(^38) DAILY MIRROR FRIDAY 06.09.2019
DM1ST
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DR MIRIAM STOPPARD
Helping to keep you fit and healthy
BUST THAT MYTH
Acidic diets
cause cancer
Scientifically speaking there’s no
such thing as an acidic diet, it’s a
con. The body can easily neutralise
any food which is acidic or alkaline
in a few minutes without strain.
However, some myths about
cancer persist, one being that
overly “acidic” diets cause your
blood to become “too acidic”
(rubbish!), which can increase your
risk of cancer. The “cure” is to
increase your intake of healthier
“alkaline” foods (rubbish!) like
green vegetables and fruits
(including, paradoxically, lemons).
This is biological nonsense. True,
cancer cells can’t live in an overly
alkaline environment, but then
neither can any of the other cells in
your body.
Blood is usually slightly alkaline.
This is tightly regulated by the
kidneys and any extra acid or alkali
is simply peed out in urine. To
maintain the correct balance within
the body, your urine can and does
change pH, depending on what
you’ve eaten.
This can be seen by testing urine
pH (acidity) after eating different
foods and is the basis of the
mistaken belief that diet can “make
the body alkaline”. While eating lots
of green veg is certainly healthy,
that’s not because of any effect on
how acid or alkaline your body is.
Yes, it’s possible. But how?
A pregnancy test looks for the
presence of elevated levels of the
hormone beta human chorionic
gonadotropin (hCG). There are
certain types of testicular cancers
that also release this hormone.
Thus, if a man has elevated levels of
hCG, he could have testicular
cancer, resulting in a positive
pregnancy test.
Beyond pregnancy tests,
common signs and symptoms of
testicular cancer include: any lump
felt on the testicle; any testicle
enlargement, change in shape or
size irregularities; pain or
discomfort in the scrotum or
testicle; a dull ache or sense of
pressure in the lower back or
abdomen; a feeling of heaviness or
fullness in the scrotum; and
enlargement or tenderness of
the breasts.
The good news is that testicular
cancer is one of the most curable
forms of cancer there is, so make
sure you check yourself often.
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED?
...if a man can have a positive pregnancy test?
WHAT ARE THEY?
Ketones
In certain conditions, such as
starvation, diabetic coma and
extreme dieting such as Atkins
which cuts carbs, ketones
appear on the breath which
smell of pear drops (nail varnish
to you and me).
When the body can’t use
glucose for energy, it uses fat
instead. When fat is broken
down, chemicals called ketones
are produced.
They get into a person’s blood
and urine. This can occur when
not enough
food has been eaten to provide
glucose for energy (starvation),
or it can occur in diabetes when
the body can’t use glucose
normally, or when there isn’t
enough insulin (diabetes).
What’s the difference between..
tonsillitis and strep throat
Tonsillitis Tonsils are the
guardians of the throat. They trap
viruses and bacteria that are
breathed in, and prevent them from
getting to the rest of the body.
The tonsils are part of the
lymphatic system – they’re lymph
nodes or “glands”. With tonsillitis,
you can get a sore throat and have
difficulty swallowing because the tonsils enlarge.
Strep throat is more severe than tonsillitis, and it’s
caused by a specific strain of bacteria called
streptococcus. The back of the throat is bright red, and
the tonsils may have yellow, pussy dots on them.
Symptoms include a fever greater than 38.3C and
swollen lymph glands in the neck.
Children with strep throat may have stomach pain
and/or a headache.
Q
At what point should I
be concerned about
my memory? I keep
forgetting things and
sometimes when I’m out I
don’t know where I
am and I get
anxious I won’t
find my way home.
Should I be
worrying?
A
If memory loss
is beginning to
affect your everyday life
you should seek advice.
Some memory loss
affects us all: you can’t put
a name to a face or you
forget where you put your
keys, you can’t remember
where you parked the car.
These slips are a nuisance
rather than a sign of
something more serious.
But if your memory is
getting notably worse, alert
your doctor. It’s important
because sometimes
memory problems
are an early sign
of dementia.
Dementia
affects everyone
in different ways.
As well as problems
with memory, other signs
can include feeling
confused even when you’re
in a familiar place, problems
with thinking things
through, and finding it hard
to follow conversations.
Speak to your partner or
one of your relatives first.
Ask Dr Miriam
[email protected]
@MiriamStoppard
SORRY BUT I CAN’T ANSWER LETTERS PERSONALLY
bec
m
in
As
Blood test to screen for
signs of colon cancer
T
hese days the gold standard
for colon cancer screening is
optical colonoscopy, where the
inside of the large bowel is
viewed through a micro-camera.
Patients have to complete day-long
prep for this, ensuring their bowels
are empty.
Unsurprisingly this puts a lot of
people off. I know. I’ve just had one.
During the procedure, when the
doctor finds polyps in the colon, they’ll
remove them and have them assessed
as either cancerous or benign.
If they’re benign, they’re further
categorised as high or low-risk of
becoming cancerous.
There’s another screening option,
computed tomographic colonography,
which requires a similar bowel prep
but is non-invasive and gives an image
of the colon.
However, an optical colonoscopy is
still needed for polyp removal.
But now a study has found most
small polyps detected during screening
will never become cancerous and
treating them is unnecessary. Taking
a new tack, researchers from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison have
come up with four markers for the pre-
cancerous forms of colon cancer most
likely to develop into the disease.
The good news is the scientists
expect their findings will ultimately
lead to a simple blood test for the
cancer. It’s hoped this will help
increase screening rates while
reducing over-treatment. The study’s
senior author, Bill Dove, said: “This
study is the first peek at the possibility
that there will be blood markers for a
minimally invasive procedure that can
reduce over-diagnosis. They do exist.’
The goal for a doctor performing a
colonoscopy is to fathom which polyps
are pre-malignant and which can be
left alone.
The researchers looked for blood
markers that are elevated in only those
patients with growing polyps or
cancerous polyps, but not elevated in
patients with non-growing polyps or
no polyps at all.
They looked at blood samples from
90 colonoscopy patients – split into
three groups of no risk, low or high risk
pre-cancerous polyps – and compared
them to 31 patients who were
monitored by CT scans.
The researchers then matched
blood marker findings with their
results on growing or cancerous
polyps.
Lead study author Melanie Ivancic
found four elevated proteins
associated with early colon cancer in
the patients studied.
Dove says: “There’s good evidence
they’re being conserved in early
disease in humans. We didn’t expect
we could find blood markers for such
small, early, pre-malignant polyps in
humans, but we did.’
We’re getting closer and closer to
cracking cancer.
It’s hoped it
will reduce
over-treatment
nandana
(Nandana)
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