...A cancer diagnosis at any age can be devastating and scary, but when it is a child that is diagnosed the devastation is even more profound. The diagnosis is not just a diagnosis for the child; it is a diagnosis for the entire family. It will uniquely affect each member at the time of diagnosis, during the course of treatment, and during the survivorship phase and will have a direct effect on how they cope. Treatment for a childhood cancer can be much longer than that of an adult treatment plan and the lengthy road can take its toll on everyone. Often times the focus remains on the patient alone and the parents and siblings become casualties of the disease process. The diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescent with cancer has tremendous and lasting effects on an entire family. Overview of Pediatric Cancer Cancers of any kind during childhood are rare. Childhood cancer accounts for less than two percent of all cancers diagnosed each year. About 150 to 160 per 1,000,000 children or around 12,000 children in total will be diagnosed in any given year (Abrams & Kurtz, 2011). The most common form of pediatric cancer is leukemia and more specifically acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Other tumor types include germ cell tumor, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, neuroblastoma, acute myeloid leukemia, Wilms tumor, osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, thyroid carcinoma, melanoma, retinoblastoma and Ewing’s sarcoma (Abrams, et al. 2011)...
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...According to the American Cancer Society (2013) states, “A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease such as cancer” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “There are a few known risk factors for childhood leukemia” (American Cancer Society, 2013). According to the American Cancer Society (2013) states, “Genetic risk factors are those that are part of our DNA (the substance that makes up our genes)” (American Cancer Society, 2013). The genetic risk factor is what we get from our parents that is most of the time inherited (American Cancer Society, 2013). “Most cases of leukemia are not linked to any known genetic causes” (American Cancer Society, 2013). * Other risk factors of leukemia would be “inherited disorders, this can increase a child’s risk of developing leukemia” (American Cancer Society, 2013). Here is a listed of syndromes: “Down syndrome (trisomy 21), Klinefelter syndrome, and Li-Fraumeni syndrome” (American Cancer Society, 2013). According to the American Cancer Society (2013) states, “Certain inherited diseases cause children to be born with immune system problems” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “These include: Ataxia telangiectasia, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, and Bloom syndrome” (American Cancer Society, 2013). * According to the American Cancer Society (2013) states, “Lifestyle-related risk factors are important in many adult cancers, but they are unlikely to play a role in most childhood cancers” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “Environmental...
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...the audience about Childhood Cancer Thesis Today I am here to talk to you about childhood cancer and inform the audiences how many innocent lives are taken away, I. Introduction Jalene, age 5, Marshall, age 4, Jax, 3 months old, Abby, age 16, Molly, age 12, Kylie, age 1 and Stephanie, a family member and the strongest person I’ve know, age 11. Each of these kids has a face, has a dream, is someone’s pride and joy, But all have cancer. Some of these kids are fighting to survive, some are in remission, and some have fought hard, but have left this world. Are you aware that more than thirteen thousand children 18 and under are diagnosed with cancer a year? That’s more than a classroom of kids a day. According to the National Cancer Institute, Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children and teenagers in the United States. Children are phenomenal people and deserve to grow up and live their dreams, but childhood cancer never takes a break. It’s not right, it’s not fair, and it’s defiantly not rare. I will discuss throughout this speech how many children are diagnosed yearly, the survival rate and the side effects of treatments. II. Body A. The loss of a child to cancer is one of the worst tragedies a family can face. Each death means the loss of an entire lifetime. And most survivors face serious medical complications. According to the National Cancer Institute, Thirty Five thousand children are currently in treatment for cancer. The rate of aggressive...
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...American Society. Since the nineteen eighties childhood obesity rates have tripled and have started in earlier in age. In high school students obesity rates have risen by fifteen percent. In four states obesity rates for adults have exceeded thirty five percent. Obesity is being portrayed as being beautiful, which people should be comfortable in their own skin, but the health effects that obesity causes is far from beautiful. Nearly seventy eight million adults and almost thirteen million children are obese in the United States. In the 1950's the percentage of obese adults was only ten percent, and has now risen to thirty five percent. An adult is averaged to weigh twenty six more pounds more than...
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...The loss of a child to cancer is one of the worst tragedies a family can face. Each death means the loss of a lifetime (Goodman, 2014). Survivors face serious medical complications, and secondary cancers along with cognitive impairments and shortened life spans (Goodman, 2014). Over the last 20 years childhood cancers have been diagnosed to be invasive more than 29% (Childhood Cancer Facts, 2014). Annually, more than 13,500 children are diagnosed with some form of childhood cancer that is more than an average classroom of children (Childhood Cancer Facts, 2014). This issue is not only a state issue but a national one, possibly worse in the third world countries due to lack of doctors and technology. More than 35,000 children are currently in...
