Friday, March 13, 2009
EYE CANCER
Photos: This nodular, but somewhat irregularly-shaped basal cell carcinoma becomes more obvious when the skin is stretched. Due to its location on the eyelid, it was treated by the more precise, tissue-sparing method-- Mohs micrographic surgery.
Radiation Therapy
Understanding Radiation Therapy
For many people, the word “radiation” conjures up frightening images. But radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, is an effective, carefully controlled means of fighting cancer. Although therapy can cause side effects, the treatment sessions themselves are painless. And in the skilled hands of a radiation oncologist and well-trained technologist, the side effects can be minimized. Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer; it is used in more than half of all cases.
What exactly is it?
Radiation therapy uses beams of high-energy waves or particles (for example, x-rays, gamma rays, or alpha and beta particles) to kill or damage cancer cells. The powerful stream of energy, which is thousands of times more intense than the rays used for a routine chest x-ray, damages the DNA of cancer cells, rendering them unable to reproduce and grow. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, normal cells are able to repair themselves and function properly.
When is it used?
Radiation therapy is the primary treatment for many types of cancer, including certain cancers of the lung, breast, cervix, prostate, testicles, bladder, thyroid, larynx and brain, as well as early-stage Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In some cases, radiation therapy is the only treatment needed; in others, it is used in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. Radiation can be used before surgery to shrink a tumor so that it is easier to remove. After surgery, it is used to destroy microscopic extensions of cancerous tissue around a tumor that surgery might have missed.
Unlike chemotherapy, in which cancer-killing drugs travel throughout the entire body via the bloodstream, radiation therapy affects only the tumor and the surrounding tissue.When cancer has spread to distant areas of the body, chemotherapy is needed.
For many people, the word “radiation” conjures up frightening images. But radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, is an effective, carefully controlled means of fighting cancer. Although therapy can cause side effects, the treatment sessions themselves are painless. And in the skilled hands of a radiation oncologist and well-trained technologist, the side effects can be minimized. Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer; it is used in more than half of all cases.
What exactly is it?
Radiation therapy uses beams of high-energy waves or particles (for example, x-rays, gamma rays, or alpha and beta particles) to kill or damage cancer cells. The powerful stream of energy, which is thousands of times more intense than the rays used for a routine chest x-ray, damages the DNA of cancer cells, rendering them unable to reproduce and grow. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, normal cells are able to repair themselves and function properly.
When is it used?
Radiation therapy is the primary treatment for many types of cancer, including certain cancers of the lung, breast, cervix, prostate, testicles, bladder, thyroid, larynx and brain, as well as early-stage Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In some cases, radiation therapy is the only treatment needed; in others, it is used in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. Radiation can be used before surgery to shrink a tumor so that it is easier to remove. After surgery, it is used to destroy microscopic extensions of cancerous tissue around a tumor that surgery might have missed.
Unlike chemotherapy, in which cancer-killing drugs travel throughout the entire body via the bloodstream, radiation therapy affects only the tumor and the surrounding tissue.When cancer has spread to distant areas of the body, chemotherapy is needed.
Treatment and Trials
Living with and managing HIV disease requires a thorough understanding of the treatments that are available to you. It also demands that drug companies develop new and more effective HIV drugs through clinical trials and research. If you’re frustrated about the lack of information specific to women, consider participating in a clinical trial (there are many kinds)! Even if you don’t participate in a drug study, you’re still helping us learn more about HIV disease in women!
Injecting drugs, drug users, HIV & AIDS
The effect of injection drug use on HIV rates
Roughly one tenth of new HIV infections result from needle sharing, with this figure rising to just under a third outside of sub-Saharan Africa.13 One study estimates that just under one-in-five IDUs globally may be infected with HIV.14 Among the regions where injecting drug use accounts for a majority or highly significant share of HIV prevalence are:15
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia
- Russia: 83%
- Kyrgyzstan: 75%
- Kazakhstan: 73.6%
- Ukraine: 64.1%
- East and South-East Asia
- Malaysia: 72%
- Indonesia: 54%
- Vietnam: 52%
- China: 44.3%
Transmission through blood OF AIDS
What works?
People who share equipment to inject recreational drugs risk becoming infected with HIV from other drug users. Methadone maintenance and other drug treatment programmes are effective ways to help people eliminate this risk by giving up injected drugs altogether. However, there will always be some injecting drug users who are unwilling or unable to end their habit, and these people should be encouraged to minimise the risk of infection by not sharing equipment.20
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