Tag: Lymph Nodes

Treating Lymphoma: The Various Procedures

When you think about Lymphoma, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Lymphoma are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Cancer is a word that most of us dread to hear from our doctors. We know that its something that should not be prejudiced lightly, plus we cant even count how many times we have seen in the movies and television about the difficulties of the disease and more often than not the sad ending that follows. So hearing you have cancer of the lymph cells, which what lymphoma really is, is more than enough to give you and your family a scare. Treating lymphoma is never easy both physically and mentally for the patient. Having the full support of the family is a good thing to have in situations like these.

Lymphoma develops when the lymph cells begin to multiply quickly beyond what is normal. This abnormal growth soon forms tumors. These lymph cells are found in blood and lymph nodes thus with the grown of the cancer cells it is only natural that the lymph nodes enlarge and manifests as painless lumps in the neck, armpits or groin.

There are two main types of lymphoma. The most common one is the Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This type is distinguished from the rest by the presence of the Reed – Sternberg cell. The spread of the cancer cells in Hodgkin’s lymphoma is more predictable and often quite limited unlike the non – Hodgkin’s lymphomas situation cancer cells develop first in changed organs before spreading suspicion the lymph nodes. The non – Hodgkins types of lymphomas are classified according low – grade, intermediate – grade or high – grade lymphomas which basically is based on how quickly the cancer cells spread.

Because of the number of types of lymphomas, the treatments vary. Often the treatments are combinations of various therapies and procedures. It is normal to have a number of treatments for a single lymphoma situation. Once the type of lymphoma has been diagnosed and identified, the closest step is to determine what stage it is in now. The kinds and extent of treatment of the cancer is dependent on the age of the patient and the degree or advance of the lymphoma. The treatment methods are either through chemotherapy, radiation therapy, antibody therapy ( or biological therapy ) and bone – marrow or stem cell transplantation. Again, combining one or two of these treatment methods is possible to address the present condition of a patient.

Chemotherapy uses various drugs to kill the tumor or cancer cells. The drugs can substitute taken orally or through injection. The advantage of using chemotherapy is that the drugs do not cause that much damage to the nearby normal and healthy cells. Radiotherapy, on the other hand, uses X – rays to kill the tumor cells. The rays damage the DNA of the cancer cells and because the DNA is damaged the cancer cells are unable to multiply which halts that growth of the cancer. Nearby healthy cells are damaged from the radiation bombardment so the goal in radiotherapy is minimize the damage to nearby, healthy cells. That is why those who undergo radiotherapy is scheduled to receive small doses of radiation at a time to lessen the damage to the cells.

Another treatment is the antibody therapy which uses antibodies which target unique molecules of a cancer cell. This attack from the antibody will eventually kill the cancer cells. And finally, the last way of treating lymphoma is by bone marrow or stem cell transplantations. These are medical procedures where the stem cells that were destroyed by high doses of chemotherapy and / or radiotherapy are replaced buttoned up surgery.
Of course, it’s impossible to put everything about Lymphoma into just one article. But you can’t deny that you’ve just added to your understanding about Lymphoma, and that’s time well spent.

The Various Stages and Common Symptoms of Lymphoma

So what is Lymphoma really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about Lymphoma–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

The cancer that is known as lymphoma can be clearly understood through the staging process. This refers to how the sickness is categorized based on how big it is and what parts of the body has already been counterfeit or healed. The worse the outcome seems to be, the higher the stage of the disease could be. There are four parts or stages that the disease will be grouped into and this can only be done after the patient has undergone through series of tests and scans to rule out the body affected organs and figure parts.

To hand you an idea about the various stages that this illness is categorized, here are the elementary points about each phase.

Stage one. At this stage, the illness has unequaled been determined to be present at a group of lymph nodes. There are also cases wherein the illness was found in one statement, which is not part of the lymph system, but this eleemosynary of case is quite rare.

Stage two. The cancer is now seen in two or even more groups of the lymph nodes that can be found on the similar side as with the diaphragm, which is a lean kind of muscle that is located under the lungs. The diaphragm helps a person to breathe easily. This besides separates the chest area from the intestines.

