Stomach cancer is a decreasing cancer in the USA, but is also a leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Stomach cancer is when cells in the stomach become cancerous. In this video learn more about this cancer and how to prevent and treat it.
JUSTIN C.K. DAVIS, M.D.: Hi. My name is Dr. Justin Davis, and today we will be discussing stomach cancer. Now the good news is that stomach cancer is decreasing in the United States. Unfortunately, it is a leading cost of cancer deaths in other parts of the world. So, what exactly is stomach cancer? Most of us know what cancer is. That is an abnormal growth of cells that do not stop growing as they should and tend to take over that part of the body and sometimes spread to other parts of the body. Stomach cancer is when this occurs in the cells in the stomach. There are probably two main reasons why stomach cancer is much more common in other parts of the world, and that is due to infections with something called Helicobacter pylori, also known as H. pylori, which is a kind of bacterial infection which is in the stomach, often found in underdeveloped parts of the world. The other reason is due to diet. Diets that are higher in salted foods, smoked foods, or cured foods tend to be more associated with stomach cancers. These are more common in other parts of the world where they tend to cure the foods like these because they do not have access to refrigeration or it may simply have become part of the culture. An example of a kind of food that maybe cured would be kimchi. It is a popular Korean dish. It is awfully delicious if you have not tried it. In moderation, there is probably no problem at all, but when eaten too much as a regular part of the diet, well, it could increase your chances of getting stomach cancer. There are a number of other foods that are similar to this that can also be associated with stomach cancer. So what are some of the symptoms of stomach cancer? Well, stomach cancer unfortunately is not usually picked up early unless we find it by accident because we are screening for another problem, but once you do have symptoms it is usually because the cancer has reached a certain size and is now causing symptoms. Some of the more common symptoms may be blood from the stomach. Now the blood may come up and be in the form of bloody vomit, or sometimes it goes down and it comes out in bowel movements. And usually when blood is digested through the system and is coming from the stomach, it does not look like blood anymore, but it looks like dark, tarry stools that have a very distinct odor to them. So if you notice that you are having symptoms of these, well do not panic because usually this is not a sign of stomach cancer, but it may be a sign of bleeding in the stomach, which could be a symptom of some other problem that should certainly be addressed and treated. What do we do to treat stomach cancer? Well, it depends upon where exactly the cancer is located, how advanced the cancer is, and has it spread to another part of the body. Usually, treatments will include things like surgery, sometimes radiation and chemotherapy, or even a combination of these. So what can you do to prevent this? Well, certainly a yearly physical exam is always an important part of any kind of prevention of disease. Also, if you know you have a diet that is rich in foods like smoked foods such as perhaps smoked salmon, red meats any kind of cured or pickled meat or food, also things that have nitrites in them which are commonly used to preserve certain kinds of meat such as ham, bologna, and salami. Well, if you cut these out or at least limit them, you will be decreasing the chance that you get stomach cancer. But the important message is stomach cancer is not very common in the United States. So, if you have some problem that you think may be stomach cancer, well there is a better chance that it is not stomach cancer, but it is still very important to have it checked out by a health professional so they can diagnose you and treat you properly.
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