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Cancer: Simple tips on when to go to a doctor EYESIGHT
Health Notes
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Cancer: Simple tips on when to go to a doctor Cancer is believed to be the second most common cause of death after heart disease. Its symptoms can be similar to those of common diseases. For example, unexplained weight loss may be an indication of cancer. Typically, people ignore these early symptoms confusing them with other common conditions. Sometimes they are scared to consult a doctor. It is very important to detect cancer before it spreads, as treatment is most effective when cancer is found early. For example, if a breast lump is found at an early stage by self-examination, timely treatment can result in long cancer-free survival. Always remember that every symptom could be explained by a harmless condition. Still, it is important to be aware of the following symptoms of cancer and get them investigated. Unexplained loss of weight: Substances released by cancer cells can result in weight loss. This is non-specific and can also be the result of a prolonged infection. Still, an unexplained and unintended weight loss over a six-month period needs to be investigated. Fatigue: Patients with cancer experience ongoing tiredness. This could be caused by aneamia (low number of red blood cells in your body) due to an underlying disease like colon cancer, etc. Fatigue increases as cancer progresses. Pain:
Continuous pain that does not go away in a few months and keeps on getting worse may result from cancer. Bony pain may be a sign of cancer of the bone or a cancer that has started from a place like the prostate and has now travelled to the bone. A persistent cough or blood in the saliva:
This is especially relevant for long-term smokers, and is a common sign of lung cancer. Infectious diseases like tuberculosis can also present this way. Change in bowel habits or blood in the stool: Diarrhoea that does not go away, long-term constipation or change in the size of the stool (eg. Pencil thin stools) can signify colon cancer. Blood in the stools could be due to hemorrhoids, but even this needs to be investigated and treated by a doctor. Blood in the urine: Blood in the urine is typically due to kidney stones or a urinary infection. However, blood in the urine not accompanied by pain can be a sign of bladder cancer. Lump in any part of the body: Lumps in the breast may be non-cancerous, but still need to be evaluated thoroughly. Women are advised to conduct monthly breast examinations, especially if they have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Discharges from breasts are common, but if the discharge is bloody or only from one nipple, further evaluation is needed. Testicular cancer presents as a painless lump on the testicles. Many other cancers like those of the lymph nodes can present this way. Lumps most frequently are harmless and lymph nodes could be swollen due to an infection. A lump should be reported to your doctor if it is new and remains enlarged for more than a month or a previous lump that is rapidly growing in size. Changes in a mole or a wart: Any mole or wart that changes in size, shape, colour or if its edges get irregular may be cancerous. This should be reported to your regular doctor or a skin doctor immediately. Sores that do not heal: Sores normally heal quickly. If a sore fails to heal, it should be evaluated by a doctor. Non-healing mouth sores and persistent white or red patches in the mouth could be a sign of cancer. This is VERY IMPORTANT in patients who smoke or chew tobacco and should be evaluated as soon as possible. Though these symptoms are non-specific, if they meet the “2P” criterion (That is, if they are persistent and progressive), you should seek medical advice. Do not be afraid to visit your doctor as early detection may make all the difference. It is never too late to quit smoking, tobacco chewing and excessive alcohol intake. Remember, prevention is always better than cure. The writer is Chief Fellow, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Division of Hematology and Oncology, Ohio, USA. Email:
drpant2001@yahoo.com
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EYESIGHT Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness worldwide. It is estimated that 4.5 million persons globally are blind due to glaucoma, and that this number will rise to 11.2 million by 2020. Glaucoma refers to a group of eye conditions where the pressure within your eye is raised to such a degree that the optic nerve becomes damaged and you begin to lose your vision. The increase in pressure usually happens when fluid (the aqueous humor) in the front part of the eye (the anterior chamber) doesn’t drain away properly. Normally, the amount of fluid produced is balanced by the amount draining away; so the pressure in the front part of the eye stays constant. The two major types of glaucoma are chronic or primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and acute angle-closure glaucoma, with the angle referring to the configuration of internal eye structures that drain fluids. In angle-closure glaucoma, the fluid at the front of the eye, cannot reach the angle and leave the eye, and the patient can have severe pain due to sudden increase in eye pressure