LUNG CANCER
(1) Overview
(2) Types of lung cancers
(3) Symptoms of lung cancer
(4) Risk factors
(5) Diagnosis as per modern science
(6) Staging and Grading
(7) Treatment as per Ayurveda
Ayurvedic treatment for lungs cancer
Overview:
The lungs are two sponges like organs in the chest cavity. Three lobe-like portions, or sections, make up the right lung. Two lobes make up the left lung. It is scaled down to make room for the heart. Through the trachea, air from the breath enters the lungs (wind pipe). The trachea splits into bronchi, which then split into bronchioles, which are even smaller branches. The tiny air sacs known as alveoli are located at the end of the bronchioles. The alveoli are lined with a network of minuscule blood capillaries that transport oxygen from the air we breathe into our bloodstream while exhaling carbon dioxide. The two primary roles of the lung are to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. The lungs are encased in a membrane known as pleura. The lungs are shielded by this slick lining.
Types Of Lungs Cancers:
There are two major types of lung cancers.
- Small cell lung cancer – Small cell lung cancers account for 15 to 20 percent of all lung cancer cases and get their name from the small, oblong cells that build them up. Small cell lung cancer has the propensity to disseminate broadly inside the body. This is significant because it indicates that pharmacological therapy is necessary to eradicate the widespread illness. The cancerous cells can swiftly proliferate, grow into massive tumours, and spread to the liver, brain, adrenal glands, bones, and lymph nodes, among other organs. The bronchi at the center of the chest are where this type of cancer also develops. Smoking is virtually invariably the cause of small-cell lung cancer.
- Non-small cell lung cancer – Non-small cell lung cancer makes up the bulk of cases. This cancer comes in three different subtypes. These cell types’ cells vary in size, shape, and chemical composition.
- Squamous cell carcinoma: This kind of lung cancer accounts for 25–30% of all cases. They have a connection to prior smoking.
- Adeno carcinoma — This cancer type makes up between 40 and 45 percent of all lung cancers. It is typically located in the lung’s outer portion.
- (c)Large cell carcinoma, which makes up 10 to 15 percent of all lung malignancies, is the second most common kind. It can develop in any area of the lung, and it spreads and grows swiftly.
Symptoms:
Lung cancer produces symptoms at a very late stage of development, till it has spread very far.
- A persistent cough – 75% of patients report having a persistent cough at first. Coughing should be checked out if it lasts more than three weeks with x-rays. Smokers with chronic bronchitis need to be extra vigilant and should get regular screenings.
- Chest pain is frequently made worse by inhaling deeply, coughing, or even laughing. Bloody or rust-colored sputum may be an indication of lung cancer; prompt screening aids in early identification. A major vein or artery that has cancer may suddenly burst, endangering the patient’s life.
- Weight loss and appetite loss – Any unexplained weight loss or appetite loss is a warning that needs to be handled seriously.
- Shortness of breath and hoarseness of speech – As lung cancer progresses, the lungs’ ability to hold onto air decreases, which frequently results in shortness of breath and speech abnormalities.
- Recurring infections – Bronchitis and pneumonia infections that don’t go away after intensive therapy may be signs of lung cancer.
The following symptoms could appear if cancer has migrated to other body regions.
- Bone pain.
- Neurological changes such as weakness or numbness of limbs, dizziness, or recent onset of a seizure.
- Jaundice yellow coloring of the skin and the eyes.
- Masses near the surface of the body, due to cancer spreading to the skin or to the lymph nodes in the neck, or above the collarbone.
- These symptoms could be the first warning signs of lung cancer. Many of these symptoms can result from other causes or from non-cancerous diseases of the lungs, heart, and other organs.
- Horner’s syndrome –Upper lung cancer may harm a nerve that travels from the upper chest to the neck. These are occasionally referred to as pan-cost tumours. The most typical symptom is an excruciating shoulder ache. The medical term for the collection of symptoms that includes one eyelid drooping or weakening decreased or absent facial sweat, and a smaller pupil on that side of the face is Horner’s syndrome.
- Paraneoplastic syndrome – Although cancer has not migrated to distant tissues or organs, some lung cancers may create hormones or other substances that enter the bloodstream and cause complications with those tissues and organs. Paraneoplastic syndromes are the medical term for these issues. Sometimes these syndromes may be the first symptoms of early lung cancer. Because these symptoms affect other organs, patients and their doctors may suspect at first that a disease other than lung cancer caused them. Patients with small cell lung cancer and those with non-small cell lung cancer often have different paraneoplastic syndromes—the most common paraneoplastic syndrome is associated with small cell lung cancer.
- SIADH – (Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormones) causes salt levels in the blood to become very low. Symptoms of SIADH include fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle weakness or cramps, nausea, vomiting, restlessness, and confusion. Without treatment, severe cases may lead to seizures and coma.
- Production of substances that cause blood clots to form – most of these clots interrupt blood flow to the limbs, lungs, brain, or their internal organs.
- Unaccounted-for loss of balance and shakiness when moving the arms and legs (cerebellar degeneration) – Non-small cell cancer is the leading cause of the most prevalent paraneoplastic syndromes.
- Certain bones, notably those in the fingertips, have hypercalcemia, which can be uncomfortable at times. This is known as hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in medicine.
- The production of chemicals that trigger blood clots by activating the clotting system.
- An increase in male breast size. Gynecomastia is the medical name for this condition.
- Easinophelis – High blood levels of eosinophils may be a sign of lung cancer.
