Because early diagnosis is so critical to improving survival rates, those at risk for the disease need to be able to recognize kidney cancer symptoms. If you’re curious about whether you’re at risk for this cancer and any potential signs or symptoms you should watch out for, keep reading.
Symptoms
Bloody Urine: Bloody urine is a common sign of kidney cancer. However, like many kidney cancer symptoms, it can also be associated with bladder cancer and other bladder-related ailments.
Back Pain: Many people diagnosed with kidney cancer experience low back pain that isn’t associated with an injury or other physical ailment.
Lump or Bump: In many kidney cancer cases, a mass or lump can be felt in the stomach.
General Fatigue: Though fatigue is not a specific symptom, meaning it’s often found in other diseases and cancer, it’s a common symptom of kidney cancer that can help doctors make a diagnosis.
Loss of Appetite: Unintentional weight loss that happens quickly can be a symptom of kidney cancer. Many patients lose their appetites, have trouble eating and digesting, and tend to lose weight quickly.
Fever: Frequent fevers that aren’t connected to some other infection, flu or cold are often associated with kidney cancer.
Swelling: Edema, also known as swelling in the lower legs is a typical kidney cancer symptom most apparent in women.
Higher Blood Pressure: Like many of the other symptoms listed above, high blood pressure can be attributed to numerous other diseases. However, if discovered alongside other symptoms, it can often be a good indicator for the disease.
Risk Factors for Kidney Cancer
Smoking: Approximately one-third of all cases of renal cell carcinoma (the most common form of kidney cancer) in men and one-quarter of cases in women are likely caused by smoking.
Analgesic Medication: Addictions to painkillers that contain phenactin, which is no longer approved in the United States, can dramatically increase a person’s risk for kidney cancer.
Exposure at the Work Place: Workers who are exposed to products like organic solvents, petroleum by-products, camium and asbestos all have an increased risk for developing kidney cancer.
Genetic Disorders: Genetic disorders of the kidney, such as tuberous sclerosis, von Hippel-Lindau disease or a heavy family history of the disease can all increase a person’s risk for developing kidney cancer.
Obesity: People who are obese or very overweight are more at risk for developing renal cell kidney cancer than those who maintain a healthy body weight.
Kidney Failure: People with a history of kidney failures may develop cysts in their kidneys as a result. These cysts can expedite the development of kidney cancer.
Advancing Age: Typically, renal cell carcinoma only develops in adults over the age of fifty and under seventy.
Male or Female: Men are twice more likely to develop kidney cancer, like renal cell carcinoma, than women.
If you have or have been exposed to any of the above risk factors for kidney cancer, it’s critical that you be aware of kidney cancer symptoms. Should you experience any of the listed symptoms, be sure to talk to your doctor without delay.
Posts Tagged ‘Causes’
Usual Indicators and Causes Linked to Kidney Cancer
Saturday, March 13th, 2010Types, Causes and Symptoms of Cancer
Friday, March 12th, 2010Cancer is a disease where abnormal cell divide uncontrollably also known as carcinoma or malignant tumor,it can develop in almost all organs in your body this are colon, lungs, breast, skin and even bones.it also goes with gender because common cancer in men are prostrate,lung and colon cancer while in women are breast,colon and lung cancer.Cancer is caused by pesticides used in agriculture and homestead,such that as you protect yourself from malaria you are causing more harm in your body.other causes are radiation(UVL), sunlight,smoking(tobacco), benzene,some virus and poisonous mushroom mostly found in peanut plant.but causes of many cancer still remain unknown.Diet play a big role because you find gastric cancer very common in Japan,also in part of Africa where most people consume fast food chicken that are injected to mature in a month.However report shows that the most fatal one globally is lung cancer.Recently studies and reports shows how our society as a whole has grown heavier and chubbier,this being one of cause of cancer.Other type of cancer are kidney, skin, brain, cervical, intestinal, leukemia, liver, ovarian,pancreatic and Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer.symptoms of cancer vary with location of tumor,like lung cancer cause coughing,shortness of breath or even chest pain.Colon cancer on the other hand causes diarrhea, constipation, and blood in the stool.Did you know some cancers may not have any symptoms at all.while others like gallbladder cancer, symptoms often do not start until the disease has reached an advanced stage.Common general symptom are unplanned weight loss,malaise,loss of appetite,fever, persistent fatigue ,sweating at night,change of skin and chills.
Eating Disorders ? It?s Main Causes
Friday, March 12th, 2010What is Eating disorder?
Eating disorders involve extreme disturbances in eating behaviors—following rigid diets, gorging on food in secret, throwing up after meals, obsessively counting calories. But eating disorders are more complicated than just unhealthy dietary habits. At their core, eating disorders involve distorted, self-critical attitudes about weight, food, and body image. It’s these negative thoughts and feelings that fuel the damaging behaviors.
