energy radiations to kill and shrink tumours.

• IMMUNOTHERAPY: this type of treatment helps to produce stronger immune system to fight the cancerous cells.

• STEM CELL TRANSPLANT: In this type of treatment, the stem cells that have been destroyed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy are replaced with a healthy one so that new blood cells are produced to fight and PREVEBT the spread of the cancer.
  These treatment methods have their side effects.

CONCLUSION

Cancer is a worldwide burden and has claimed a lot of lives. Everyone has a possibility of getting cancer despite geographical location. This is why we should make preventive measures so that we can live a life.

Sources

https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/cancer
https://www.wcrf.org/int/cancer-facts-figures/data-cancer-frequency-country
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/does-this-cause-cancer.html