as well as redness of the eye, and blurred vision for which one needs to seek treatment immediately. In low-tension or normal-tension glaucoma, optic nerve damage and narrowed side vision occur in people with normal eye pressure. In congenital glaucoma children are born with a defect in the angle of the eye that slows the normal drainage of fluid and the children develop cloudy eyes, sensitivity to light, and excessive tearing. Conventional surgery typically is the safe and effective treatment, because medicines may have unknown effects in infants and may be difficult to administer. If surgery is done promptly these children usually have an excellent chance of having good vision. Secondary glaucoma can lead to other complications like advanced cataracts, eye injuries, eye tumors, or uveitis (eye inflammation). Corticosteroid drugs used to treat eye inflammations and other diseases can trigger glaucoma in some people. Treatment includes medicines, laser surgery or conventional surgery. Anyone can develop glaucoma. Some people are at higher risk than others. They include people over 40 years of age and those with a family history of glaucoma. Other potential risk factors include high myopia (very severe near-sightedness)/high hyperopia (near-sightedness), diabetes, eye surgery or injury, high blood pressure, use of steroids, etc. A comprehensive dilated eye examination can reveal more risk factors such as high eye pressure, thinness of the cornea, and abnormal optic nerve anatomy. In some people with certain combinations of these high-risk factors, medicines in the form of eyedrops reduce the risk of developing glaucoma by about half. As glaucoma remains untreated, people may miss objects to the side and out of the corner of their eye. Glaucoma can develop in one or both eyes. Glaucoma is detected through a comprehensive eye examination that includes visual acuity test. This eye chart test measures how well you see at various distances. A tonometer measures pressure inside the eye to detect glaucoma. Visual field test measures your side (peripheral) vision, loss of which is an early sign of glaucoma. In an effort to combat one of the main causes of blindness around the globe, the World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Organisation have announced the first annual World Glaucoma Day, to be observed on March 6. Since glaucoma is a progressive disease causing irreversible visual loss, usually without warning until relatively advanced, and because 50 per cent of the affected people in the developed world (up to 90 per cent in developing countries) do not know that they have the disease and are, therefore, not only treatment but also community awareness needs to be significantly increased. This includes awareness of the disease and the need to have regular eye check-ups, thereby ensuring early detection of the problem and avoidance of what should be preventable visual disability. The writer is Chairman and Medical Director, Centre for Sight, New Delhi. Email:
msachdev@bol.net.in
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Health Notes
A healthy individual loses about 100 strands of hair daily, with losses occurring evenly around the whole scalp. However, this hair is replaced. The problem begins when the shedding goes beyond that number, and replacement lags. Now, after six years of study, researchers at the University of Bonn have identified a gene that causes a rare hereditary form of hair loss — Hypotrichosis simplex — throwing open the possibility of regenerating hair. Protein that may help determine chemo effectiveness
LONDON: Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre have identified a protein that recognises tumours responding to chemotherapy. When tagged with a light-emitting molecule it can determine the efficacy of cancer treatments within days of its starting. The team of researchers led by Dennis Hallahan, the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and chair of Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, discovered that the protein that bound to tumours responding to therapy, when attached to a light-emitting molecule, could assess the treatment response in mice implanted with human tumours in just two days.
— ANI
Viagra could damage
men’s fertility
MELBOURNE: Viagra might help men boost their performance in the bedroom, but it can also damage their ability to father a child, suggests a new British study. Researchers at the Queen’s University in Belfast have found that young men who take the anti-impotence drug recreationally could be damaging their sperm quality, thus spoiling their chances of starting a family.
— ANI
LONDON: A study by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston has cited that a protein called Notch that manages the determination of cell differentiation into different kinds of tissues in embryos is crucial in the formation of bones and strength later in life. The results of this study may act as a base for understanding osteoporosis and also in diseases in which there is too much bone.
— ANI
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LONDON: People anxious over their hair loss might not need to worry anymore, for a gene that prevents regeneration of hair has been identified, opening a broad path to treatments for thinning locks.
Protein that plays critical
role