500+ Words Essay on Cancer
It was the cricket world cup of 2011, and the finale was going on between India and Sri Lanka. India was chasing an average target, but due to quick falling of wickets, the game was slipping away from the hands of India. And, suddenly the next batsman, who was going to bat, was experiencing various weird symptoms.
He was continuously vomiting blood and was in a critical condition. Soon, when the doctor examined him, they found out that he was suffering from one of the most feared diseases of the World, which kills more than 1300 Indians, every day! The name of this frightening disease is Cancer.
What is Cancer?
Cancer is a group of those cells which lose the ability to follow the normal control that the body applies on all cells, and starts showing anti-social behaviour.
How does Cancer Occur?
Our body is made up of various cells. Cancer occurs when some of these cells start showing abnormal behaviour and becomes uncontrollable. Their behaviour becomes like that of rumours, i.e. it spreads quickly!
Along the way, it increases their number by infecting other cells too! All of these cancerous cells form a group, and that is called a “Tumour”. What is more dangerous about the disease is that it keeps growing unstoppably, and can even spread to other organs; while in some cases, it even destroys the organs completely!
But that is not where it stops; in some cases, it can even harm the immune system, weakening the patient’s body and making it unable to fight against other diseases. Cancer comes in many shapes and forms.
Types of Cancer
Some of the most common types of Cancer are as below:
Biologically, there are five types of cancer,
Carcinoma: This kind of cancer is the most common cancer that is generally found. Cancer in organs like lungs, breasts, stomach, etc. are common examples of the Carcinoma type of Cancer. Among this type, breast cancer is most commonly found in females, while prostate cancer is common in males.
Sarcoma: This type of cancer is very rare. We still don’t know a specific cause of this cancer; but generally, Sarcoma cancer originates in cartilages, connective tissues, blood vessels, bones, etc. If any other person in your family suffered from this cancer, then there is a great risk that you could get it too!
Leukaemia: Leukaemia or blood cancer, is caused in the blood due to an increase in White Blood Cells (WBCs) in our body. No tumours are formed in this type of cancer. If you have a leukaemia history in your family or had radiation therapy or chemotherapy for cancer, then you have a high risk of getting leukaemia.
Lymphoma: Lymphoma originates from the lymphocytes (infection-fighting cells in the immune system).This kind of cancer is treatable depending on its type and stage. Due to lymphoma, lymphocytes change and grow out of control. If you have a close relative who had lymphoma, or you were treated with radiation for cancer somewhere in the past, then you have a high chance of getting this cancer.
Melanoma: Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. It develops when melanocytes (cells which are responsible for the colour of the skin) grows out of control. This type of cancer is not common, but it spreads very quickly. Early treatment can be helpful in this kind of cancer.
Causes of Cancer
There is no one particular cause or reason for Cancer, but the most probable causes are:
Genetic Factor: Genetic factor includes things like heredity, genes, blood type, gender, age, etc. If you have a family background of any kind of cancer, then, there are chances of you getting cancer. Generally, this cause cannot be changed or manipulated.
External/Lifestyle Factor: These factors are caused by external factors. Smoking, chewing tobacco, unhealthy lifestyle, excessive exposure to UV rays, exposure to any harmful radiations like X-rays or Gamma rays, etc. are the main or most common causes of cancer. Generally, these causes can be avoided, and by living a healthy lifestyle, the risk of getting any cancer can be reduced.
Treatment of Cancer
Cancer is a disease, which gets complicated as it gets to its higher stages. Early treatment/curation is essential for cancer. There are mainly three methods which are used to treat cancer. These methods/treatments are:
Surgery: It depends on many things like the type of cancer, your general health, the location of cancer in your body, the size and stage of cancer, etc. And eventually, that part decides whether to perform a surgery or not. Through surgery, the tissue which has the tumour is removed, so that cancer doesn’t spread further. This treatment is not useful if the cancer is already spread in many parts of your body. It is also not useful for the treatment of Blood cancer.
Radiation Therapy: Radiation therapy, also called Radiotherapy, is used commonly when cancer has spread in the body. In this therapy, high energy particles or waves are used to destroy the cancer cells, and stop their spreading. Due to radiation, other normal cells also get damaged, but they get recovered with time.
Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy stops or slow down the growth of cancer cells, and reduces the chances of returning of those cells. It also helps in increasing the effectiveness of other therapies like radiotherapy, surgery, etc. There are many side-effects of this therapy like loss of hair, fatigue, etc. and this therapy damages the healthy cells too, but all these side-effects recover with time.
Despite such terrifying aspects of Cancer disease, the battle is still not over for many Cancer patients around the world. There are many examples of inspiring stories of people’s fight against this disease.
Let’s come back to the Cricket World Cup Finale of 2011. On the one hand, India was playing one of its crucial games of history, and on the other hand, one of the key players of India came to a shocking revelation that he was suffering from one of the most dangerous diseases of the world!
But despite the doctor’s advice of being unfit to play, he carried on towards the ground to play, because it was the moment when his team, his country was in dire need of him. And then the rest is history, that India went on to win this great World Cup Match. But all this was possible because that person’s “never give up” attitude towards Cancer. He was none other than one of the best all-rounders of India, Yuvraj Singh. He even went on to become the ‘Man of the Series’ of that World Cup and even defeated the Cancer disease. He once said:
“It took me a while to realise that I was diagnosed with Cancer. [But] The battle against Cancer has made me strong. It’s like winning a war!”
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