Dealing with Cancer essays

Dealing with Cancer essays During a shower one day you notice a lump that was not otherwise there. The next day you see a doctor. The lump you have identified is diagnosed as cancer. Now you need to figure out what to do. There is no absolute cure for cancer, but there are different ways to treat it. One treatment is the traditional from by seeing a doctor who possibly could use radiation, chemotherapy or other drugs. Another way of treating cancer is with alternative forms of medicine by using acupuncture naturopathic and homeopathic doctors who prescribe more natural forms of healing using a combination of the two. When using the combination of the two treatment techniques, one can receive the full benefit of all available options. The medical profession should acknowledge allowing alternative medicines in conjunction with traditional medicines to ease suffering as well as prolonging the lives of cancer patients. In order to make a decision on a treatment for cancer, one must understand what cancer is and th e current treatments used. Cancer starts when a cell ceases to function properly, mutates and begins to multiply rapidly. A cancer cell has an abnormal chromosome which sends ' the wrong ' message to the other parts of the cell, which causes the cell to grow rapidly as it multiplies. These multiplied cells form a lump called a malignant tumor which is the cancer. "[Cancer] knows no boundaries and plays no favorites; it can be found among people of all races and ages, both rich and poor, black and white, male or female (Fine 9)." Cancer is a very serious disease many people live with. On average " about 1.2 million people are diagnosed with [cancer] every year (Noonan A3)." Cancer is not a contagious disease; it can not be passed form one person to another. Like the statistic from above, imagine the fact that " cancer kills more than 500,000 Americans every year -approximately one person per minute (Noonan A3)." Many people each year are killed by cancer, ye...