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...Cancer is very uncommon in children, but it does happen. Cancer does not discriminate. The most common types of childhood cancers are leukemia, lymphoma, and brain cancer. It takes control of your body's nutrition, strength, organs, bones, and your defense system. Most cancers in children result from mutations in the genes of growing cells. Sadly, there is no way of preventing this. Normally at your child’s regular check up, the doctor is the first to detect that something is abnormal. Some of the first symptoms you may see could be fever, swollen glands, anemia, and frequently occurring infections. Doctors and parents may suspect a more common illness before assuming cancer. If it is diagnosed as cancer, there are treatments that can help manage pain, remove or slow the growth of cancer cells, and sometimes even lead to...
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...Childhood Obesity In today's society childhood obesity is considered to be an epidemic. The increase in obesity is not caused by the change in the gene pool, but rather by the change in the environment. This causes vulnerable populations to express the obesity phenotype (Stune, 1999). One in seven children ages 6-17 are considered to be obese. Most nutritionists will say that this is do to the lack of parental guidance. A child's parents should teach their child proper eating habits so that they won't run across problems in the future (Tomlin, 1999). According to the article Facts about childhood Obesity and Overweightness, obese children are statistically not active, and their diets are high in fats and low in energy foods, like carbohydrates . Most doctors will calculate a child's body mass index (BMI), to figure out just how overweight a child is. If a child's BMI is over 30, they are considered obese. In order to calculate one's BMI, you would divide the your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters (Mokdad, 1999). What causes obesity? Weight gain among children is likely due to a combination of factors including: poor dietary habits, genetic makeup, family lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and a child's ethnicity. Obesity is more prevalent among Hispanic, African-American and American Indian children, particularly girls (Mayohealth.org 1997). Overweight children are not necessarily overeaters. Unfortunately, much of the food they...
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...Video Games and Their Effect on Childhood Development: Exploratory Essay It is no surprise that in the digital age of today- many, if not most children have access to some form of video games. In fact, 48% of American households own some sort of device that can be used for gaming. These devices include computers, video game consoles, smartphones, wireless devices, and handheld gaming systems (Logfren). The number one selling game of 2017 thus far is Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, which is a tactical shooting game, number two is For Honor, a combat battle game, and holding on strong four years after initial release, Grand Theft Auto V- an action game based on three criminals, comes in at number seven (Morris). All three of the previously...
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...hope for children and families in the need. As one of the world’s premier pediatric cancer research centers, St. Jude hospital continues to provide the quality of research and treatment relying on the support of many donors to continue its lifesaving mission of finding cures and saving children. Organizational Pattern: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. Introduction (Attention) I. Attention-Getting Device—Eggs dynamic: Draw faces on 4 eggs to make 4 members of the audience figure that those eggs were their children. Then, paint a mark on two of those eggs to show in one of them that the stain represented cancer and we didn’t know what caused it; the mark on the second egg would try to illustrate that we can try to remove the mark (or resolve the problem with cancer) ourselves but we are not able because it is not in our capacity and that would bring us to the breaking of the third egg that would represent that sometimes when we try to resolve so serious problems ourselves such as cancer we would only make it worse. II. Introduce Your Topic—The topic of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is introduced in connection with the eggs dynamic by stating to the audience that this hospital based on its research and treatment does know how to help in childhood cancer cases. III. Demonstrating the Importance—If we all did something to help those in need like children with different types of cancer, we would have the satisfaction of helping innocent children and their families to...
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...How Leukemia Effects Children Patrice Allen HCA/240 May 9, 2012 Kari Merrill RN, MHSc The diagnosis of cancer in a child or teenager can be a devastating blow to parents and other family members who love the child. Leukemia is a cancer of the early blood-forming cells. Most often, leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, but some leukemia’s start in other blood cell types. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood-forming cells. Leukemia starts in the bone marrow, where the blood cells are made, and quickly spreads to the blood. From there it can go to the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, central nervous system, and other organs. Leukemia is the most common cancer in children and adolescents. It accounts for about 1 out of 3 cancers in children. Overall, however, childhood leukemia is a rare disease. Most of the signs and symptoms of leukemia result from a lack of normal blood cells. This happens because the cancer cells crowd out the normal cells that make blood in the bone marrow. The leukemia cells may spread to other parts of the body, which can also cause symptoms. A risk factor is something that increases a person's chance of getting a disease. Different cancers have different risk factors. But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several risk factors...
