5 ways to test yourself for cancer

What should be done to test yourself for cancer

1. Take a close look at yourself.

In Russia, according to Malignant neoplasms in Russia in 2016 Moscow Herzen Research Institute of Oncology, most often tumors appear on the skin. Of all such cases, 14.2% is due to malignant melanoma, one of the most aggressive tumors.

Melanomas are most often masked as normal moles, but the tumor is different from normal tissue and can still be found. Therefore, if you regularly inspect the body, study moles and suspicious pigment spots, then there is a chance to notice skin cancer at an early stage when the treatment is more effective.Melanoma all increases.

How to test yourself for cancer of skin

Inspect after a shower or bath, in a room with good  lighting .

1. Get undressed and stand in front of the mirror in full growth, but if there is no such, anyone will do. Examine the moles on the face, neck, chest and abdomen. Women need to lift their breasts and inspect the skin under it. Examine the skin in the armpits, the back of the palms, the space between the fingers.
2. Sit and inspect the legs from all sides, not forgetting the toes. Take a small mirror in your hands and inspect the legs from behind: under the knees, on the back of the thigh.
3. With the help of the same mirror, examine the buttocks and examine the groin area – the tumor can appear even on the skin of the genitals.
4. Stand with your back to a large mirror and inspect the back, looking into the small.

Such checks oncologists recommend Skin Self-exam Gallery hold once a month. Then the skin will be under control.

What should be alerted:

• Mole or spot more than 6 mm in diameter.
• Neoplasm with rough, blurred edges.
• A mole or stain of an unusual color, such as red or partially blackened.
• Any formation protruding above the surface of the skin.

There are many oncological skin diseases, they look different. Therefore, it is desirable that everything that itches, becomes wet, bleeds and flakes off, show the doctor .

2. Check the weight

Many oncological diseases develop imperceptibly: the cancer is already there, but it doesn’t give any information about itself, either by pain or by any special symptoms. And not everyone pays attention to the usual ailments: why run to the doctor because of fatigue, when is it clear that you need a vacation?

One of the signs of cancer is weight loss, provided that the diet and lifestyle have not changed.

Most often say so Signs and Symptoms of Cancer about yourself cancer of the stomach, pancreas, esophagus or lung.

Of course, the weight goes not only because of cancer. That is why you need to be weighed regularly in order to know when body weight changes are justified, and when it is worth going to a doctor and find out where the kilos disappeared.

3. Make a genetic analysis

Predisposition to many types of cancer is inherited, and genetic testing helps identify mutations that increase the risks. It makes sense to go for tests if someone in the family already had cancer.

For example, genes affect the development of breast cancer.Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer Syndromes BRCA1(55%) and BRCA2(45%). If such a person is found, it becomes clear that he is at risk.

 The “bad” gene is not a disease yet. This is just a signal that shows that you need to be attentive to health and not to miss suspicious ailments.

4. Make a mammogram to test yourself for cancer

Mammography is the examination of the mammary glands with X-rays. Women recommend Breast Cancer Screening for Women at Average Risk undergo mammography regularly after 40–45 years, and after 50 years do OK, When Am I Supposed To Get A Mammogram?her once a year or two. To these age limits to be checked is meaningless and even harmful. The more frequently the examination is performed, the higher the risk.Mammograms false positive result. And this, in turn, leads to unnecessary research and operations.

Self-searching in the chest seals is harmful.

According to the observations Preventive health care, 2001 breast cancer?, test yourself for cancer does not help to find breast cancer at an early stage. But it makes you worry in vain, if something suddenly “seemed”, and to treat cases that do not require it (here we have in mind new growths that pass by themselves).

Men also have breast cancer , although not often. Therefore, it is enough to pay attention to unpleasant symptoms: pain or induration in the chest, any discharge from the nipples, or a change in their shape.

5. Calculate how much you smoke

Lung cancer is among the three most common Lung cancer types of cancer, but most often they are sick smokers. Even those who quit smoking less than 15 years ago are at risk. An important condition for the development of lung cancer is the number of cigarettes that a  potential patient smokes .

In order to evaluate the chances of the disease, you can use the index of smoking man Tobacco smoking and the functional state of the respiratory system in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The number of cigarettes per day is multiplied by the number of years of tobacco use and is divided by 20. If the figure is more than 25, a person is in the group of hard-core smokers. So the risks of getting sick are growing. It is necessary to do additional tests.

By the way, for the detection of lung cancer is not using fluorography, in which nothing really can be seen, and computed tomography.

What not to do

1. Make a diagnosis. Read the list of symptoms on Wikipedia is completely normal. But after such a search can not draw conclusions. Our task is to notice the warning signs. And let the diagnosis be made by experts after examinations and analyzes.
2. Donate blood to tumor markers. These tests are necessary for patients whose diagnosis has already been confirmed, because in healthy people the result may be false positive.Cancer blood tests: Lab tests used in cancer diagnosis. For example, due to the inflammatory process. With the help of tumor markers monitor the dynamics of treatment. For this study, repeat, and the results are compared. A one-time analysis will not provide useful information.Can tumor markers be used in cancer screening?.
3. To carry out MRI, ultrasound and other examinations, if there is no reason. No wonder all diagnostic procedures are prescribed only after symptoms appear. To investigate a healthy person without complaints is pointless: the doctor simply does not know what to look at. And to study every square centimeter of viscera is ineffective, since there is a high risk of missing something dangerous. Or find the unimportant and begin to heal it hard.

Do not look for a disease where it is not. Cancer is really better to detect in the early stages, but the main thing is not to overdo it but test yourself for cancer in 6 months.