Know if you or your loved one is at risk of cancer

Know If You or Your Loved One is at Risk of Cancer

• January 18, 2023

Today cancer tops the list of causes of death in people worldwide. In the past, this silent killer crept in without any notice and knocked down people to death bed within days after its diagnosis.
However now, with the advancement in modern medicine, the ratio of people surviving despite cancer is now rising. So, let’s find out 7 alarming signs that can help in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

• Weight loss: The first sign of cancer is abnormal weight loss. This weight loss is not achieved through diet or exercise but due to the utilization of the energy by cancerous cells instead of healthy living cells. If you notice any drastic reduction in weight associated with tiredness and fatigue; it can be considered as an alarming sign and medical attention needs to be called for.
• Abnormal swelling or growth in any part of the body: In cancer, the malignant cells form a cluster and lodge themselves inside the body tissues (lymph nodes). These clusters appear as a lump or swelling under the skin and are mostly painless and of irregular shape. One needs to seek immediate medical help on discovering any such lumps on the body.
• Abnormal bleeding: A healthy individual usually bleeds only due to an apparent injury and during menstruation as occurs in women. Any other type of bleeding such as blood in spit, blood in cough, blood in stools and vaginal bleeding in a post-menopausal woman (after the periods have stopped) can be a sign of cancer.
• Loss of appetite: Sudden drop in the desire to eat food or difficulty in keeping the food down without any apparent cause could be a sign of some serious disease. In cancer, the desire to eat food reduces and is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. This is most commonly seen in blood, stomach, pancreatic, and kidney cancers.
• Frequent illness: Cancer often leads to impaired immunity and thus cancer affected person falls ill more frequently than any other healthy individual. Even small illnesses like cold or mild stomach infection can lead to serious complications.
• Weakness and tiredness: Since the cancerous cells take up all the consumed energy, a person with cancer feels weak and tired most of the time. This can be accompanied by shortness of breath, pale appearance (due to anemia), and frequent body pain.
• Constant pain: Although pain is the last sign of cancer from where it is no longer reversible; if brought to attention, treatment can be initiated. Headaches and giddiness are classical symptoms in brain tumors. Other symptoms include chest pain in lung cancers, intense bone pain in bone cancer, severe abdominal pain in the stomach, and pancreatic cancer.Know cancer before it is too late. Discuss the above symptoms with your loved ones and contact your doctor immediately if you notice any of them in yourself or your loved ones and get it medically evaluated. Do you need someone to execute all these activities from the comfort of your home? Sarathi Healthcare – your most trusted caretaker for elderly at home - is there to help! At Sarathi Healthcare, we offer end-to-end elderly care services at home. For more details, visit our various care services.Vigilance is the key to combating deadly diseases like cancer within time.