Bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is a type of cancer that begins in your bladder a balloon-shaped organ in your pelvic area that stores urine.

Bladder cancer begins most often in the cells that line the inside of the bladder. Bladder cancer typically affects older adults, though it can occur at any age.

The great majority of bladder cancers are diagnosed at an early stage when bladder cancer is highly treatable. However, even early-stage bladder cancer is likely to recur. For this reason, bladder cancer survivors often undergo follow-up tests for years after treatment to look for bladder cancer recurrence.

Causes

It’s not always clear what causes bladder cancer. Bladder cancer has been linked to smoking, a parasitic infection, radiation and chemical exposure.

Bladder cancer develops when cells in the bladder begin to grow abnormally. Rather than grow and divide in an orderly way, these cells develop mutations that cause them to grow out of control and not die. These abnormal cells form a tumor.

Types of bladder cancer

Different types of cells in your bladder can become cancerous. The type of bladder cell where cancer begins determines the type of bladder cancer. Your bladder cancer type determines which treatments may work best for you.

Types of bladder cancer include:

• Transitional cell carcinoma.Transitional cell carcinoma occurs in the cells that line the inside of your bladder. Transitional cells expand when your bladder is full and contract when your bladder is empty. These same cells line the inside of your ureters and your urethra, and tumors can form in those places as well. Transitional cell carcinoma is the most common type of bladder cancer in the United States.
• Squamous cell carcinoma.Squamous cells appear in your bladder in response to infection and irritation. Over time they can become cancerous. Squamous cell bladder cancer is rare . It’s more common in parts of the world where a certain parasitic infection (schistosomiasis) is a prevalent cause of bladder infections.
• Adenocarcinoma begins in cells that make up mucus-secreting glands in the bladder. Adenocarcinoma of the bladder is rare in the United States.

Some bladder cancers include more than one type of cell.

Symptoms

Bladder cancer signs and symptoms may include:

• Blood in urine (hematuria) — urine may appear bright red or cola colored. Or urine may appear normal, but blood may be detected in a microscopic examination of the urine.
• Frequent urination.
• Painful urination.
• Back pain.
• Pelvic pain.

Risk factors

Factors that may increase your risk of bladder cancer include:

• Smoking cigarettes, cigars or pipes may increase your risk of bladder cancer by causing harmful chemicals to accumulate in your urine. When you smoke, your body processes the chemicals in the smoke and excretes some of them in your urine. These harmful chemicals may damage the lining of your bladder, which can increase your risk of cancer.
• Increasing age.Your risk of bladder cancer increases as you age. Bladder cancer can occur at any age, but it’s rarely found in people younger than 40.
• Being white.Whites have a greater risk of bladder cancer than do people of other races.
• Being a man.Men are more likely to develop bladder cancer than women are.
• Exposure to certain chemicals.Your kidneys play a key role in filtering harmful chemicals from your bloodstream and moving them into your bladder. Because of this, it’s thought that being around certain chemicals may increase your risk of bladder cancer. Chemicals linked to bladder cancer risk include arsenic and chemicals used in the manufacture of dyes, rubber, leather, textiles and paint products.
• Previous cancer treatment.Treatment with the anti-cancer drug cyclophosphamide increases your risk of bladder cancer. People who received radiation treatments aimed at the pelvis for a previous cancer have an elevated risk of developing bladder cancer.
• Taking a certain diabetes medication.People who take the diabetes medication pioglitazone (Actos) for more than a year have an increased risk of bladder cancer. Other diabetes medications contain pioglitazone, including pioglitazone and metformin (Actoplus Met) and pioglitazone and glimepiride (Duetact).
• Chronic bladder inflammation.Chronic or repeated urinary infections or inflammations (cystitis), such as might happen with long-term use of a urinary catheter, may increase your risk of a squamous cell bladder cancer. In some areas of the world, squamous cell carcinoma is linked to chronic bladder inflammation caused by the parasitic infection known as schistosomiasis.
• Personal or family history of cancer.If you’ve had bladder cancer, you’re more likely to get it again. If one or more of your immediate relatives have a history of bladder cancer, you may have an increased risk of the disease, although it’s rare for bladder cancer to run in families. A family history of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, also called Lynch syndrome, can increase your risk of cancer in your urinary system, as well as in your colon, uterus, ovaries and other organs.

Homoeopathic Treatment

The scope of Homeopathy for cancer management varies depending on the type of cancer, stage of cancer and the general health of the patient. Following are some of the aspects of Cancer management with Homeopathy:

• One of the most distressing complaints associated with some varieties of Cancer is the agonizing pain. Conventional medicines can provide pain relief but only to a certain extent and these medicines are not without any side effects. Moreover, there is always a restriction to the dosage that can be safely administered to the patient. The advantage of administering Homeopathic medicines in such cases is that there can be effective pain control without inducing any side effects.
• Homeopathy can help in improving the general well-being and vitality of the patient.
• Conventional treatment options for cancer (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc) are associated with distressing side effects and homeopathy can play a definitive role to counter these side effects.
• The diagnosis of cancer often leaves the patient with a sense of depression, anxiety, and fear. The treatment may induce additional irritability, impatience and mood fluctuations. Homeopathy can influence the psyche of the patient and help him to deal with these emotions in a better way.
• Homeopathic medicines may also have a role to play in controlling the pace at which the disease increases and spread of the disease to other organs.

Homeopathic medicines can also be administered along with the allopathic medicines.