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...objective process of obtaining information about the world or a part that can be quantified. Health effects of environmental contaminants has evinced research work in air pollution exposure and lung function in children. Another study was conducted on the relationship between domestic exposure to radon and childhood cancers. There are three major types of quantitative research methods namely; experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental (Polit & Beck, 2012). In the study on air pollution and exposure and lung function in children, the method applied is descriptive research. The study is important since lung function is a marker of respiratory health and a predictor of cardiorespiratory system disease and mortality. The study was carried out in five European countries with birth cohorts taken from a credible agency European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE). The study population for the analysis consisted of 5,921 children 6–8 years of age. The tabular analysis was then done for population characteristics, lung function measurements and the prevalence of low lung function according to the cohort. Distribution of estimated annual average air pollution levels, traffic indicators, and short-term air pollution exposure variables. Crude and adjusted associations of annual average levels of air pollution and traffic indicators with FEV1: results from random-effects meta-analyses and Adjusted associations of annual average levels of air pollution and traffic indicators...
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...Childhood Obesity Teresa Shepperson PED/312 William Swisher, Instructor February 27, 2011 Childhood Obesity Healthy family lifestyles help prevent children from becoming overweight or possibly obese. Children are spending more time in front of televisions, computers, video games, or other electronic gadgets. Today’s families have very busy lifestyles which makes it particularly difficult for parents to prepare nutritious meals for their children. The effects of childhood obesity vary from high cholesterol to Type II Diabetes. Children who are obese are also prone to having low self-esteem, which could be the result of being teased and/or bullied. Children who are unhappy with their weight could develop unhealthy eating habits or eating disorders. The eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge-eating. These same unhappy children are also prone to depression and are at risk for substance abuse. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term health effects. Some of the immediate effects are having higher risk factors for cardiovascular disease, high risk of developing diabetes, and higher risk for bone and joint problems. Also, these children have a high risk of sleep apnea. Some of the long-term effects include being obese when the children reach adulthood, strokes, and osteoarthritis. Being overweight, a child...
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...Childhood Obesity Facts Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period. In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. Overweight is defined as having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of this factors. Obesity is defined as having excess body fat. Overweight and obesity are the result of “caloric imbalance”—too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed—and are affected by various genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors. Childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term effects on health and well-being. Immediate health effects: Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Obese adolescents are more likely to have prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels indicate a high risk for development of diabetes. Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological...
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...SMOKE…………………….... A. Cotinine…………………………………………………………………………... B. Carcinogens………………………………………………………………………. 1. Carbon Monoxide……………………………………………………………… 2. Cyanide……………………………………………………………………….... IV. TYPES OF SECONDHAND SMOKE……………………………………………….. A. Mainstream Smoke………………………………………………………………… B. Sidestream Smoke…………………………………………………………………. C. Thirdhand Smoke………………………………………………………………….. V. EFFECTS OF SECONDHAND SMOKE……………………………………………. A. Cancers…………………………………………………………………………… 1. LungCancer………………………………………………………………….. 2. Breast Cancer ……………………………………………………………….. B. Effects in Cardiovascular System………………………………………………… 1. Coronary Heart Disease……………………………………………………… 2. Stroke…………………………………………………………………………. 3. Other Heart Disease………………………………………………………….. C. Effects in Respiratory System…………………………………………………….. 1. Asthma………………………………………………………………………... 2. Irritation of Respiratory Tract………………………………………………… D. Effects in Neurological System……………………………………………………. 1. Dementia………………………………………………………………………. E. Effects During Pregnancy…………………………………………………………. F. Effects to Children…………………………………………………………………. 1. Respiratory Health…………………………………………………………….. 2. Middle Ear Disease……………………………………………………………. 3. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)………………………………………… VI. PREVENTING THE DANGERS OF SECONDHAND SMOKE……………………………. A. Use of Electronic Cigarette……………………………………………………………….. B. Production of Smoking Cessation Aids………………………………………………….. ...
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...“Leukemia is the most common cancer in children and adolescents. It accounts for about 1 out of 3 cancers in children.” (American Cancer Society) Leukemia is cancer of the blood and develops in the bone marrow. Causes and risk factors, including environmental risks: The majority of childhood leukemia are acquired genetic diseases. “In most cases, however, childhood cancers arise from non inherited mutations (or changes) in the genes of growing cells. Because these errors occur randomly and unpredictably, there's no effective way to prevent them.” (Kids Health) Risk factors could be chemical exposures, viruses, infections that could be associate with damaging the immune system. You cannot prevent leukemia but you can reduce your risks by reducing your intake of the risk factors. Detection Bone marrow aspiration, x-ray, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, spinal tap How the cancer affects the body Since leukemia affects the blood throughout the body common symptoms will be anemia, bruising, recurrent infections (as your body can not heal properly), bone / joint pain, and difficulty breathing Treatment options Typical treatment options available are chemotherapy or radiation. Typically with leukemia, surgery does not take place. This is because leukemia is involved with the circulatory system which is located throughout the body making it difficult to operate on a specific area. Chemotherapy is medication...
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