Cancer, early warning signs

Well, a warm welcome to this talk on Wednesday 23rd November, but this will apply whenever you're watching because I'm afraid there are more people being diagnosed with

cancer

at the moment and the trends indicate that this could be increasing. I'm going to talk about the causes of this, but what I want to talk about in this video is how to recognize it

early

because I think everyone watching knows that if you can diagnose

cancer

early

and get effective treatment, your chances of remission and recovery are greater. much, much older, so the information I'm going to give in the next 20 minutes is a short lecture, I'm afraid there is a bit of information to cover, but if you can follow through, it really could save your life or someone's life. from your friends or family then, the first

warning

signs

of cancer, what should we pay attention to?

What makes us think? Oh, just a minute, I better go see the doctor about it. Let's go over that now, so let's go here. Early

warning

signs

of cancer. is what we are looking at because we want to capture this as soon as possible. Now these notes here are actually from my book. I'll put the links there. You can do a free download of that or mainly my book. I have updated it slightly, any unexplained bleeding, so hematuria is blood in the urine, blood in the urine is always abnormal, the normal amount of blood in the urine is zero, there is not supposed to be blood in the urine, for What there is no blood in the urine is always abnormal.

The only exception is that during periods when there may be blood contamination in the urine, the blood comes from the vagina, not the urethra, and what we should do then is not assume that this bleeding is caused by menstruation. period, what we do is check it again in two weeks and if the woman still tests positive for blood, then we investigate that, of course, the vast majority of the time they will be negative because periods can contaminate the urine, but that is not the case. Assuming that is the case, blood in urine is always abnormal. Frank is an occult.

These are terms we come across quite often. Frank Blood means it's obvious, frankly, this is blood. It's obvious to anyone who looks at it. It seems that the blood smells like blood is blood. Occult blood is occult blood so the blood can be there in very small amounts so you may have blood in your urine and not be able to detect it without putting a dipstick in or sometimes the blood can be changed For example, if someone vomits blood, it may be like coffee grounds and may have an altered appearance, so remember that the blood may be downright hidden or change suspicious blood any time you suspect blood is an issue. very simple for nurses and doctors to analyze and see if it is actually blood always.

It's better to be safe than sorry in that regard, so women, if there is blood in the urine, check again in two weeks, when you are in the middle of your cycle, so hematemesis is vomiting blood again, which It is abnormal now of course sometimes with severe vomiting there could be a tear for example in the lower part of this office or the esophagus or the stomach which is not a cancer but like there is blood in the vomit which is not normal again have it checked the blood in the sputum is always abnormal the main causes of that worldwide are tuberculosis and lung cancer so there's not supposed to be blood in the sputum again if it's there have it checked um Molina es blood from stool now blood in stool is typically uh we normally describe it as dark and draining, it depends on where If it comes from the bottom near the anus and rectum, it can be frank blood.

Sometimes if you have a bunch, for example, it can be very obvious, but that's nice when you clean yourself in the bathroom, but again we can. Don't really assume this is coming from a pile, there's a chance it's from a higher injury, but if it's bleeding from the mouth, esophagus, stomach, upper gastrointestinal tract into the intestine, then it passes. The digestive system is partially digested and comes out as a kind of dark, tarry stool. Characteristic smell when you get used to smelling them. Dark, tarry stools that we call Molina. It is a form of altered blood.

Consider again the possibility that it is leaking. this blood is bleeding from some kind of tumor, most of the time we hope it is not, but it is worth checking, especially if it is persistent and occurs more than once, you can be frank about cult PV for vaginal bleeding, so between later periods. sex is abnormal and bleeding after menopause is abnormal, so bleeding between periods after abnormal postmenopausal sex get your vaginal bleeding checked, even if it's just a little bit of blood, you're not supposed to bleed between periods and after you're not supposed to bleed In menopause you're not supposed to bleed after sex, so even if it's just a little bit or if it's dark or a changed color, get it checked and make sure it's blood first As I say, a very simple test to see if it is blood. any nurse or doctor can do it very easily and if it is blood take it further, if it is not blood you can be sure it is not blood.