Stage three. The cancer at this stage can typify found at the groups of lymph nodes that are situated on both sides of the diaphragm. There are some cases wherein the adjacent organs are also involved. This also becomes part of stage III when a spleen is seen after the sickness has been detected.

Stage four. This is the terminal stage wherein the lung substance is already affected. This is also the phase when the bone soul and liver are complicated in the disease since well because the unsimilar organs that are far from the originally infected parts.

Learned are myriad other factors that can affect the impact of the treatments that are done with people that are suffering from the disease, like the age of the patient and the size of the illness. If you are in the advanced stage of this sickness, you must not lose hope because there are several cases that have been healed eventually even after suffering from the higher stages.

From the early signs or when you are starting to feel like well-qualified is something wrong, do not hesitate and consult with a doctor. To help you find out if you have the symptoms that are related with the disease, here are some of the most common ones. The most common and also the most important symptoms are the lumps on your neck, groin and armpits. These are painless, which is why there are many people who disregard these easily and only start seeking help when other symptoms start to come up.

The other symptoms that you may feel once you have the enlarged lymph nodes include loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, excessive glowing, especially at night and itchiness. You may also feel weak as the cancer cells of the lymphoma start spreading and grow bigger.
This article’s coverage of the information is as complete as it can be today. But you should always leave open the possibility that future research could uncover new facts.

Usual Symptoms of Lymphoma

When most people think of Lymphoma, what comes to mind is usually basic information that’s not particularly interesting or beneficial. But there’s a lot more to Lymphoma than just the basics.

A type of cancer declared as lymphoma could occur innocuously, usually in a harmless way that it often takes a long time before a person takes notice of yielding symptoms. You should learn about the most common symptoms of the disease. Take note that most of such signs could commonly occur that they could appear even if you are not buffeted from lymphoma. There is indeed no need to panic when these symptoms are observed. The best thing to do is to immediately consult the doctor so that all your doubts and fears could be properly addressed.

Straightforward lumps in the groin, armpits, or neck

This is the most usual symptom. In many cases this is the only frame up of lymphoma. The lumps are actually expanded lymph nodes. Commensurate lumps could be noticed or felt while you are changing or bathing. Your bedfellow could also call your attention because of such lumps. This top symptom must come with the subsequent other symptoms to feed your suspicion that you may be impaired from this type of cancer.

Asap weight loss

Weight paradise that occurs rapidly and for no apparent reason could be suspicious. If you are not into any weight loss program and you significantly shed extirpate pounds ( about 10 lbs to 15 lbs in just unequal months ), you should ruminate your body and find out if proficient are lumps in the neck, groin, or armpits. If there are, immediately subject yourself to medical tests.

Continuous fever

Immediately dig into medical attention if a fever occurs continuously and intermittently for a certain period of time. If there is no occurrence of urinary or chest infection and there are lumps in specific areas in the body, consult a doctor at once. Fever related to swellings of the nodes is commonly infectious. Many forms of lymphoma are usually goofed as mere infections during the early stage of cancer. Pel – Ebstein fever ( very high fever going on and off for seven to 10 days ) is a top manifestation of Hodgkin lymphoma.

Excessive sweating especially at night

This situation is quite bothersome. It is uncomfortable. Often, you may wake up in the middle of the night while being drenched in too much sweat. When there is no apparent reason for this sweating episode and other symptoms of the cancer are evident, you should be alarmed.

Loss of appetite and itchiness all over the body

You would experience an unexplained and considerable loss of appetite if the lymphoma has spread across contrary parts of the body. This leads to subordination downfall, which is discussed earlier. If you detect a 10 % weight loss or more, be immediately concerned as the symptom could already be a poor prognostic factor of the cancer. At the same time, there could be abnormal itchiness all over the body as lymphoma cells secrete special chemicals due to the condition.

Overall feeling of weakness

Lastly, lymphoma comes with an overall receptivity of weakness. As cancer cells continue growing, they inevitably make use of most of the nutrients in the body. This occurrence makes you logically feel weaker.
Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Lymphoma. Share your new understanding about Lymphoma with others. They’ll thank you for it.