- Neuromyipathies – The patient experiences generalised muscle weakness as well as enlargement of the muscle tissues. In some areas of the body, the sense of touch is gone. Lung X-rays can occasionally show lung cancer spread when all other treatments have failed. As cancer is treated successfully these symptoms disappear.
- Lung cancer can potentially be a contributing factor in the development of myasthenia gravis. Where weakness causes a loss of muscular activity if eyelids are compromised, it becomes difficult to control how they move and one may unintentionally close their eyes. Affected throat muscles make breathing difficult and make eating and swallowing food challenges as well.
- These are a few of the typical complaints of lung cancer patients.
- General weakness in the body.
- Diminished strength and skin glow.
- Clubbing of nails.
- Irregular breathing.
- Neck tumors are seen.
- Enlargement of the liver.
- Joint pains in the body.
- Bone fracture without any visible cause.
Risk Factors:
- Tobacco smoking –The most frequent risk factor for lung cancer is tobacco use I Lung cancer was not as prevalent in the past as it is today. Due to the massive increase in smoking caused by cigarette marketing and mass production, lung cancer cases have dramatically increased. Smouldering is just as harmful even if smoke is passively or indirectly ingested. The injured lung tissues take 10 to 15 years to heal, even after the smoker has stopped smoking. Even then, the risk decrease is just a third of what it would have been had the person continued to smoke.
- Asbestos – Lung cancer risk factors include exposure to asbestos fibres. Additionally, a smoker’s chance of developing lung cancer is 50 times greater than that of the average person if they smoke and are also exposed to asbestos through inhalation. A significant risk exists for both smokers and non-smokers exposed to asbestos of getting lung cancer that originate in the pleura. Mesothelioma is the name of this disease.
- Radiation exposure – Radon is a radioactive gas produced naturally as uranium decays. It is not dangerous outside, but it can be hazardous indoors if inhaled directly.
- Cancer-causing substances at work – Inhaled chemicals or minerals such arsenic, beryllium, vinyl chloride, nickel chromates, coal products, mustard gas, and chloromethyl ether, as well as radioactive ores like uranium, gasoline fumes, etc., and exhaust fumes. Cancer can be brought on by the cotton industry’s small dust particles that enter the lungs by inhaling. Inhaling stone dust poses a risk to stone mine workers. Cancer develops as a result of this settling in the lungs. Workers in farms are exposed to minute dust particles and plant pollen, which over time can lead to lung cancer.
- Radiation therapy – Individuals who get chest radiation therapy have a significant chance of developing lung cancer. Women receiving breast cancer treatment are especially at risk.
- Mineral exposure – Talc dust exposure raises the risk of lung cancer since talc contains asbestos. Lung cancer risk is also increased by minerals such as silicosis and berylliosis.
- Family history, food, and air pollution all play a big part in how lung cancer develops.
Diagnosis as per modern science:
- X-ray
- CT scan
- MRI
- Sputum cytology
- Radio logically occult cancer – This type of cancer is detected in other biological tests, but X-ray fails to detect this cancer.
- Lung profusion scan – With the help of this scan the physician can determine the spread of this cancer.
Staging
- Stage 0:- The cancer is found only in the layer of cells lining the air passages. It has not invaded other lung tissues nor spread to lymph nodes or distant sites.
- Stage IA: The cancer is no more than 3 cm in size, has not metastasized to lymph nodes or distant sites, has not affected the main branches of the bronchi, and has not migrated to the membranes that surround the lungs.
- Stage IB: The cancer is greater than 3 cm, or it has progressed to the pleura, or it is partially obstructing the airways, or it includes the main bronchus but is not close to the carina. Lymph nodes or other distant locations have not been affected.
- Stage IIA: The cancer is less than 3 cm in size, has not spread to the lining of the lungs and has not affected the main bronchial branches. It has not spread to distant sites, only to local or hilar lymph nodes.
- Stage IIB: The cancer is greater than 3 cm, or it has spread to the pleura, or it is partially obstructing the airways, but it is not close to the carina. It may also include the main bronchus. It has invaded a primary bronchus and is close to the carina, it has expanded to adjacent lymph nodes but not to distant sites, it has grown into the diaphragm or the chest wall, the mediastinal pleura, or it has spread to the membranes protecting the heart.
- Stage IIIA: Cancer may be of any size, affect a primary bronchus, but not be close to the carina, have spread to the pleura, or be partially obstructing the airways. It may also have migrated to the pleura. It has spread to nodes in the mediastinum of the chest, but not too remote locations.
- Stage IIIB: Cancer can be of any size. It has spread to lymph nodes around the collarbone on either side or to hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes on the side opposite the cancerous lung, it has spread to the mediastinum, the heart, the windpipe (trachea), the esophagus (tube connecting the throat to the stomach).
- Stage IV: Cancer has spread to distant sites.
Ayurvedic treatment:
Lung cancer is the term for when respiratory cells multiply and affect the entire respiratory system. All living creatures depend on breathing to survive, thus an abnormal disruption of the respiratory cycle can have serious detrimental impacts on people, such cancer.
Maybe there is an Ayurvedic treatment for lung cancer. The efficiency of Ayurvedic lung cancer treatment is enhanced by yoga, herbal remedies, panchakarma, and seasonal regimens. These are the treatments:
- Panchakarma therapies
- Internal medications
- Curcumin (95% effective)
- Tulsi capsules
- Vasaka capsules