Persistent nosebleeds and other possibilities. Now, of course, the vast majority of nosebleeds. It's trauma, the most common cause of nosebleeds of course is people picking their nose, the only thing you should put in your nose is the same thing you put in your ear and that's your elbow, so we shouldn't picking our nose, but a persistent nosebleed or bleeding that is not explained by the nose again check for the possibility that it could be something abnormal, it could be a premalignant polyp, this is what often happens in the colon, so in people over 60, I think in the UK, we now do annual or bi-annual checks to see if there is occult blood in the stool, only to say there is a little blood there because that would be an abnormal finding, very It could often be a polyp, but polyps can become malignant, so it is worth checking them at an early stage.

It is about reviewing them at an early stage. Hematomas, of course, are just bleeding into the tissue, so all hematomas bleed from the capillaries in the small blood vessels, that's it and you get this hematoma. it turns dark to start, sort of black and blue and then turns a little yellow as it starts to lighten as the blood breaks down, but remember again that bruising is just a form of bleeding, now discharge your secretions , uh, when we are. Speaking of discharge, we usually talk about pus and things like that, well, it could be a serious discharge, it could be a lighter discharge.

Now discharge normally means infection, but what happens with malignancy, if there is a tumor growing somewhere, be it a mammary duct. or in a respiratory tract, it alters the architecture of that structure and it cannot clear its mucus and eliminate itself as it normally would, so infections become more likely. Infections are sometimes associated with discharges, so discharges are usually an infection and of course most discharges. They are caused by an infection, a urethral discharge, for example, could be a sign of a sexually transmitted disease, but occasionally the discharge can be an infection caused by a distortion of the normal architecture of the tissue, which would be a possible malignant area. , so we certainly want The exam indicates infection, but tumors distort and block normal anatomy, that is the key point, so repeated respiratory infections, chronic cough, prolonged cough should be examined.

Pus from the urethra should also be examined, although this would normally be an infection and pus from the nipple. Now, this is almost the most common, of course, this occurs in women, but it can also occur in men. There may still be bleeding or discharge from the nipple in men and again it is an abnormal finding and of course we mention the changes in the vagina. Bowel habits or bowel activity are another classic characteristic. Changes in defecation. That's just defecating. Frequency. Consistency of feces. Constipation. Diarrhea. For example, the shape, if the stool has a different shape, the color of this mucus associated with the shape, all of that can be abnormal. again, normally, of course, it's not caused by cancer, but doctors can actually check this, just, without too much difficulty, dark or pale color now, obviously, if the stool is dark, it can be Molina, it can be blood, but if the stool becomes very light in color. clay type color that can mean that the bile does not reach them because it is the bile that colors and deodorizes the stool and if the pancreas is the tumor that grows in the pancreas and can block the bile ducts, many other causes, of course, but the pale stools are always worth it. get a checkup and again, a few simple blood tests can usually give you the diagnosis, these things are not difficult for doctors, nurse practitioners and people like that to check floating stools could mean that there is a lot of fat in them and again, that could It means that the pancreatic digestive enzymes are not arriving to digest fat, so floating stools are abnormal reserves that are difficult to eliminate.

It could be fatty, steaturia, fat in the stool is a possibility. Dark urine can mean that bile is not getting through. in the intestine and can go into the urine, so dark urine again can be a cause a symptom of pancreatic cancer abnormal bloating or bloating of the abdomen again not normal it needs to be controlled persistent heartburn or indigestion now some people have heartburn stomach and indigestion for years, I mean, I have to take lanzoprazole tablets myself sometimes just for a little bit of esophageal regurgitation, but if it's new or it's changing, it could be, it could be a cancer in the esophagus or the um. in the upper part, the upper part of the stomach, the bottom of the stomach, it will be most likely, many other pathologies and things that can cause it, of course, but that is one of the things to check for persistent bloating and anorexia only means loss of appetite if you have lost your appetite and you can't explain it you know that many of these things have simply changed for you it is that different for you this is not normal because you know your body better than anyone and yes it is not normal for you Do you think I need to have this checked?

We cannot emphasize enough that you can rest easy on the vast majority of occasions with just a few very simple checks that nurses and doctors carry out absolutely routinely. The vast majority of the time you may simply be Quiet, but in the rare moment when there is something more suspicious, your attention may be diverted to a diagnostic procedure or test, if that is necessary, changes in bladder emptying habits. This means lower urinary tract symptoms. So if you want to know what lower urinary tract symptoms. If you ask any man probably over 60 or 17, they will tell you about this because it comes from a large prostate, but it can also be a malignant condition, so it's things like frequency of urination, difficulty starting your new desire to urinate. often not urinating in a full stream just dripping a little these are lower urinary tract symptoms and again need to be diagnosed and very often that can be done with very simple tests again, sophisticated testing is usually not needed thickness in a tissue or a lump Now, of course, when people talk about cancer, they very often think of lumps and it is an obvious feature of possible cancer.

