A diagnosis of cancer is probably one of the scariest anyone can receive, and for quite obvious reasons. Once diagnosed, its mortality rates are quite high, and even those who survive it are often traumatized and completely different people after. To help you survive cancer, here are some tips.
Seek out other people who have been diagnosed with cancer. They understand your situation and many of the feelings that you are having. While your friends and family members are wonderful, it may be difficult to talk to them about certain aspects of your treatment. There are a variety of local support groups and forums that you can find online.
It is important to read the warning labels for many products. Many people do not realize that products they use every day contain carcinogens. When buying products, pay careful attention to the ingredients of the product, and even look for warning labels that may say that the product you intend to purchase may cause cancer.
Anyone over the age of 50 should be receiving at least an annual screening for types of cancer like colon cancer. This is around the time that most people will get colon cancer, so it is very important that you work to catch this in time. Over 90 percent of all people diagnosed with colon cancer are over the age of 50.
All women over 40 should be receiving at least one mammogram per year in order to catch breast cancer early. Breast cancer wreaks havoc on millions of women, and catching it early is undoubtedly the best way to fight this type of cancer to date. Start annual mammograms after you reach 40.
If you are a cancer survivor, make sure that you have information about your previous cancer treatments. Unfortunately, cancer comes back with a vengeance sometimes, so keep your records about what surgeries and what types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy you have undergone. This information will help you better communicate with doctors.
Eating a diet high in grapes can help you to prevent certain types of cancer. The polyphenols and resveratrol contained in grapes can help prevent the damage of cells and also the growth of cancer. You can receive the benefits of grapes by eating them whole or drinking juice, but avoid the concentrated stuff with added sugar.
Grilling or steaming your food more as opposed to frying it can help you prevent against cancer. Because you will be preparing your food in a healthier fashion, you can eliminate excess weight gain and thus help to prevent cancer cells from growing inside of your body and eventually forming dangerous tumors.
Avoiding the doom and gloom associated with cancer will help you to ultimately defeat it. Episodes of your favorite M.D. show can be hazardous to your health. Those images of sick and dying people can really put your mind in a bad place. Avoid them and, as trite as it sounds, find a happier place.
Beating cancer may require a little bit of luck, but you cannot allow yourself to rely on being lucky in order to beat it. In other words, you should never really expect miracles or for some experimental treatment to instantly cure you. Luck may play a role, but you should focus on putting in the effort to defeat cancer.
If you are one of the many women that has dense breast tissue, find a mammogram facility that works with digital imagery. Digital scans will do a much better job at detecting cancer in the women with dense breast tissue than the traditional film would. It will provide your doctor with a clearer image and make it easier to read the images.
It is important that females get a pap smear done at least once every two years. If you have a history of gynecological problems, you may want to have one every year. Pap smears detect cervical cancer and changes in their cervical cells, which if caught early, is very treatable.
Take the initiative and learn as much as you can about your disease. Do not hesitate to ask your Doctor questions. The better you understand your disease the better you will be equipped for the battle of your life. Knowledge is power and the more you have the better!
Even if you are not exactly feeling attractive or ready for making love, keep the romance alive with your significant other. You can do this by taking long walks, or sitting together watching a romantic movie. Just being with that person will do great things for the both of you.
By way of conclusion cancer is a terrifying diagnosis. If you have been diagnosed with cancer you are probably quite down in spirits. This is perfectly normal given the gravity of the situation. Hopefully, having read this article you will have more peace of mind and have some advice in your fight with cancer.