People with eating disorders use food to deal with uncomfortable or painful emotions. Restricting food is used to feel in control. Overeating temporarily soothes sadness, anger, or loneliness. Purging is used to combat feelings of helplessness and self-loathing. Over time, people with eating disorders lose the ability to see themselves objectively and obsessions over food and weight come to dominate everything else in life.Main causes of eating disorder are:
Family problems. Some individuals with eating disorders come from disordered families. The families of anorexic patients are often characterized by extremely controlling parents and poor boundaries between the parents and the child.
Social problems. Most people who develop eating disorders report having painfully low self-esteem before the onset of their eating problems. Many patients describe going through a painful experience such as being teased about their appearance, being shunned, or going through a difficult break-up of a romantic relationship.
Major illness or injury can also result in an individual feeling extremely vulnerable or out of control. Anorexia and bulimia can be attempts to control or distract themselves from such trauma.
Self Esteem- The one trait that is obviously apparent in all sufferers of an Eating Disorder is their low self-esteem. Often they feel as though they are not good enough, that they never do anything right, that they are scrutinized by others for their appearance, and that their lives would get better if they could just lose weight. Sufferers can feel like they do not deserve to be happy, that they do not deserve good things to happen to them, and that they don’t deserve to have anything but what is felt as a miserable existence.
Gender- It is widely understood that eating disorders usually affect women, although eating disorders in males are on the rise. Because women are affected more often, being female must be considered a risk factor that cannot be controlled.
Dieting- Dieting is one behavior that deserves special attention due to its profound effect on the development of eating disorders
Genetics- Research is always looking for ways in which genetics may make eating disorders more likely. What science is learning is intriguing.
Biological factors- Temperament seems to be, at least in part, genetically determined. Some personality types (obsessive-compulsive and sensitive-avoidant, for example) are more vulnerable to eating disorders than others. New research suggests that genetic factors predispose some people to anxiety, perfectionism, and obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviors. These people seem to have more than their share of eating disorders.
Psychological factors- People with eating disorders often are legitimately angry, but because they seek approval and fear criticism, they do not dare express that anger directly. They do not know how to express it in healthy ways. They turn it against themselves by starving or stuffing.
Cultural pressures- Westernized countries characterized by competitive striving for success, and in pockets of affluence in developing countries, women often experience unrealistic cultural demands for thinness. They respond by linking self-exteem to weight.
Causes of Anxiety Attacks- What You Must Know To Beat Anxiety
Thursday, March 11th, 2010There are many causes of anxiety attacks, ranging from medical issues to external mental or emotional stimuli. These causes are many and varied and if you are suffering from anxiety attacks, it is imperative that you find out what is causing them.
1 – Hereditary Causes
First off there may be your heredity blame. Anxiety attacks have been found to run in families, which leads many professionals to conclude that the trait can be found in the human genome. On the other hand, studies on genetically identical twins have shown that sometimes one twin will experience anxiety attacks, while the other will not. Another way in which anxiety attacks can be inherited is through an overly cautious worldview handed down by a patient’s parents and the cumulative stress it causes.
2 – Biological Causes
There are also many biological causes to anxiety attacks, such as inner ear disturbances (labyrinthitis), hyperthyroidism, hyperventilation syndrome, hypoglycemia, prolapsed mitral valve (a heart disease), pheochromocytoma (an adrenal gland tumor), and Wilson’s disease (a genetic disorder). Even a vitamin B deficiency caused by parasitic tapeworm infection or from a poor diet can also cause anxiety attacks.
3 – Mental / Emotional Causes
Mental or emotional issues can also trigger anxiety attacks. These include generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), phobias, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),significant personal loss (such as loss of a romantic partner), significant life changes, ‘what-if’ thinking, lack of assertiveness, withheld feelings, mistaken beliefs, and avoidance of or association with anxiety-provoking situations or environs.
4 – Pharmalogical / Medicinal Causes
Pharmacological or medicinal causes include amphetamines, alcohol, marijuana, psilocybin (a hallucinogen found in some mushrooms), side effects from drugs such as Ritalin or other antidepressants (especially at the beginning or end of use), and stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine. Some anxiety attack sufferers also develop an irrational fear of certain medications, which may result in anxiety attacks if they are taken, which is a purely psychosomatic effect similar to what placebos have been shown to produce.
As anyone can see, there are many causes of anxiety attacks, most of which are completely out of your control if you are having them. The good news is that you can do something about it. The first thing you need to understand is that it is not your fault. Your anxiety attacks are nothing that you asked for and not something that you necessarily caused. If it is found that your anxiety attacks are caused by something external that is easily remedied, your problem may be solved quite easily. If it is caused by a lifestyle choice, for example marijuana or alcohol consumption, there are alternatives available. If it is something that is more ephemeral, then your mental health professional can counsel you and/or prescribe medication that will help you deal with your anxiety attacks.
Conclusion
Don’t immediately blame yourself or believe that there is simply something wrong with you if you are having anxiety attacks. If you look hard enough, you will probably be able to discover what the cause is. In many cases, the cause of anxiety attacks can be quickly discerned and dealt with via counseling, medication or self help.