It must be emphasized that most lumps are not cancer. There are many causes that we will call benign for lumps and most of the time. It will be that, but sometimes it will be a cancer. Cancerous lumps usually feel hard. They are usually well fixed in the tissue. They are difficult to move between your finger and thumb. Benign lumps or benign tumors can usually move between the finger and thumb. I like the help and they are usually not as difficult as malignant tumors, but it is not up to you to decide if there is a lump.

Have someone palpate it and do it day after day and you can tell the difference by palpation or if necessary you can schedule a biopsy so you can be properly diagnosed again very simple things that can save lives so breast cancer. Breast testicle of course could present this way very often with testicular cancer, the first symptom is not that you feel pain, but that one testicle becomes heavier than the other. The time to examine the testicles, of course, is after a hot bath and if one descends more than the other, there may be something abnormal, get it checked.

Testicular cancer is most common in young men between 20 and 30, when you get to my age, it is less so. It is likely to occur, it is a disease that mainly affectsyoung men and there are excellent treatments available for testicular cancer, as long as it is detected at an early enough stage, breast palpation, breast awareness, of course, this is quite well known, breast self-examination, breast awareness. sinuses, swollen lymph. nodes lymph nodes can be in different places um under the armpits for example in the groin in the upper part of the legs and under the jaw in the neck um if these are swollen again it is not normal if a lymph node is swollen and painful very often that's an infection, but again, it's not up to you to decide this is what we have doctors for, get it diagnosed properly so you can get a more definitive or completely definitive diagnosis.

Don't guess, that's why we have doctors. just go and see one. I know it's not easy right now, but it's what you need to try and do: persistent hoarseness or hoarseness or cough, a cough that continues for a long period of time or a horse voice that continues for a long period of time, Of course, this is completely normal whenever we have a cough, a cold or an infection, you will have a perfectly normal cough, but it usually goes away again after a relatively short period of time, it's a bit covert. one exception, it can grow for a long time but again get it checked don't make the diagnosis yourself again horse voice very often just infection but it can be laryngeal cancer for example or even thyroid cancer because you have nerves that are going to the larynx of the recurrent The laryngeal nerve goes to uh near or through the thyroid to the larynx and again the pressure there can alter the voice, so again that's an abnormal finding that's worth discussing with your healthcare provider as well. that again this can be a characteristic of lung, larynx or thyroid cancer, a type of wound that does not heal something called malignant ulceration, there can be a cancer that looks like a wound, but in natural factors the cancerous lesion becomes larger, for which most wounds are supposed to, of course, "getting smaller a lesion just means anything that's abnormal, so if it's growing, get it checked, wounds are supposed to get smaller, they're not supposed to to grow, if it's getting bigger, it could be cancer spreading again, most of the time it won't.

It's not necessary, but get it checked, don't make the diagnosis yourself. Increased pain from a wound or unexpected bleeding from a wound. Also another possibility of unexpected bleeding from any location, as we have already emphasized, is a possible feature of a malignant neoplasm, a basal cell carcinoma. what we call rodent ulcers, non-melanoma skin cancers, these are all pretty obvious on the surface of the skin, but again, don't assume it's something relatively benign, get it checked out, a new mole or changes in a mole are classic , so if you have a mole where you didn't have a mole before or the moles got bigger or it has changed color or it has changed shape or it is a little higher than it used to be or it is a little lower than it used to be used to be if it has changed, get it Dermatologists consulted can usually recognize them by sight and if they are not sure they will simply do a biopsy and diagnose it through the microscope because the histopathologists can determine, by looking through the microscope with definitive precision, if If it is a normal cell or if it is a malignant cell, they can do it quite definitively with a simple scraping or a simple biopsy in most cases, again in the mouth or tongue, that also lasts more than three weeks again, get it checked out, go to your dentist, that's what they are trained to do. changes in the water and the mole now um this is quite useful um it has become asymmetrical um it is different on both sides it has the edges become irregular it has changed the color especially when it became darker but that is not necessarily the case there are changes in pigmentation is There is variable pigmentation on the mole.

