Testicular Cancer

DEFINITION
Testicular cancer is the growth of malignant cells in the testes (testicles), which can cause enlarged testicles or cause a lump in the scrotum.

CAUSE
Most testicular cancers occur in less than 40 years of age.

The cause is not known for sure, but there are several factors that support the occurrence of testicular cancer:

• Undesensus testis (undescended testes into the scrotum)
• Abnormal testicular development
• Klinefelter's syndrome (a sex chromosome disorder characterized by low levels of male hormones, sterility, breast enlargement (gynecomastia) and small testes).

Another factor that may be the cause of testicular cancer but research is still in its early stages of exposure to certain chemicals and infection by HIV. If in any family history of testicular cancer, the risk will increase.

1% of all cancers in men are testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer found in men aged 15-40 years.

Testicular cancer is grouped into:
Seminoma: 30-40% of all testicular tumors.
    Usually found in men aged 30-40 years and confined to the testis.

Non-seminoma: a 60% of all testicular tumors.
    Subdivided into several subcategories:

• Embryonic carcinoma: about 20% of testicular cancer occurs at age 20-30 years and very malignant. Growing very rapidly and spreads to the lungs and liver.
• Yolk sac tumor: approximately 60% of all testicular cancers in young men.
• Teratoma: about 7% of testicular cancers in adult men and 40% in boys. - Choriocarcinoma.
• Tumor stromal cells: a tumor composed of Leydig cells, Sertoli cells and granulosa cells. This tumor is 3-4% of all testicular tumors. Tumors can produce the hormone estradiol, which can cause one of the symptoms of testicular cancer, which is gynecomastia.

SYMPTOMS
Symptoms include: 

• Testicle enlarged or palpable weird (not as usual)
• Lump or swelling in one or both testicles
• Dull pain in the back or lower abdomen - Gynecomastia
• Discomfort / pain in the testicle or scrotum feel heavy.
• But it may also not found any symptoms at all.

Diagnosis
Diagnosis based on symptoms and physical examination.
Other tests are commonly performed:

• Scrotal ultrasound
• Blood tests for tumor markers AFP (alpha fetoprotein), HCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin) and LDH (lactic dehydrogenase).
• Nearly 85% of non-seminoma cancer showed elevated levels of AFP or beta HCG.
• Chest x-ray (to determine the spread of cancer to the lungs)
• CT scan of the abdomen (to determine the spread of cancer to the abdominal organs)
• Tissue biopsy.

TREATMENT
Treatment depends on the type, stage and severity of the disease.

Once cancer is found, the first step is to determine the type of cancer cells.
The next stage is determined:
Stage I: The cancer has not spread beyond the testicle
Stage II: Cancer has spread to lymph nodes in the abdomen
Stage III: Cancer has spread beyond the lymph nodes, get to the heart or lungs.

There are four kinds of treatment that can be used:

• Surgery: removal of the testes (orkiektomi and removal of lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy
• Radiation therapy: using high doses of X rays or other high energy rays, is often performed after lymphadenectomy in non-seminoma tumors.
• Also used as a primary treatment in seminoma, especially in its early stages.
• Chemotherapy: used drugs (eg cisplatin, bleomycin, and etoposide) to kill cancer cells.
• Chemotherapy has improved the life expectancy of patients with non-seminoma tumors.
• Bone marrow transplantation: do if the chemotherapy has caused damage to the bone marrow of patients.

Seminoma tumor 

• Stage I is treated with irradiation orkiektomi and abdominal lymph nodes
• Stage II treated with orkiektomi, lymph node irradiation and chemotherapy with sisplastin
• Stage III treated with orkiektomi and multi-drug chemotherapy.

Non-seminoma tumors: 

• Stage I: treated with orkiektomi and abdominal lymphadenectomy may be performed
• Stage II: treated with lymphadenectomy orkiektomi and abdomen, possibly followed by chemotherapy
• Stage III: treated with chemotherapy and orkiektomi.

If the cancer is a recurrence of previous testicular cancer, some drugs are given chemotherapy (ifosfamide, cisplatin and etoposide or vinblastine).

