Men's Health Blog

That means doing your monthly self exams, and getting yearly check ups at the doctors office. If you are in denial and think that it won’t happen to you, think again. It can happen to anyone, even in males.

The different techniques, used today, has advanced over the years.
Let’s take a look at some advantages we have to detect early stage of breast cancer through Medical review.
Mammography with Computer Aided Detection:
Mammograms are a great way to catch any early detection of cancer. Mammography is a an x-ray film of the breasts that is read by a Radiologist that checks to see if there is any abnormal findings. The Computer Aided Detection is a process that is computer based and it analyzes the mammogram for any abnormal tissue and shows the Radiologist where the abnormal tisse is, if there is any located.
Digital Mammography
Digital Mammography is a tool used to record an image of an x-ray of the breasts. The images are shown on a monitor and the doctors are able to enhance or manipulate the image for detection, before they print the image out on film.
Ultrasound
Ultrasounds are a high-frequency sound wave that produces pictures called sonograms. These help the Doctors to distinguish if a lump or abnormal tissue is a tumor or a cyst. Ultrasounds are not only used as a diagnostic image, but also to help guide biopsy procedures of breast tissue, like fine needle aspirations. Ultrasounds are usually done after the result of an abnormal mammogram that might show micro calcifications or other abnormal tissue.
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imagining)
MRI’s is a procedure done that doesn’t use radiation. There is a magnet that is connected to a computer that then creates the images of what is inside the body. When a breast MRI is obtained there are a lot of images that are created from front to back, top to bottom and side to side. The patient gets on the scanning table and lie on their stomach. The breasts hang into a hollow in the table that has coils that detect any type of magnetic signal. Then the patient is moved into the tube like machine that has the magnet. This helps to improve any cancerous tumor visibility. A radiologist reads the results of MRI’s also
Fine Needle Aspirations
A fine needle aspiration distinguishes what type of tumor the patient has. There are solid tumors and liquid-filled tumors; which are cysts. How the procedure works is the doctor takes a fine needle and inserts it into the location of the tumor. The fluid in the tumor is then removed and sent to laboratory to see if the tumor has cancerous cells or not.
Surgical Biopsy
Surgical biopsies are usually done if the mass is a solid tumor. There are two different types of surgical biopsies, excisional, and incisional. Incisional biopsies are performed by removing only a small portion of the abnormal tissue to be examined by a pathologist. With excisional biopsies the whole tumor is removed with a small amount of tissue surrounding it, and then sent to a pathologist to examine.
There are other procedures that are used for detection of breast cancer. The techniques that are listed above are the most common procedures used for patients today. Newer diagnostic imaging and techniques are being developed that are guaranteed to catch early detection and identify patients that are at a high risk of breast cancer. Infrared Thermographic Imaging is a new discovery that picks up any subtle changes that have occurred in the breast pathology. Another new advancement for early detection is Gamma imaging camera that is used with an MRI that can pick up a cancerous tumor that is within the breast. There are always new advances in technology that will help improve the techniques to find early detection of breast cancer. One of these days there will be a cure, but for now concentrate on getting early detection before it becomes too late.

Continue reading ‘Screening for Breast Cancer’ »

What does it mean to have a favorable prognosis?

If your doctor says that you have a favorable prognosis, this means that the breast cancer is likely to respond well to treatment. In the same token, an unfavorable prognosis means that probably the breast cancer may be hard to control.

Breast cancer staging and survival rates.

Continue reading ‘Breast cancer? Can I beat this?’ »

Women can take action to reduce their risk of breast cancer and prevent its occurrence. You have certainly heard it before, but it bears repeating- the importance of diet and exercise! A fatty diet and obesity are associated with increased risks of breast cancer, as well as other types of cancer. What’s a good diet? Lots of fruit and vegetables, of course- you’ve heard of those antioxidants and their importance in preventing the cellular change that results in cancer. Foods like soy and broccoli may actually have a direct protective effect against breast cancer. Proper diet and exercise also go a long way in preventing lots of other deadly diseases. Did you know that heart disease is a bigger killer of women than even breast cancer? A healthy lifestyle can save you from both!

You can’t do much about family history of breast cancer, but it is important to be aware of it and take extra precautions if such a history exists. One particularly aggressive breast cancer is known to be inherited. Women develop breast cancer at a young age (before menopause), and ovarian cancers are prevalent in the family history as well. If you have a very strong family history of such cancers, you will want to follow up closely with your doctor and maybe even consider getting tested for the defective genes associated with the cancer.

Continue reading ‘Reducing the Risk of Breast Cancer’ »

The first thing that you need to do is to compile a list of any questions that you have about breast cancer. You can ask these questions of your doctor or of other people that you know that have had breast cancer.

