The Exact Causes of Stomach Cancer are still Unknown: How to Detect and Prevent it?
Another name for stomach cancer is gastric cancer; it is caused by the formation of cancer at the lining of the stomach. Located at the upper part of the abdomen, the stomach is an important part of the digestive system.
Are there known causes for stomach cancer?
The exact causes of gastric or stomach cancer is not known. But some risk factors for stomach cancer have been identified; they include chronic gastritis, smoking, dietary pattern that is composed of much salted and preserved foods and also poor diet. Being prone to stomach cancer risk factors does not mean that the disease is certain to develop in the individual who has risk factors; it only indicates that that the possibility of developing the disease in such individual is high.
Symptoms of stomach cancer
Most cancer types do not show forth any symptom especially at the early stage; this also applies to gastric or stomach cancer. Gastric cancer does not show forth any sign or symptom at the early stage. However, some of the symptoms associated with stomach cancer are also shared by most other sicknesses. Such symptoms include nausea, trace of blood in the stool, vomiting and weight loss. It better to see the doctor to discuss these symptoms when one is experiencing them; this is to be sure of what sickness they might represent.
Stomach cancer tests
The diagnosis of stomach cancer starts with physical examination of the individual and questions on the symptoms and risk factors that might be obtainable in the individual. Also the doctor would want to ascertain the general health condition of the individual. The main test for gastric cancer is endoscopy. An individual is put under sedation before the test is commenced. An endoscope is passed through the individual’s throat by the doctor, so as to have a better view of the esophagus, the first segment of the small intestine and the stomach. Biopsies can be taken if abnormality is identified in some areas under examination; then further examination is carried on the tissue sample using a microscope, to see if there is cancer. Other tests for stomach cancer will include upper gastrointestinal (GI) series, imaging tests such as x-rays, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), computed tomography (CT) scan, MRI and a few others.
Stomach or gastric cancer prevention
The best way to prevent stomach cancer is by applying caution on the risk factors of stomach cancer. This means that foods that are much salted, prickled and smoked should be avoided. An individual should also eat more of leafy and other vegetables and fruits.
Treatment of stomach cancer
Treatment of stomach cancer and other types of cancer is more effective if early detection is made. For stomach cancer treatment, it is more effective to treat the primary lymphomas type than the gastric adenocarcinoma. However, the various treatments for stomach cancer include surgery, combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:10 am
I wanted to enforce the importance of early detection. In our busy ives we shrug off symptoms and chalk everything up to stress. My grandmother never had “time” to go see a doctor and by the time she couldn’t keep food down and was bleeding in her stools, she had a 10 pound tumor in her stomach, something that may have been treatable had she taken better care of herself. Don’t have time? You might not have much at all,really.