Cancer insurance policies, which are offered by Private medical insurance (PMI) providers have been criticised for their lack of clarity and inclusion of ambiguous terminology, that may result in people being excluded from treatment and unclear of their entitlements, according to a study by Mercer and Cancerbackup, the cancer charity.

The study, called ‘Covering Cancer: Survey of Corporate healthcare / Private Medical Insurance providers’, surveyed 11 major UK PMI providers to assess each of their main corporate medical insurance policies for cancer, including issues such as scope and standard of cover, treatments included within the cover and limits on cover.

Steve Clements, principal in Mercer’s health & benefits team, said: “One in three people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their life.  Some of the new and sometimes expensive treatments which are now emerging are, as yet, unavailable through the NHS.  (more…)

There are numerous holistic sources that claim to be healing cancer with varying degrees of success. A few of these report success greater than 90 percent of the time. I have spent years researching and finding the best information available, and have compiled a list of the most important considerations relevant to cancer. I present here a distillation of these factors, as well as a brief exploration of some approaches that would be more likely to fail so these can be avoided.

This article will cover four basic areas:

• How and Why the FDA has Failed Us.

• Holistic Options that Fall Short.

• Comprehensive Holistic Treatments.

• A Note on Allopathic Cancer Treatments.

How and Why the FDA has Failed Us:

If cancer can be treated so effectively using holistic means, then why isn’t the allopathic medical establishment using such methods and showing greater (more…)

The fight against cancer has been progressively advancing through the years. Combined efforts from the government, civil society, and health advocacy groups have gained dramatic results. Cancer awareness is on the rise, alternative less cancer-prone lifestyles are arising, while medical researches and technological advancement have tremendously leveled up the fight against one of the world’s leading killer. The classic chemotherapy has been modernized and combined with other treatments like radiation, laser, and even organic medicines.

In America alone, the National Health Institute of the US Department of Health and Human Services through its anti-cancer arm National Cancer Institute reported that the death rate due to cancer is still on the decline. In it’s annual report to the nation, the NCI claimed that the cancer death rates are progressively declining and progress in cancer treatments are continuously on the rise. In men, study from 1993 to 2002 recorded a (more…)

More and more people are surviving cancer than ever before. cancer is no longer the death sentence it once was. Cancer treatments in the past were sometimes drastic and devastating. Surgery that used to involve a large incision can now be accomplished through a small incision using a surgical probe that allows surgeons to see and remove cancerous tissue without the trauma of major surgery.

Radiation therapy has advanced as well. More sophisticated equipment and technology does less damage to the surrounding tissues. New discoveries and developments have brought about new and more effective medicines with less side effects. This and other advancements have been brought about by ongoing cancer research.

Cancer Research UK is one research organization based in the United Kingdom. It is one of the few independent organizations devoted to cancer research in the world. One of the goals of this organization and others like (more…)

Although thyroid cancer generally carry a good prognosis; such a all-encompassing statement can be misleading. First of all, the prognosis really is quite dependant upon time of detection. Even the most slow-growing tumor, when ignored long enough to metastasize, is just as virulent. Secondly, there really are 4 types of thyroid cancer. They are; in the order of prognosis from best to worst: papillary, follicular, medullary, anaplastic types. Some can present with mixed types.

Oncologists treat thyroid cancer as with all cancers; aggressively. Indeed, the pathogenesis of all types of cancers has been found to be similar; stemming from a single mutation of a growth-controlling gene.

The most conclusive treatment for diagnosed thyroid cancers is surgical excision. It is performed by a general surgeon with experience in endocrine surgery. Surgery serves a 2 pronged purpose: in addition to removing the cancerous lesion, it also allows accurate histologic diagnosis and staging. The amount (more…)

Having a family member, friend or co-worker battle against cancer is one of the hardest and worst realities in life. No one likes to help someone deal with cancer, but at some point almost all of us will have the opportunity to walk beside someone we care about through one of the most difficult times of their life: cancer treatment.

I have had the privilege (and I do mean privilege) of helping out both of my parents and one of my closest friends during their weeks and months of cancer treatments. At first I was quite intimidated and unsure of how to help in such serious and life-threatening situations. I thought because I didn’t know the perfect things to do that I couldn’t do anything at all. Was I wrong.

Some of the best ways to help out a friend or loved one as their undergo cancer treatment (more…)

One would naturally assume that when diagnosed with cancer the better and more holistic the diet the better chance of early recovery. But that’s not always the case, especially during treatment. Bacteria on raw foods such as fruits and vegetables is often cause for concern when the immune system is compromised, so at times during cancer treatment patients are put on what’s called a neutropenic diet where raw foods are to be avoided.

Some foods also may interfere with the absorption of certain chemicals designed to help treat cancer or it’s side effects. For instance: blood clots are fairly common in people who have received a central line to administer chemotherapy. To melt the blood clots a blood thinner is prescribed, often for several months to ensure no future clots form. Deep green vegetables like broccoli, lettuce, asparagus, artichokes all help the blood (more…)

Vulvar Cancer Treatments

In the next few paragraphs we will look at the current treatment procedures for cancer and the results of ongoing research methods. There are treatments for all patients with vulvar cancer, and three main types are used:

Surgery (taking out the cancer in an operation)

Radiation therapy (causing high-dose X Rays, to kill cancer cells.

Chemotherapy (using drugs to kill cancer cells)

Surgery is the most common treatment of cancer of the vulva; a doctor may take out the cancer using one of the following operations.

A wide local excision takes out the cancer and some of the normal tissue around the cancer.

Factual local excisions takes out the cancer and a large portion of normal tissue around the cancer, lymph nodes may also be removed.

Laser surgery uses a narrow beam of light to remove cancer cells.

Skinning vulvectomy takes out the entire vulva, but no lymph nodes

Radical (more…)

The human body deals with malignant cancer cells all through our lifetime and, in the majority of cases, our immune system is able to overcome and suppress them, so that no tumor develops. In a few unfortunate individuals, cancer is diagnosed and some form of treatment is required. The patient, quite rightly, needs to know what cancer treatments are currently available and their rates of success in eradicating the disease.

Today, a number of researched and tried methods exist and the cancer specialist, the oncologist, will evaluate the patient and recommend the best course of treatment for the cancer, depending on a number of factors: * type of cancer and its site; breast cancer could require different treatment to, say, prostate cancer or leukemia. * stage of development of the disease; late-stage cancers might need more aggressive treatment than early-diagnosed ones. * age of the patient could have a bearing on (more…)

The myth about cancer as a non curable disease is busted now. Though people scare for cancer disease since its recognition due to its deadly nature and non-availability of drugs, now cancer treatment is possible all over the world including India. Cancer treatments in India is modernized now with all modern infrastructures of instruments, facilities, availability of cancer specialists. Cancer is one of the most common reasons of deaths worldwide. India has both public and private sector institutes of cancer treatments and research. Therefore, medical tourists searching for cancer treatments can come to India to get rid off of this deadliest disease and rejuvenation of new life.

In clinical terms there are various types of cancer such as-lung cancer, ovarian, rectal, colon, brain, blood, breast, bone, stomach, skin, etc. The malignant tumors of all cancer are life threatening and even benign tumors have the possibility of danger. The hospitals (more…)