The second thing that you can do is help the breast cancer cause by participating in walkathons and other charitable fund raising events. It can be therapeutic to help others while you are trying to help yourself battle breast cancer.
The third that that you can do is to join a breast cancer support group. There are many support groups out there for people who have breast cancer. These support groups can be very helpful and provide you with good resources that will help you deal with your illness. The American Cancer Society is a great resource for people who have breast cancer. The ACS has a great web site that has resources for women with breast cancer; one such resource is called Look Good…. Feel Better. This program is designed to help women with beauty tips after they have gone through chemotherapy and radiation. They have group workshops, one-on one salon consultations, and self help materials. Another program that is offered is called I Can Cope. I Can Hope is a program that helps people become educated about cancer; they offer classes to help cancer patients understand their diagnosis and prognosis. The classes also help people learn to cope with fatigue, nausea, weight loss, financial issues, and other effects of cancer. These classes can be very beneficial to people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Continue reading ‘How to Cope with Breast Cancer’ »

 Breast cancer is affecting approximately 200,000 women each year all over the world. From those, about 5% will die from the disease. The key factor is early detection. The prognosis time frame to treatment time frame varies on the type of testing done.

Initial testing should be done at home. It is a simple test of palpating the breast in a circular motion from outer to inner patterns. This test is performed weekly so that you are able to distinguish differences. If any lumps or hardness is found an immediate report to the physician should be made to schedule more definitive testing.

Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer Time Scale’ »

Breast cancer is more than just a serious medical problem for women. For most it means a shattering of their lives, threatening to cut short their existence. For others, better made and well prepared, the cancer is nothing but a challenge to test one’s resolve as well as the chance to solicit support and compassion from people whom a woman holds dear. But apart from the support a woman may get, there is the stark reality that breast cancer is an aberration of their normal and healthy way of life. For some who are least prepared for its onset, breast cancer represents the loss of hope. 

Although breast cancer is most commonly prevalent in women, the cancer also affects men although such cases have been rare. Compared with women, a man may better take the consequences of the disease because it does not in any way affect their ability to play their role in childbearing, although the survival rates in both sexes are roughly equal.

Continue reading ‘Understanding Breast Cancer’ »

While a tremendous amount of research has been done on the causes of breast cancer, an exact breakdown by percentages or some such measure is still not completely accurate. Hormone levels and those levels related to age are factors. Diet and heredity are also among the most important indicators of breast cancer probability.

The hormones in question are estrogen and progesterone. Any levels significantly different from the average of the females at the age the woman is, represents an increase in probability of getting breast cancer. This includes age factors for the beginning age of menstruation as well as the ending age. If a girl begins menstruation at an early age, or a woman past middle age has not reached menopause, cancer risk increases.

Continue reading ‘Is Breast Cancer Genetic?’ »

Breast cancer refers to a malignant tumor that has formed from cells in the breast. It usually starts in the cells of the lobules or the ducts. The lobules are milk-producing glands and ducts are passages where milk travels from lobules to nipple. This type of cancer is always caused by genetic abnormality, but only 5-10% of them are inherited from a mother or father. The other 90% of breast cancers are caused by the abnormalities from aging and the process of life in general.

While there are several steps to keep your body as healthy as possible, breast cancer cannot be helped or is anyone’s fault. There are treatments for every type and stage of breast cancer. Most patients will have surgery and an additional therapy such as chemotherapy or radiation.

Continue reading ‘Treatment For Breast Cancer’ »

Breast cancer appears when cell from the breast tissue form a tumor of malign type. Unlike the benign type tumors, the cells of a malign type tumor grow in a way that makes them uncontrollable and life-threatening for the person who has them. Within the malign type of tumors associated there different other categories – mostly depending on where they are located. Two of the most common categories of breast cancer are in situ cancers and the invasive cancers. While in situ cancers are located within the glands for milk production (also called lobules) or the ducts that connect those to the nipple, invasive breast cancers affect not only lobules and ducts in the breast but also the rest of its tissue. Depending on how much an invasive cancer has spread, it can be categorized as a local-stage, regional-stage, or distant-stage. Another major difference between these categories comes from their probability to be cured, which is decreasing from one category to another, starting with in situ having very high chances for patient’s recovery and ending with the distant-stage one as the one with the lowest chances for recovery.

Statistics from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute indicate that almost 25 percent of US women diagnosed with cancer suffer from breast cancer. Additionally, they estimated a number of 207,090 new female cases and 39,840 deaths caused by female breast cancer for 2010. However, looking at the survival rates represents a more optimistic point of view. The numbers increased over time and they are currently estimated to be 89% at five years after diagnosis, 82% after 10 years, and 75% after 15 years.

Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer Testing’ »

A new study has found that screening by mammography increases the survival rate of breast cancer patients. The diagnosis of breast diseases depends on digital mammography. Monochrome MS51i2 (TM) is a brand new super high resolution display used for Mammography. Studies have shown that mammography has significantly reduced the breast cancer death rate, particularly for those over 50. The breast cancer are smaller in women of 40 to 49 years of age if detected on screening mammography compared to physical examination. The finding of the study was presented during the 12th annual meeting of American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBS).

FDA has told that the techniques uses infrared imaging to measure heat and blood flow can therefore should not be used in place of mammography for cancer screening or diagnosis. Efficient generation of large-scale IR ground scene is the key of real-time infrared imaging simulation. Infrared Imaging Guidance is a homing method that using the image produced by different radiation of heat between target and background. Near infrared mammography is a new method for breast imaging for popular examination. Its merits are no radiation, without the necessaries of darkroom, etc. the technique could diagnose breast cancer by itself or even catch pre-cancerous growths years before mammography would discover them.

Continue reading ‘Screening by Mammography Increases The Survival Rate of Breast Cancer Patients’ »