Cancer is one of the scariest diseases in this world because it has affected thousands and thousands of people either leaving them totally drained, or taking their lives away altogether. It is one of the greatest causes of death. There are several reasons for getting this disease; one of them is having genetic disorders, or inheriting the disease from any of your family members. Another reason is having an unhealthy lifestyle or due to environmental factors such as malnutrition, consuming alcohol heavily, smoking, obesity, adopting a sedentary lifestyle, or being overexposed to pollutants. All of these factors are claimed to mainly be 90% of cancer causes, while the genetic disorders are only 10%.
The risk of being affected by that disease can be lessened and controlled by changing your lifestyle into a healthy one and trying to avoid pollution in all its forms. Although the rates of death, caused by cancer, have been dramatically falling over the past few years, some types are lethally dangerous and are even hard to be detected. Here is a list of the top 10 most dreadful types of cancer.
10 Esophagus Cancer
The esophagus is the tube that is responsible for transferring food from the throat all the way down to the stomach. This cancer attacks the cells lining the esophagus, especially at the very bottom of it. It also leads to severe bleeding in the esophagus escorting the stool to turn back and that is because the blood passes through the digestive tract. This form is usually more common in men more than women. Although it is one of the very dreadful forms, luckily it can be identified at its early stages, for its symptoms are easily detected. The signs of this disease are vomiting, pain in the chest, swallowing is no longer an easy process and constantly feeling as if the food got stuck in the throat, drastic weight loss, and that is because swallowing becomes difficult leading the patient to eat less than enough.
9 Leukemia
Leukemia has more than one type, but what they all have in common is the tissues they affect, and these tissues are the ones that are responsible for forming the blood. Long story short, leukemia is a blood cancer which the blood cells that are still immature become cancerous, and it is more common to occur among adults. This form of cancer is known to rapidly escalate to a dangerous state, but still it depends on its type whether it is chronic, gets worse in a slow pace over time, or acute, grows deadly very fast. Leukemia cancer can affect any cell in the blood; it is more common to affect the white blood cells, which are responsible for building the body’s immune and fight infections which makes it deadly since it reduces the function of the immune system significantly. However, it is less common to affect the red blood cells, which are the cells responsible for carrying the oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body, as well as the platelets, the cells that form the blood clots.
8 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Just like the Leukemia, this type of cancer affects the blood too; it affects the lymphocytes, in particular, which is a type of white blood cells. The Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, commonly known as NHL, has many forms and each is differentiated by its growth pace and the type of lymphocytes it attacks. The NHL is even more dangerous than the Hodgkin cancer, more common in men than women and the risk of getting it is more common among older ages. However, it can be easily detected, for its signs are clear and obvious, and they are weight loss, fever, and larger lymph nodes.
7 Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer is the one that develops in the colon and rectum. The cases of cancer in these areas start by the formation of benign clumps in the cells known as polyps; these cells grow uncontrollably forming a tumor that, over time, becomes cancerous. The signs of this type are, fortunately, obvious as they are constipation, blood in the stool, drastic weight loss, Anemia, due to iron deficiency, and diarrhea. This form can affect both men and women, but it is more common among men, and that is why men over the age of 50 are advised to constantly get screened, so it becomes possible to identify polyps before they transform into cancer.
6 Lung & Bronchus Cancer
This form of cancer was one of the greatest causes of death in the United States, even more than the other types. It is a tumor that forms anywhere within the lungs, and it can rapidly spread to other parts of the body. There are two types of cancer: non-small cell lung cancer, the most common one, and small cell lung cancer, this type is deadlier since it spreads very fast. What makes that type dreadful is the fact that it is hard to detect during its early stages, and can only be identified after reaching an advanced stage. It is mainly caused due to excessive smoking, or the extensive use of the products of tobacco in general, which means that the more you smoke, the higher the risk of getting lung cancer is.
5 Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer commonly affects older women, and it has reached its peak from 2003 through 2007. Although the death rates have significantly dropped, this disease is known as the silent killer, because it is hard to detect at an early stage and additionally it barely has symptoms. However, recent researches have spotted the light on some signs that could be identified as ovarian cancer such as pelvic pain and the frequent urge to urinate. These researches have also shown that the women who are most at risk are the heavy smokers, the obese, and the ones with a strong family history of either ovarian or breast cancer.
4 Breast Cancer
This form of cancer is the second most common among women after skin cancer. It can also affect men, but it rarely happens; it is definitely more common among women, and the older they get, the more at risk they become. The breast cancer is a tumor that takes place in the milk ducts or in the glands that produce milk, and its basic symptoms are lumps formation, skin irritation, change in the shape of the nipples, or sudden change in the breast size. Although those signs are not always noticeable, it is recorded that the death rates of these cases have significantly reduced due to the increase of awareness for early screening.
3 Prostate Cancer
The prostate gland is located right behind the penis, and it is responsible for a seminal fluid that transports the sperms. This form of cancer is deemed to be unusual, in comparison with other types, since it does not spread to other body parts. Its signs are the tendency to urinate more frequently, weakness in the flow of urine, and blood in urine as well as semen associated with pain. A lot of studies have estimated that only 1 out of 6 men would be diagnosed by prostate cancer, and like any disease, early detection is highly related to the survival rates; that is why men, especially over the age of 50, are recommended to get screened on annual basis.
2 Liver & Intrahepatic Bile Duct Cancer
The liver is the biggest internal organ and it is responsible for breaking down the food you eat, extracting from it the nutrients that the body needs. Liver & Bile Cancer is hard to be identified during its early stages, but one of its common signs is the significant weight loss due to loss of appetite. This form can affect men and women, but men are more prone to get it. It mostly affects people who suffer from damage in their liver, resulting from excessive consumption of alcohol.
1 Pancreatic Cancer
The pancreas is a small organ located behind the stomach, and it is responsible for the process of food digestion and the regulation of the sugar level in the blood. Pancreatic cancer is considered the most dangerous and the deadliest form of cancer; it progresses very quickly and is hard to be identified before spreading to other body parts. This form has also shown great resistance to chemotherapy, and that is why the development of alternative treatments are already taking place. People with diabetes and stomach diseases are the ones most at risk, moreover, obesity and excessive smoking can highly increase the risk.
