Liver Cancer: A Deadly Disease

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Liver cancer is a disease that kills almost all the people who suffer from it within a year. This is because by the time one realizes that they have the cancer, it has already spread to other parts of the body.  Statistics show that only “five percent of the patients with liver that has begun to show symptoms survive even five years without treatment.”(Leslie J. Schoenfield, MD, PhD). But if the cancer is detected early, it can be removed surgically.

In close association with liver cancer are diseases such as, alcoholism, viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis obesity and diabetes. (NCI) All of the above diseases are closely related with alcoholism. This is because; alcoholism and viral hepatitis cause cirrhosis which in turn leads to the cancer.

In order to understand how dangerous this disease is,   (Cancer. Net) approximated that this year (2010) 24,120 adults in total in the United States 17,430 men and 6,690 women will soon be diagnosed with liver cancer and that, about 18910 deaths occur to be more specific, 12,720 will be men and 6,190 in women. In America thought the population that is worst hit is the immigrants. It is mostly in afro- Americans, the Spanish and the Asians due to the high rates of hepatitis b that affects the Asians

The Liver.

 The liver is a vital organ in the human body.  It is used to dispose off harmful substances from the blood, make enzymes and bile needed in the digestion of food. And also it food into valuable substances needed for health growth. One cannot live without one for a long time. It is one of the largest organs found just below the ribcage and is made up of four parts or lobes. The lobes are as follows:

The right lobe

The left lobe

The caudate lobe

Quadrate lobe

Why I take so much interest in my research on liver cancer, is because many young people are drawing closer and closer to the risk of getting liver cancer.  This is because of the high rates at which the youth are becoming dependent on alcohol and as we have seen, alcohol is a major cause of liver cancer.

Signs and Symptoms of Liver Cancer

There are no specific signs and symptoms of liver cancer but some of them are unexplained fever and weight loss, jaundice and ascites which are abdominal fluids and swelling. (Cited in.MedicineNet.com). other signs include nausea and vomiting, weakness and a feeling of exhaustion, loss of appetite and at times a feeling of fullness, feeling heavy or a lamp on the upper abdomen and pain in the upper right abdomen (NCI).  When having these symptoms, the patient should see a doctor for a thorough medical check up.

Design Strategy. Analytical epidemiological studies according to environmental health investigation branch are studies that are used in tests used show the relationship between human beings and the health effects. In this case having looked at the causes of liver cancer, you see that most of them are related to the way of life of human beings. Sicknesses such as obesity and alcoholism bring about liver cancer showing that it’s the way of life that affects the human health.

While doing my research, I was deeply enlightened on many things. Such as healthy living in order to avoid fatal sicknesses such as liver cancer.  If I were to present my research to a committee, I wouldn’t so much focus on what the paper has, but instead urge them to sensitize people on the preventive measures and the importance of healthy living.