Cancer is becoming a global concern. Every monthly delay in cancer treatment can increase the risk of death by 10%. However, medical efforts are being made to increase the survival rate of cancerous disease. Here we are discussing the difference between cancer and anxiety.
Lifestyle changes have been found helpful in minimizing the severity of the case, but whether it has a positive impact on the survival rate is subject to research right now.
However, any disease or health challenge is unpleasant, but citing every symptom with the possibility of cancer isn’t a joke.
But that’s true. Symptoms accompanied by cancerous diseases sometimes replicate the symptoms of a disease that isn’t that threatening to life.
Such as Anxiety or Depression – surprisingly, but both can be an early sign of a brain tumor. You or your family might be careless about this symptom now, but the fact is cancer & anxieties are correlated sometimes.
However, most patients encounter anxiety or depression after they are diagnosed with a cancerous disease. But awareness is still essential because a general depression or anxiety could be a possible indication of something unwell.
So, let’s differentiate both cancer and anxiety now.
Differences Between The Symptoms of Cancer and Anxiety
It turns out to be a highly necessary point of discussion when you want to figure out the exact differentiator between cancer and anxiety. So, let’s begin
What’s Anxiety?
Anxiety is commonly associated with emotions and mental disturbance. When you feel anxious about something or someone, you are in anxiety. In simple words, you will be experiencing emotional breakdowns, sometimes nervous and other times worried.
Possibly you are dealing with a threat or a personal life challenge when you struggle with anxiety. The mental disease can even germinate when you are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease like cancer. Anxiety is an expected reaction when something unexpected suddenly enters life to ruin it.
An estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults have an anxiety disorder. United States, China, Brazil, and India are the four notable countries with the highest anxiety disorders among people are found. And surprisingly, each of these is also one of those countries where cancerous disease outbreak is high compared to others.
Most of the time, the news of cancer arrives with emotional imbalances, and anxiety is the most common here.
The Symptoms of Anxiety
Let’s take a look at the symptoms because it is necessary to learn which symptom has originated from cancer or which symptom is just a sign of cancer.
- Feeling intense fear or dread
- Heart palpitations or rapid heartbeat
- High blood pressure
- Feeling detached from yourself or your surroundings
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling suffocated
- Sweating
- Chills
- Dizziness or feeling lightheaded
- Nausea, diarrhoea,
- Heartburn, or a change in appetite
- Restlessness
- Abdominal pain
- Trembling
- Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
- Pacing
- Feeling a knot in the pit of your stomach
Chronic anxiety symptoms can vary and can be more severe than as stated above. Therefore, doctors never disclose the news of something bad directly to the patients. Rather than that, they express concern for their beloved.
The Causes of Anxiety
Below is a breakdown of major causes or situations where a person starts feeling anxious about themselves and loses imbalances. Doctors recommend calming down the patient during such events as it can worsen things. Take a look at the major causes of anxiety now.
- Fear of disease or treatment-related side-effects
- Inability to do normal activities and changes in body
- Concern about having relationship changes
- Fear of death
- Fear of the lifestyle of beloved after them
- Bad thoughts or horrible nightmares
- Dizziness or imbalances
What is Cancer?
Cancer is described as a disease that germinates within the body from abnormal cell development. Later these cells grow abnormally in the body and start migrating to other parts, tissues, or wherever they are formed.
The human body is made of trillions of cells. These cells respond to the different body needs, and during this process, they are damaged, dieted, and new cells re-appear in the body.
But sometimes, this reappearance happens abnormally, which later converts into a cancerous disease which, of course, is life-threatening.
The body changes and symptoms associated with the cancerous disease depend on the place where cancer has found its breeding ground. Cancer tumors keep growing in the body and invade nearby tissues; therefore, the disease is often watched in 4 stages. The first 2 stages have a higher survival rate, and the last 3rd and 4th stages of cancer reduce life expectancy.
Thus, emotional breakdowns are very common. Still, medical advancements have brought some miraculous results in cancer treatment. Despite this fact, most patients still deal with anxiety attacks, and their symptoms are commonly mistaken for the symptoms of cancer. So, awareness is necessary in this regard.
The Symptoms of Cancer
The origin or the place of cancer decides the symptoms of this life-threatening disease. In most events, patients sense no symptoms, but as the cancer progress, some cancer symptoms are evident. Let’s take a look at these symptoms.
Nipple changes or discharge
Breast Changes
- Skin that is itchy, scaly, red, dimpled, or puckered
- A lump or firm feeling in your breast or under your arm
Bladder Changes
- Trouble urinating
- Blood in the urine
- Pain when urinating
- Sudden Bleeding or bruising
Bowel Changes
- Blood in the stools
- Changes in bowel habits
- Persistent Cough or hoarseness in the throat
Eating Problems
- Pain after eating (persistent heartburn or indigestion)
- Trouble swallowing
- Appetite changes
- Nausea and vomiting
- Belly pain
- Fatigue that is severe and lasts
Mouth Changes
- Pain, Bleeding, or numbness in the lip or mouth
- A red or white patch on the tongue or in your mouth
Neurological Problems
- Headaches
- Hearing changes
- Seizures
- Vision changes
- Drooping of the face
Skin Changes
- A flesh-colored lump that bleeds or turns scaly
- A sore that does not heal
- A new mole or a change in an existing mole
- Jaundice (whites of the eyes and yellowing of the skin)
- Swelling or lumps in the neck, stomach, underarm, and groin
Apart from these, Fever or night sweats for no known reason is also a common sign of cancer.
The Causes of Cancer
The symptoms above are a ‘warning sign’ as soon as you watch them in the body. Especially if you are exposed to any of the causes as given below, you should go serious right now. Take a look at the major causes of cancer or tumor now –
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Benzene and other chemicals and toxins
- Environmental toxins,
- Genetic problems
- Excessive sunlight exposure
- Obesity
- Radiation exposure
- Viruses
- Other unknown reasons
The Severity of Cases: Cancer Vs. Anxiety, What's Riskier?
Cancer and anxiety coming during cancer are both dangerous. Cancer is already life-threatening and responsible for shattering millions of families around the world every month. But anxiety can add more trouble for the patients as well as for the doctor.
In most events, the patient may be trying to cope with the situation but still facing anxiety-like symptoms, which typically happens with brain tumor patients. Brain tumors can give rise to depression – especially if suspected in the frontal lobe. Memory changes, slurred speeches, and seizures are common in this uncommon medical condition.
Conclusion
Brain cancer is rare. But depression and anxiety accompanied by cancerous diseases are common. In most events, patients fail to benefit from drugs for anxiety because it could be a symptom of a brain tumor. In another scenario, patients fail to benefit from drugs for cancer because anxiety is the key reason. That’s why patients are advised to stay calm throughout their diagnosis. Most doctors even recommend families give some therapy to their loved ones to keep them mentally prepared for the battle.
