STOMACH CANCER: CONDITIONS, TREATMENTS, SOLUTIONS

Author: Lucy Chen

Editors: Eric Lin and He-Hanson Xuan

Artist: Jenny Luo

Cancer has declined in recent years due to the advance of medical technologies Nevertheless, there’s still a high percentage of people getting stomach cancer What are the causes and symptoms of stomach cancer?

Symptoms & Causes

Stomach cancer is a disease caused by the changes of the cells in the stomach. In the United States, stomach cancer is started by the gastroesophageal junction a long tube that carries food connecting to the stomach Some of its symptoms include:

Belly pain

Feeling bloated after eating

Feeling full after eating small amounts of food

Heartburn

Indigestion

Nausea

Vomiting

Feeling very tired

These symptoms will appear more often as it goes to a late stage To test the stages of stomach cancer, people can take a blood test, stomach ultrasound, imaging test, or do a surgery But what are the causes of stomach cancer?

Helicobacter pylori H pylori attacks the lining that protects people’s stomach Like all other cancers, common risk factors of stomach cancer include:

Consuming high sodium and/or smoky food

Lack of antioxidant intake

Smoking

Drinking alcohol Genetics

A person’s stomach will develop worse and sicker as a result of these factors. Additionally, stomach cancer tends to develop in elders of 65 years.

Treatments/Solutions

There are many ways of treating stomach cancer, most common, surgery. Surgery is available for all stages of stomach cancer, but it works more effectively at stage one as stomach cancer can be removed from the inner lining of the stomach For stage four, surgery only relieves the symptoms of stomach cancer. Surgeons will remove lymph nodes to look for cancer.

Disease and Healthcare

But most of the time, surgeons will remove small cancers from the stomach depending on the cancer in its body. There’s other types of treatments for stomach cancer:

Chemotherapy a drug treatment that uses chemical compositions to kill cancer cells It can travel through the whole body or only in the bell.

Radiation Therapy a treatment that uses high-powered beams of energy to kill cancer cells.

Targeted Therapy a treatment that uses medicines that attack specific chemicals that’s in the cancer cells By blocking the chemicals, targeted therapy can cause cancer cells to die Immunotherapy a treatment with medicine that helps your body's immune system to kill cancer cells.

Preventions

Knowing the signs and causes of stomach cancer will be easier to recognize its importance and take action.

The risk of developing stomach cancer can be decreased by the following actions:

Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.

Recommended daily

Reduce eating salty and smoked foods if possible

Stop smoking and drinking alcohol It’s better for the body.

Check with a family physician if the families have cancer before.

Exercise more to have a stronger body.

Knowing these measures will lead to a healthier lifestyle Furthermore, medical technology is always advancing to ensure a healthy life for all As a result, studying the causes and preventions of stomach cancer is beneficial because cancer is never a minor issue, and should be brought to light.