Yoga for Having Sex

A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2009 revealed that women who initially did not feel happy with their sex lives, turns slowly undergone significant changes in her sex life. These changes include increased arousal, desire for sex, as well as better orgasms. Improvements in sex life is it is because these women are practicing yoga. Psychologist, physical therapist, and author of A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness, Dr. Elizabeth R. Lombardo, believes that yoga is very good for improving your sex life. The reason is as follows:

1. Train the focus of attention. Much of the focus of yoga is to calm the mind and brain. Every day, you usually think about what things to do. Not infrequently it makes you tired and stressed. Thoughts like these that can easily affect your mind while in the room, thus reducing the desire for sex. "Maybe then you are physically in the room, but somehow your mind drift to figure out what, so it does not focus with your partner. This may reduce sexual pleasure," said Lombardo. Yoga can help you to organize and manage your thoughts and your stress better. Yoga can also calm the mind so that you can think clearly and focus on what is being done, such as sex.
2. Better than Kegel. Kegel exercises that gave priority to simple contraction of the pelvic floor muscles is good to increase sexual arousal, as these exercises can strengthen the muscles that work when having sex. However, yoga is considered better than Kegel exercises. Because, yoga not only strengthen the pelvic muscles, but also help reach the muscle contractions during sex, so sex session for the better and longer.
3. Reduce stress. "Yoga is one way to 'kill' the stress," said Lombardo. When you're stressed, you tend to lose passion for sex and felt I had no time for sex. Stress is literally able to reduce your libido, and can make you depressed. With yoga, you can relax the mind and reduces stress in the brain attack. This means that with a stress-free mind then your sex drive will increase. You would think to look at sex as something fun when you do not superstres.
4. .ncrease strength and flexibility. Yoga is very good for muscle tone, flexibility, and endurance during sex. Developments resulting from endurance and muscle strength gained from yoga can help during sex, especially for those who like sex are attractive.
5. Self-confidence. Yoga can increase your confidence, because when you are in excellent body condition and the ideal body shape, then you will feel more confident. This confidence also helps you feel more comfortable in the bedroom with your partner. "There are biochemical changes that occur in the brain when we practice yoga. This could help increase our confidence even though our body shape has not changed," said Lombardo.

5 Facts about Anti-Aging Cream

One of the means used to reduce the signs of aging is to use anti-aging cream. One compound that plays an important role in anti-aging cream is retinol content is a derivative of vitamin A. Retinol, which is also called Retin-A or Renova, becoming the main standard in the products anti-aging creams. However, many consumers who do not know the facts about retinol, which may affect how much, work a maximum of retinol in the cream. Here are some facts.

1. Retinol damaged if exposed to light and air. Light and air can cause damage to retinol in the cream. Retinol is very sensitive to light, and if exposed to direct light, most likely this material will no longer be effective when used. A study conducted in 2004 and published in the Journal of Raman Spectroscopy showed that retinol is a substance that is not stable when exposed to oxygen in the air too much and often.

After using the cream for a month, usually cream is not going to work a maximum again as when first opened. This is caused due to damage caused by retinol exposure to air. You can delay the destruction of retinol in anti-aging cream by putting the cream in a dark room, or in an airtight container to maintain stable longer.

2. Retinol works better when used separately with products that contain acid. To work optimally, retinol requires a neutral pH. If we use a variety of cream products for the face, avoiding the use of anti-aging creams along with other products that contain salicylic acid, glycolic acid, or vitamin C. If you must use products that contain this acid, you should use separately and in the distance a long time. For example, use of vitamin C in the morning, and anti-aging cream at night.

3. Strength depends on the levels of retinol. The concentration of retinol in the cream affects the content of their effectiveness in work, and removes wrinkles on the face velocity. Typically, an anti-aging cream contains about 0.025 percent retinol. The content of this show the most out after use for 6 weeks, but not strong enough to remove wrinkles and black spots on the face completely.

4. Retinol improves skin to slough off your dead skin. How it works retinol is to make your skin look first to peel off the dead skin before it makes it look better. The best you have to do is use a cream with the lowest retinol content gradually until your skin has improved and no peeling. This will usually take between 6-8 weeks. Retinol will also make your skin more sensitive to the sun. So it is very important for you to use a sunscreen with minimum SPF 30 during the day.

5. Retinol work best at night. Anti-aging cream is best applied at night. This is caused by exposure to UV light less than during the day, and the highest temperature reached during the night. This will help the absorption of retinol into the skin so that it can work with the maximum. When sleeping, use a silk pillowcase to prevent the cream stick to the fabric.