Health and Pain Mind

Many people with cancer experience pain. Thirty to 40 percent of patients in active cancer therapy and 70 to 90 percent of patients with advanced cancer report pain.

Cancer pain can be caused by:

	Tumors pressing on organs, nerves or bone
	Treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation
	Other conditions related to the cancer, such as stiffness from inactivity, muscle spasms, constipation and bedsores
	Conditions unrelated to the cancer, such as arthritis or migraine

In most cases, cancer pain can be controlled through relatively simple means. Doctors usually use medications, which are prescribed according to a plan that was first described by the World Health Organization and is called the Analgesic Ladder approach to cancer pain management.

Other ways to alleviate cancer pain include:

	Surgery, radiation or chemotherapy to shrink tumors causing pain
	Antibiotic therapy or drainage for pain caused by infection
	Psychological therapies, and social and spiritual support, to influence the perception of pain
	Other pain treatments

Beth Israel Medical Center, a major cancer care provider in New York City, has hundreds of cancer specialists in its network including top-rated surgeons, medical oncologists, physicians, radiation oncologists, radiologists, and oncology nurses. Propecia