Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer Essay INCIDENCE Breast Cancer Essay is the most common malignancy among women and has the highest fatality rate of all cancers affecting this sex. It is the leading cause of death among women aged 35-54. In 1999 an estimated 175,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. That is one woman every three minutes. At the same time 43,000 will die, at the rate of one every two minutes. The incidence of men diagnosed with breast cancer is rare, however it does occur. Approximately 1,300 men a year are diagnosed, and 400 die annually due to the disease. A total of 75% of all breast cancers occur in women with no known risk factors. 80% of breast cancers occur in women aged 50 and up. The mortality rate would decrease if every woman over 50 was informed and followed guidelines. When confined to the breast, the survival rate is 95%. Studies have shown that more white women than black women get breast cancer, however more black women die of breast cancer because they are not diagnosed at an early stage. SIGNS AND SYMPTONS Most breast cancers appear as a slowly growing, painless mass, though a vague discomfort may be present. Physical signs include a retracted nipple, bleeding from the nipple, distorted areola or breast contour, skin dimpling over the lesion, attachment of the mass to surrounding tissues including the underlying fascia and overlying skin, and enlarged lymph nodes. In most advanced stages of the disease the skin nodules with ultimate breakdown and ulcer formation may be seen. Metastases should be sought immediately so that further spread will not be a factor. Among the common sites of metastases are the lungs and pleura, the skeleton (specifically the spine, pelvis, and skull), and the liver. Whenever possible, distant spread of the disease should be confirmed by a lymph nose biopsy, by x-ray, or by liver and bone scans using radioactive isotopes. WHO IS AT RISK? All women and men are at risk of getting breast cancer. However personal history with family members having breast cancer adds an increase to the risk factor. Contradictory to this though studies have shown that 75% of breast cancer occurs in women with no history and no known risk factors. Not ever having children, or having ones first child after 30 yrs., also increases the risk of breast cancer in women. Heavy alcohol abuse is a risk factor as well. Studies have also shown that women who began menstruation early, twelve years or less, and women who began menopause late, fifty-five years plus, also have a greater risk of breast cancer. PREVENTION There are three ways to attempt to detect prevention, however since there is no cure, one cannot determine what actions to take to prevent. The most common technique for early detection is by a regular doctors examination. The second technique at detecting breast cancer is by a breast self-examination (BSE), and lastly, by mammogram. BSE should begin when a woman is eighteen or older, so that the breast is fully developed. During the BSE women should begin to learn what is normal and what is not in their breasts. Mammography is the best method at detecting breast cancer. A woman should have a mammogram when she is 40 yrs. old, and then one every two years until she is 50 yrs. old. Once a woman is 50 yrs. old she should have a mammogram annually because as ones age increases, so does the risk of getting breast cancer. Many women also need to be educated about the risks of breast cancer and how to detect it early. The majority of women with breast cancer do not know about the fortunateness of detecting breast cancer early, never mind follow the detection guidelines. TREATMENT Therapy depends mainly on the extent of the disease and the patients age. If there is evidence of wider metastasic spread, treatment will be palliative. This means that treatment will lessen the severity of pain, however it will not cure. READ: Israel Economy Essay When there is no evidence of spread, the treatment of choice is total mastectomy and modified radical mastectomy. This is an entire or partial removal of the affected breast. In the best circumstances, the 10 yr. .

Human Resource Organizational Development in a Company Research Paper

Human Resource Organizational Development in a Company - Research Paper Example olo Machiavelli once said that â€Å"There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things† (Hitt, 1988, p. 20). This paper therefore is a discussion of the essential elements in implementing organizational change, the role of the human resource during change, and a brief on the factors that brings change. Organizational development (OD) is about a long-term change that involves either the entire system or a sub-system of an organization towards more productivity. It necessitates dealing with culture and learning and of change agents internally and externally. The OD is a â€Å"change management strategy† known to be based on behavioral sciences that looks into the purposes and roles of the people and the organization for a better efficiency and productivity using â€Å"human and social processes† (Wamwangi, 2003, p.2). The OD practice develops â€Å"continuing capacity for learning and deepening understanding through practice† (Polotan-dela Cruz, 2008, p.4) Since 1950s, three change models have been known and applied by OD professionals in accordance to the development goal of the institution. One of the famous is Kurt Lewin’s change management model which concentrates on three developmental stages: unfreeze, change, and freeze. The unfreezing stage happens during organizational diagnosis when data shows discrepancies of organizational behavior or output desired versus what is currently exhibited (Cummings and Worley, 1993, p.53). Change stage is the process of introducing and developing the desired behavior while the freezing stage is the establishment of mechanisms like policies and new organizational structures to sustain the attained changes on behavior and attitudes. The other famous change model is the planning model by Lippitt, Watson, and Westley which approach is on the viewpoint of the external OD agent. This model with seven stages that includes scouting, entry,

Models of decision making and problem solving Essay

Models of decision making and problem solving - Essay Example Decision making is about choosing from several options or ideas and taking action to generate a particular result. It is usually considered to be a rational and logical thinking process. It is defined as a process of choosing a course of action for dealing with a problem or opportunity (Schmerhorn, 2003, p 174). Problem solving is one of the steps involved in decision making. Decision making is a part of everyday life for all of us. However this essay is confined to analysis of the process of decision making in an organizational context. In an organization, decision making is one of the key managerial activities. Decisions taken in a timely manner, making optimum use of information and a sound implementation are the hallmarks of organizations which perform effectively. This essay covers aspects of decision making processes in an organization and the models which can be used to describe them. The roles of creativity in individual as well as organization decision making, intuition, gro up and collaborative decision making and leadership that makes the decision making and problem solving in organizations efficient is also discussed.It is important to understand the context under which decisions are made in the organization. Decision making within organization can be broadly classified as happening at four levels. The first is the long-term strategic decision making process. ... The operations level managers will be involved. Speed and implementation of decisions will be very important here. Very often problems to be solved will be routine in nature. The last is the corrective decisions that an organization will have to make based on the monitoring it does of its decisions and the feedback that it receives through such monitoring. Another type of classification on the decisions within an organization are those that can be differentiated as programmed decisions , those which are routine and can be solved by standard methods and the other un-programmed, those which cannot be solved by routine responses, but which require tailor made solutions. Decisions are usually made by managers as individuals, but in organizations, the particular decisions or policies chosen by decision-makers can often be explained through organizational culture and practices. These practices may be decision making by committees and groups, or by adopting fixed or standard operating procedures. Culture of the organization will decide whether decisions are taken autocratically, creatively or through participation. Decisions are often not made by an individual alone in an organization alone. Decisions are made through a complex set of interaction between different people at different parts (functions) and levels of organizations, since the stakeholders of the outcome of decisions will be many. In real life in organizations it is rare to find decision making and other processes where social and political activity does not play a significant part (Teale et al, 2003, p 289). Decision making depends upon the environment under which decisions are made. Schermerhorn, (2003, ch. 17) describes these as certain, risky and uncertain environment. "Certain"