Is it more than six millimeters in diameter or is it increasing in size a b c d e and e is for elevation? Are there parts that are higher and parts that are lower? If so, it may be malignant melanoma. Now melanomas are usually caused by sunburn, but the problem with melanomas is that they metastasize very quickly. Now metastasis is meta meta to change the site of stasis, so metastasis is when a malignant tumor spreads from the primary site where it originated to other parts of the body and once it is in other parts of the body it becomes noticeably difficult to treat and the thing about malignant melanoma is that it may seem like a relatively small lesion but it has already metastasized, so we need to detect them very early as soon as there is a change, review skin knowledge, especially if you you live in Australia or somewhere like that where malignant melanoma is more common You can demonstrate a b c d and e difficulties swallowing or swallowing feeling of pressure in the throat or chest again lung cancer esophageal cancers can cause this difficulty swallowing that is dysphagia which can be cancer in the esophagus or bottom of the stomach or other structures in the neck or even potentially the diaphragm, night sweats or fever if you get wet at night because you are sweating, that is not normal, get it checked, it may be a symptom of various malignancies, it's often what we call perineal plastic effect, it's what accompanies cancer, but certainly, of course, it's probably going to be an infection or menopause or other things like that, but don't make the diagnosis yourself, that's the point, this is a possible characteristic of malignancy, undue fatigue.

If you are tired all the time again, there are many possible causes. um, I can go through days where I feel absolutely exhausted all the time. I'm sure the same thing you can do is get your thyroid checked, but again just be aware that malignancy may be a possibility again, doctors can run some pretty simple blood tests to reassure you that this is not the case and then, in the rare cases where it is the case, they can usually treat you or arrange treatment by specialists, well, hopefully, too. as quickly as possible, but again we know that unexplained weight loss is difficult at this time.

If you are on a diet, you would lose weight. Unexplained weight loss could be something like developing diabetes or explained weight loss could be cancer because cancer increases metabolism. why people lose weight with cancer and have this cachexia, this extreme weight loss that can occur with cancer, so any unexplained weight loss is controlled, eggs or unexplained pains, especially if they are persistent and this is a principle general if something is going on for a long time if it doesn't get better normally when we get sick when something goes wrong the body heals itself if it doesn't heal itself then there is a chance that there is a disease process going on uh that doesn't heal itself and cancer is one of those, so these unexplained pains are persistent pains and characteristics, especially if they are persistent, new blood clots are another possibility, deep vein thrombosis, so again, cancer can affect the way everything works body system, it can affect the way blood clots and sometimes the first.

The first time people know they have cancer is when a blood clot develops in their leg, when they have never developed a so-called deep vein thrombosis, potentially dangerous in themselves because they can become pulmonary embolism, this condition called thromboembolism came , but uh, blood clot just don't say it's a blood clot. I have had some treatment and better keep in mind that it could be a symptom of uh something else, bone pain, yes, that can be a characteristic of possible blood type cancers, check it intercurrent. Infections wherever they are Cancer Research UK um, they emphasize what's normal for you, if it lasts longer than normal, it's that persistent and they make a great graph.

I'll show you now, why not print it? Put it on your wall somewhere there. you say um instead of a pretty graph that they advertise and it basically summarizes the things that we've said there so most of the time you get these features it's not going to be a cancer but don't ignore it because the time you ignored it could be or the moment you ignore it in a friend or family member, they might get it checked out and the vast majority of the time you can be sure it's not cancer and live the rest of your life normally.

On the rare occasion that it is cancer, then the treatment is much more likely to be effective. If it's early now, obviously, I've seen a lot of people with cancer in professional life in healthcare, but there have been, no. I don't know, I would say probably half a dozen times where someone came to me and said something that made me think, oh, just a minute, so they might say, you know, I had a little bit of blood in my urine last month and seems to have disappeared. now, so I forget that it was just one occasion, no, they don't check you that blood in urine is always abnormal, so this simple information, uh, in my normal family social life interactions, it has actually turned out In a few people are the vast majority of course, the doctors assured us that one or two have been diagnosed with something that needed treatment and lives have been saved because advice was given to seek medical help at an early stage, so here we go , we'll leave it.

There is a lot of information, I don't apologize for that, we had to go through that. It's concerning that we're seeing more diagnosed counters right now and I suspect that, for reasons I'm not going to explain in this video, we might be seeing. I fear that in the coming years more tips will be diagnosed. High index of suspicion. Early treatment will greatly increase the likelihood of successful outcomes. Thanks for watching.