Cancer: Symptoms and Causes To Be Aware Of

The second-leading cause of death globally, cancer, refers to any disease where cells develop abnormally, divide uncontrollably, infiltrate, and destroy normal body tissue.

What Are Some of The Causes of Cancer?

Cancer begins when the DNA inside the cell mutates or changes. DNA is packaged into many individual genes. Each of these contains instructions on functions to perform and how to grow and divide. Any error in the instructions can cause the cell to stop its normal process and become cancerous.

What Do Gene Mutations Do?

A gene mutation can instruct a healthy cell to grow and divide more rapidly, creating more new mutant cells. It can also fail to stop uncontrolled cell growth, causing tumors and mistakes when repairing DNA errors. While DNA repair genes look for errors in a cell’s DNA and make corrections, mutant repair genes may mean that other errors aren’t corrected, leading cells to become cancerous. These mutations are the most common ones found in cancer, but other mutations can also contribute to causing cancer.

What Causes Gene Mutations?

Gene mutations can be inherited or occur after birth. Several outside influences can also cause gene mutations, like smoking, radiation, viruses, carcinogenic chemicals, obesity, hormonal fluctuations, chronic inflammation, and insufficient exercise.

Gene mutations frequently occur during average cell growth, though we still don’t know how many mutations must accumulate for cancer to form. This likely varies among cancer types.

What Are Some Symptoms of Cancer to Watch For?

While the signs and symptoms caused by cancer will change depending on where in the body it is, there are some general indications that you should watch for, including:

– Lumps or areas of thickening that you can feel through the skin

– Fatigue

– Hoarseness of voice

– Continuous indigestion or discomfort after eating

– Persistent, unexplained muscle or joint pain

– Changes in bowel or bladder habits

– Weight changes – loss or gain

– Changes in the skin’s look – yellowing, darkening, or redness of the skin, sores that won’t heal, or moles that start growing

– Persistent cough or trouble with breathing

– Difficulty with swallowing

– Persistent, unexplained fevers or night sweats

– Unexplained bleeding or bruising

If you see any persistent signs or symptoms that concern you, you should see your doctor immediately.