The Family Caregiver Alliance points out that over 100 types of brain tumors exist; these can affect both adults and children. Brain tumors can start in the brain, called primary brain tumors, or come from another tumor elsewhere in the body,...
A cardiac PET scan is a relatively new diagnostic tool used to assess heart disease. In positron emission tomography scanning, a patient is injected with a combination of a radioactive material and glucose, or sugar. Areas of healthy muscle will...
Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging modality used to acquire a three-dimensional image of the body. A pet scan is obtained by injecting a combination of a radioactive isotope and glucose. This imaging technique is most useful for...
A positron emission tomography scan is an imaging test that uses nuclear medicine to view the body on a cellular level. The PET scan measures body functions, such as blood flow, metabolism and oxygen use, and may be used to detect disease, like...
Positron emission tomography, or a PET scan, is a type of nuclear medicine imaging that views the body and organs on a cellular level, according to RadiologyInfo.org. A PET scan measures body functions like blood flow, oxygen use and the...
According to the National Institutes of Health, "nuclear scanning uses radioactive substances to see structures and functions inside [the patient's] body. Nuclear scans involve a special camera that detects energy coming from the radioactive...
Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among both men and women in the United States, according to the Mayo Clinic. Should you begin displaying symptoms, such as coughing up blood, shortness of breath and a chronic cough, undergo testing as...
The esophagus is a tube starting at the throat and ending at the stomach. Food and liquid that is swallowed travels through this tube to get to the stomach. Cancer that starts in this tube is called esophageal cancer, which was diagnosed in more...
Start at your doctor's office. Your doctor will ask questions to asses your physical and family history and your brain symptoms. Your doctor performs tests such as eye movement, reaction and reflex tests as well as hearing tests using something...
After breast cancer is diagnosed, it is then staged, based on a standardized system of describing the spread and extent of disease. Stage IV breast cancer, also called metastatic breast cancer, is the most advanced stage of the disease, in which...
Brain cancer is a serious cancer that may not always be diagnosed properly. Brain cancer has symptoms, such as headaches and nausea, common to many conditions, many patients never undergo the proper diagnostic tests and receive treatment....
The term "heart disease" refers to a wide variety of diseases involving the heart, including arrhythmias, congenital heart defects and heart infections. However, most people associate heart disease with coronary artery disease or cardiovascular...
There is no single test that can diagnose cancer. A cancer diagnosis is made after conducting several diagnostic tests, performing a physical exam, and careful consideration of patient history. According to the Caring4Cancer website, extensive...
Stage IV breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body besides the breast and lymph nodes. It is also referred to as metastatic breast cancer.
Today's physicians have a tremendous number of tools at their disposal to help them see what may be going on inside a patient's brain. But the same set of tools that makes them more informed than ever before can make patients more intimidated...
Alzheimer's is a progressive and fatal brain disease that as many as 5.3 million Americans currently live with, according to the Alzheimer's Association. While no cure currently exists the Texas Department of State Health Services states that a...
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that starts in the mesothelium, which is a protective layer that envelopes many internal organs. The most common sites of mesothelioma are the pleura, which surrounds the lungs and lines the chest cavity, and the...
According to the American Cancer Society, mesothelioma is named for the mesothelium, or the lining throughout the abdominal and chest cavities and their organs. It is a specific type of lung cancer that occurs more often in patients who have been...
A mammogram compresses the breasts between two plates, while an X-ray machine takes images of the tissue to look for abnormalities. Doctors use mammograms for screening purposes, which means a woman can benefit from the test even when she has no...
Cardiac diagnostic procedures assist physicians in diagnosing problems within the heart. Invasive testing may involve a catheter threaded through a blood vessel or a scope snaked down the esophagus. Non-invasive procedures can involve movement and...
Beta-amyloid is a special type of protein that many researchers believe accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease, which has no cure, is classified as progressive and a degenerative disease of the brain...
When ovarian cancer is diagnosed, it is staged. Staging involves using a standardized classification to describe the spread and extent of a cancer. This helps to guide treatment options and prognosis. For ovarian cancer, stages range from Stage I,...
Lung cancer is a type of cancer that affects the lungs and surrounding tissue. It is generally classified as either small cell or non-small cell lung cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year 196,687 people are...
Once breast cancer is diagnosed, it is staged. Staging is a standardized system of classifying the spread and extent of the cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, the stage of the cancer is the most important factor in the choice of...
Cancer of the esophagus is a cancer that originates in the lining of the esophagus and spreads from the inside out through the walls of the organ. Once esophageal cancer is diagnosed, staging occurs. Staging is a standardized way of describing the...
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive and incurable form of dementia that is ultimately fatal. Alzheimer's disease typically affects the elderly although some forms of the disease can affect people under the age of 65 (typically termed early onset...
Breast cancer is a serious cancer that affects many women, as well as men. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Symptoms of breast cancer do not start immediately at onset....
Breast cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the tissues of the breast. Once someone is in remission from her cancer, the main priority is preventing a recurrence. The best way to detect the early signs of recurrent breast cancer is to...
Complications from radiation treatments to the brain hinge on several factors including the total radiation delivery dose, dose per treatment, total body area irradiated and time between treatments. Some effects may occur immediately, or within...
Living with a family member who has cancer can be difficult. Find out what it is like to care for someone with cancer in this video.