After a month with no cancer to call its own, July brings us two types of cancers to keep in mind: bladder cancer and sarcoma.
Bladder Cancer is cancer that originates in the lining of the bladder. While it used to be represented by the yellow ribbon, it is now represented by the multi-colored marigold blue and purple ribbon. Some symptoms include blood in the urine, pain during urination, frequent urination, or feeling the need to urinate without being able to do so. One of the main causes for this type of cancer is smoking…it is associated with over 50% of cases in men and over 1/3 in women! Besides cutting your risk by quitting smoking, drinking lots of water can also decrease your risk. Other causes include workplace carcinogens, and genetic mutations.
Sarcoma is a broad term. It is defined as a cancer of mesenchymal origin, which includes cancers of the bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, vascular, and hematopoietic tissues. These include lots of different types of cancers. Sarcoma is represented by the yellow ribbon. Sarcomas are very rare. Only about 15,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, which is roughly 1% of all cancers diagnosed. It affects people of all ages, Surgery is almost always the treatment plan for these type of cancers.
As always, know your body!
