    |
What is Cancer
Cancer was first described in the Egyptian papyri about 3000 years BC.
Tumours are noted to have long large blood vessels growing into and out of them like the claws of crabs; thus the word cancer which means crab in Greek was coined by Hippocrates of Cos, the father of medicine to describe these diseases. But what exactly is cancer?
Cancer refers to a group of diseases which occurs when body cells starts to grow out of control. The cells lose their ability to divide in a controlled manner and choke out normal body cells.
Because the cells which have now turned cancer grow in such an uncontrolled rate, they use up nutrition several times the normal amount and thus starve normal body cells of vital supply… no wonder people grow lean when they have cancer.
They may also produce certain kinds of chemicals in unusual amount, causing different symptoms. There are over 200 different types of cancer.
This tumour or cancer cells could be benign, meaning they do not grow rapidly and do not spread to other organs or part of the body, or malignant, meaning they could spread to other organs or parts of the body.
The English Surgeon, Stephen Paget described malignant tumours like seeds that could follow blood or lymph to any and all part of the body, but only grows in organs or part of the body that suits it, just like a seed would only grow in a soil that it finds okay for it. This explains why some tumour spreads to certain part of the body, and not others.
|
