15/02/2024
Childhood Cancer Day, 15th Feb, 2024 🎗️
Equal access to care, unveiling challenges! 🌟
Everyone deserves access to cancer care. 💖
What is Cancer? 🧬
Each cell in our body grows, matures, multiplies, and interacts with other cells systematically. Cancer is when the cells are abnormally dividing and growing out of control. 📈
There are different kinds of cancer, but they develop in the same way as the cells:
• grow out of control
• develop unusual sizes and shapes
• move past their usual boundaries inside the body
• destroy nearby cells
As cancer cells grow, they can make a person weaker, harm organs and bones, and make it hard for the body to fight off other illnesses. 💪
What Is Childhood Cancer? 🧒
Cancer is uncommon in children. Here are some most common childhood cancers:
• leukemia
• lymphoma
• brain cancer
• in teens, osteosarcoma (bone cancer)
What can cause cancer in children? 🤔
Most of the time, the reason is unknown. In children, a genetic condition, such as Down syndrome, can sometimes increase the risk of cancer. However, most cases of childhood cancer happen because of random mutations (changes) in the genes of growing cells. Because these changes happen randomly, there is no effective way to prevent them. 🧬
How Is Cancer Treated? 💊
Childhood cancers are not treated the same as adult cancers. The reasons include the following:
• Causes of childhood cancer and adult cancer may differ (For eg. smoking)
• Kids usually respond well to treatment. Most kids with cancer get better.
• Side effects of cancer treatments can be more severe and longer lasting. Children who have had cancer will need careful medical follow-up for the rest of their lives.
Getting treatment under a specialty of pediatric oncology (treatment of childhood cancer) can help kids with cancer get the best care. 🏥
The treatment of cancer in children can include:
• surgery: removing cancerous cells or tumors
• chemotherapy: using medical drugs to kill cancer cells
• radiation therapy: using radiant energy to kill cancer cells
• bone marrow (stem cell) transplant: putting healthy stem cells into the bloodstream so they can make healthy new blood, bone marrow, and immune system cells
Doctors may use one or more of these treatments for a child who has cancer. The type of treatment needed depends on the child's age, the type of cancer, and how severe the cancer is. 💉
The main goal when treating kids with cancer is to cure them. While treatment may cause side effects, many medicines and therapies can make kids more comfortable while they're treated for cancer. Homeopathic medicines under expert practitioners may help in the palliation of aftereffects of cancer treatment. Counseling sessions are a must to help kids cope with the emotional disturbances they go through after getting the kids involved in cancer treatment. For all age groups, the goal of psychological counseling is to prevent fear and misunderstanding and can be of great help in reassuring them and helping them cope with their feelings. 🌱
Having a child being treated for cancer can feel overwhelming for any family. You are encouraged to find support and talk to anyone on the care team or a hospital social worker. 🤝
I, Dr. Nida Temkar, am a Classical homeopath. Sharing the post may be a step to alleviate someone’s pain. Comment your story to encourage and reach out to someone who would feel better after reading this. 💬❤️