Search Results for 'Life Stages'

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Stages and Treatments

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Stages and Treatments

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that affects an estimated 32 million Americans. Its main characteristic is increasing breathlessness. Before diagnosis, the doctor will prescribe a dose of at least one short-acting inhaled bronchodilator, a medication that relaxes the muscles in and around your airways, making breathing easier. If symptoms continue, the doctor will use spirometry, a test where an individual blows into a handheld device that records how much air they can blow in and out, in order to confirm the diagnosis.

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Alzheimer’s Disease: Stages and Treatments Alzheimer's Disease Stages and Treatments

Alzheimer’s Disease: Stages and Treatments

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder characterized by the death of brain cells. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 5.8 million Americans are living with the disease. 5.6 million are over the age of 65, while approximately 200,000 have early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, every 65 seconds an American develops Alzheimer’s disease.

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Metastatic Breast Cancer: Understanding the Advanced Stages

Metastatic Breast Cancer: Understanding the Advanced Stages

For many women with breast cancer, the road to recovery is never over. It’s estimated that 155,000 people in the United States are living with metastatic breast cancer, which means that their breast cancer has spread from their chest to another area in their body. Unfortunately, unlike some other types of breast cancer, the survival rate for metastatic breast cancer is typically around three years. In a culture that’s intensely focused on survival and treatment, it’s important to understand what happens to our bodies in the more advanced stages of breast cancer. That way, even if we aren’t the ones who have been diagnosed, we can more effectively support those that have.

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Lung Cancer: Understanding the Advanced Stages

Lung Cancer: Understanding the Advanced Stages

When a cancer moves from its place of origin to a new location in the body, it’s known as metastatic cancer. For a patient or family whose loved one has just received this diagnosis, it can be devastating and hard to understand. At the most basic level, cancer develops when cells grow in an uncontrolled, abnormal way. They don’t function like normal cells. Rather, they interfere with the normal functioning of the body. Cancer develops as a result of a mutation in a person’s DNA. Often, the mutation is a result of the normal process of aging, but it can also be due to unhealthy habits like smoking or exposure to harmful fumes or gases. A cancer typically metastasizes, or grows into a different location, in the later stages of the disease.

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