OTHER PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE FINAL STAGE OF LUNG CANCER
Some of the physical changes encountered by the patient having lung cancer will be the pain in the bones and some symptoms due to the spreading of cancer cells to brain. At some point of the disease more than 50% of the lung cancer victims face lung cancer metastases to brain. Since it is a common symptom in the final stage of the disease, many doctors recommend treating this condition as early as possible. Many people confuse brain cancer with the lung cancer spread to brain. In the first case, the cancer cells have the origin in the brain and tumor develops in the same area. But in the latter, the cancer will be developed initially at the lungs and in the final stages or at the stage 4, the infected cells will start to spread to the brain area. The swelling of the regions in and around of the brain will cause some pressure in the brain. This will lead to head ache and some other brain related problems.
SOME OF THE NOTABLE PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE FINAL STAGE
There are many physical changes appear in the body of a lung cancer person but here are some of them. The first one among the physical changes is the formation of fluid in the regions around the lungs. This fluid will have cancer cells in it and it will occupy the regions in and around the lungs. This will ultimately results in the problem of shortness of breath. In most of the cases, physicians drain this fluid from the regions. This will make the patient to feel more comfortable to breath. If the fluid formation continues, then a surgical procedure called pleurodesis will be carried out to prevent the collection of the fluid in the lung region. The next one is obstruction of airways. The expansion of the tumor will block the airways and make the patient to fell difficulty in breathing process. Sometimes it will lead to bleeding and sever pain in the regions of airways. Doctors usually recommend some surgical treatments to prevent this condition.
EMOTIONAL CHANGES IN THE FINAL STAGE
In the last few months before the death, our dear ones affected by the lung cancer will appear to lose concentration in day to day activities. They do not focus on anything and less interested in going out and to spend time with the family and friends. Things that made them happy I the past no longer helpful to catch their interest. They may look always irritated and they will suffer by pain a lot. They will not be able to bear the pain the in the final stages of the disease. They may start to sleep for a long time. They always feel to take rest and loss in appetite. But having a constant support from the family members and the friends is necessary for them to feel more comfortable and confident. As a care giver, we should provide immense care and love and affection, we should listen to their words carefully and we should try to fulfill their dreams as soon as possible.
Avastin and risk in lung cancer treatment
Many drugs are used along with the other treatment procedures and may have positive results. The usage of these drugs is not always on the positive side, there may be also cases where they, may be fatal. One such drug which was once used along with the other treatments is found to be fatal is avastin. Earlier the drug avastin was used along with treatment methods like chemotherapy and initially found to be effective but prolonged studies proved that to be wrong. When studies were conducted on 29 patients who used the avastin along with chemotherapy for the treatment of lung cancer, the result showed that one of them was fatal and the cases where also found in the other regions and hence the health association termed them to be risk and was banned it further usage of the drug in the treatment procedures. Thus the usage of the drug was banned worldwide after the discovery of such ill effects which can be even fatal in some cases.
Statins Associated with Reduced Lung Cancer Risk
Researchers from the state of Louisiana have found that the use of statin can reduce the chances of getting infected by the lung cancer. The studies show that the chances of not being affected have almost dropped by half and continuous usage may even increase the life span of the victim. The statin drug is usually used in reducing the cholesterol in the patient. The team researchers took around nearly half a million people for their study as analyzed the effect of the drug in them. Among the people who were considered for the study 163,600 where statin users and nearly 8000 of them are lung cancer patients. The outcome of the study in a longer period showed that persons who were using the drug are more than 50% less vulnerable to getting infected. The effect of the statin drug has no difference on the person whether they were alcoholic, whether they are smokers or non smokers and also the working environment. Thus further studies must be conducted in this area to find more positive results about the drug.
