Hi guys! Over the years, Cancer has been going viral and thereby causing many harm than good in every society. Lives are being lost as a result of this disease. In my post for this week, I will be taking us through the Meaning of Stomach Cancer, Types of Stomach Cancer, Symptoms of Stomach Cancer, Causes of Stomach Cancer, and the Possible Treatment of Stomach Cancer.
Meaning of Stomach Cancer
Stomach Cancer is also popularly called gastric cancer, and it is a Cancer which develops from the lining of the stomach.
Using the medical definition of Stomach Cancer, As we all know, the stomach is responsible for food digestion, but unfortunately, Stomach Cancer happens to be the second most death-causing Cancer in the world. The rate of death emanating from stomach cancer globally is on the increase. The cancer of the stomach aftet starting from the stomach region gradually spreads to other organs of the body. It is important to note that cancer of the stomach is very difficult to cure except if it is diagnosed early in time.
Generally, Cancers emanates from cells growing out of control in any region of the body and can also spread to other areas of the body, Same thing goes with cancer of the stomach. Stomach Cancer starts from the stomach also.
After we chew our food, it goes through the esophagus down to the stomach for digestion. The esophagus connects to the stomach at the gastrointestinal (GE) junction. Most people mistaken stomach to be the area or part of the body between the chest and the pelvic area, it is not, it is the abdomen that is the area between the chest and the pelvic region. Most people tend to admit that they have stomach ache whereas these pains are actually coming from either the small intestine, large intestine, or the appendix.
Medical doctors call these pains abdominal pain, not stomach ache, although it will interest you to know that the stomach itself is also an organ in the abdomen.
Just as we have stomach cancer, we also have many other kinds of cancer like cancer of the large intestine, cancer of the small intestine, cancer of the liver, and cancer of the pancreas, etc.
So do not get confused as to referring to cancer of the pancreas to be cancer of the stomach, they are not the same as they have different causes, different symptoms, and different treatment also. So be guided and let the doctors do their job.
This deadly disease does not just emanate suddenly, it goes through a gradual process, it develops slowly over a long period of time, before this development, there must have been some pre-cancerous changes in the organ affected.
The human stomach has 5 parts and 5 layers which will be discussed briefly:
These are the 5 parts below:
- Cardia- This is the first part and it's the closest to the esophagus.
- Fundus- It is the upper region of the stomach next to the cardia.
- Corpus- The main part of the stomach, it lies between the upper part and the lower part.
- Antrum- The lower region which is close to the intestine.
- Pyloms- It is the last part of the stomach, it works in hand with the small intestine in passing out wastes from the body.
The 5 layers a human stomach walls has includes:
The Mucosa
The Submucosa
The Serosa
The Subserosa, and
The Musclularis propria.
Types of Stomach Cancer
There are 4 different types of Stomach Cancer and they include:
Adenocarcinomas- This is the most recurring type of cancer diagnosed mostly on patients of stomach cancer. It is a cancer that develops within the cells that forms the innermost lining of the stomach. It takes time for it to develop and patients suffering from this kind of cancer are unaware until it starts manifesting it's symptoms after several years.
My advice to you is that you should fix some times to go for medical check-up at least once in every month. 90%-95% cancers of the stomach are adenocarcinomas. The layer of the stomach affected here is the mucosa.Lymphoma- Lymphomas are found in the wall of the stomach, they are cancers of the immune system tissues. These cancers starts anywhere there are lymph tissues. And since the stomach also has lymph tissues, it makes it inclusive of being diagnosed of lymphoma; a type of stomach cancer.
Lymphoma is a rare kind of stomach cancer which only forms 4% of the stomach cancer diagnosed.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors- Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are also referred to as GISTs, it is a kind of cancer that develops in a special cell found in the lining of the stomach. This special cell is referred to as the interstitial cells of cajal, (ICCs). GISTs cells are somewhat similar to nerve or muscle cells, not all GISTs are cancerous, some of them are non-cancerous. GISTs are found anywhere in the digestive region but most are found in the stomach.
Carcinoid Tumors*- This is the most infrequent type of cancer cases with just about 3% of stomach cancer incidence. It starts in every hormone-producing cells of the stomach.
One unique thing about the carcinoid tumors that differentiate it from other types of Stomach Cancer is the fact that it usually does not spread to other organs of the body.
Symptoms of Stomach Cancer
In virtually all hospitals around the world, medical doctors often times do not engage in routine stomach cancer screening/tests of their patients. And this is due to the mistaken fact that it is a rare disease that is no common, so they do not see the need of wasting their time, effort, and resources performing stomach cancer tests. My advice to you is that you should try as much as possible to see the doctor personally on stomach cancer test even if it is once in ever 3 months.
The symptoms of cancer at its early stage are:
- Indigestion: having indigestion doesn't mean you have cancer but if this symptom keeps reoccurring, do not hesitate to see a Doctor.
Other symptoms are: - Loss of appetite,
- Frequent stomach pain,
- Hearburn,
- Incessant vomiting,
- Weight loss for no reason,
- Yellowish eye or skin,
- Swelling in your stomach,
- Weakness or feeling tired everyday,
- Diarrhea, etc.
Causes of Stomach Cancer
Scientist and Medical Doctors around the world have searched around for solutions as to the actual reason why cancer cells starts to grow in the stomach. But the good news is that their research has not been in vain as they now know some few things that ignites the growth of these cancer cells thereby raising your risk of having this cancer of the stomach disease. The major causes are:
- Inflammation in your gut, which is referred to as gastritis,
- Infection with a common bacteria referred to as H. Pylori, which also causes ulcers.
- A long lasting anemia referred to as pernicious anemia,
- Polyps: is known as growth in the stomach which is the most often cause of stomach cancer.
** Other causes of cancer of the stomach include:** - Smoking,
- Being overweight or obese,
- Type-A blood,
- Exposure to Asbestos, etc.
Prevention of Stomach Cancer
Treat Stomach Infections: if you happened to be diagnosed of ulcers from an H. Pylori infection, make sure you take necessary steps in seeing the Doctor for proper and careful treatment and accurately conscious of the drugs prescribed to you by the medical doctor, this will help cut your risk of getting the cancer disease.
Eat Healthy: Medically proven, it is advisable to eat good food, Some of these food can serve as preventive measures to getting some diseases of the body. Eat stuffs like Vegetables & Fresh Fruits,
Avoid stuffs like Salty and Smoked foods, hot dogs, etc.Don't Smoke: I always wonder why some reasonable set of people still
Can't do without smoking. Some people have gotten so addicted to smoking. What baffles me the most is that it is boldy written on the pack of cigarettes that smokers are liable to die Young but still, they tend to smoke it the more thereby raising their chances of getting the cancer of the stomach disease.
So my simple advice to you is that you should quit smoking! And if you are not a smoker, don't ever venture into it.
Treatment of Stomach Cancer
The only thing to do if you have been finally diagnosed by a Doctor as having stomach cancer is to see a medical expert in that feed and strictly adhere to the instructions given to you.
This is the end of my science blog for this week. I might drop another one before the week runs out.
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shalom!!