Woman’s Own – 26 August 2019

Do I have

an increased

cancer risk?

ContactDrDawn

[email protected]

Follow her on Twitter @DrDawnHarper or drdawn.com

A

TheNHSwillprovideyou

withuptothreemonthsof

prescriptionsif youaretravelling,

butit soundslikeyouareplanning

tobeawayforlongerthanthat,so

youwillneedtofinda localdoctor

in France,too.AskyourGPhere

togiveyoua listofhismedication,

includingthegenericnamesas

drugshavedifferenttrade names

in different countries.

He’sstruggling

tohearme...

Q

Myhusbandhada nastyear

infectionrecentlyandended

upwitha perforatedeardrum.

Hefinishedhisantibioticsa week

agoandis nowpainfree,butI’ve

noticedthatheis turningthe

volumeupontheTVandoften

doesn’thearmespeakingtohim.

Couldhehavepermanently

damagedhishearing?

A

Probablynot.It is normal

forhearingtobea bit

impairedfollowinganear

infectionandit can

takesixweeks

forit toreturn

tonormal.

If youstill

thinkthere

is a problem

atthat

stage,then

askyour

GPfora

referralforan

audiogramto

assess his hearing.

Howwillweget

medicationabroad?

Q

MypartnerandI arethinking

aboutearlyretirement–

spendingourwintersinFrance

andsummersbackintheUK.My

partnerhastype2 diabetes(oneof

thereasonsforourmoveis totry

toadopta Mediterraneandietand

lifestyle).If wehaveanaddress

herecanwecontinuetoget

hisprescriptionsontheNHS?

Q

Mysisterhasbeendiagnosedwithbreast

cancer.Shehasa faultygeneandher

doctorhassaidthatI shouldseemyGPfora

bloodtesttocheckwhetherI carryit too.If I

testpositivedoesthatmeanthatI willdefinitely

getbreastcancer?I’mnotsureI wanttoknow.

A

Youdon’thavetogettested.YourGP

wouldn’tdothetest– theywouldrefer

youtoa geneticspecialistsothatyoucanhave

counsellinganddecidewhetherornottogo

ahead.A positivetestdoesn’tmeanyouare

definitelygoingtodevelopbreastcancer,but

it doessignificantlyincreaseyourrisk.If you

didtestpositive,yourspecialistwouldhelp

you make the right decisions for you.

usuallyadvisethat

youshouldstay

awayfromothers

untilyouhavebeen

symptomfreefor 48

hours.It is important

thatyoutakegreat

carewithpersonal

hygieneandwash

bedlinen,towels

andclotheson

as hot a wash as

DoctorDawn

Harper

answersall

your

questions...

TO ASK?

Afraid

Askthe

DOCTOR

possible.Youmay

stillhavediarrhoea

becausethegood

bacteriain yourgut

thathelpyoudigest

foodhavebeen

depleted,sotake

a good-quality

dailyprobioticto

replenish them.

PHOTOS: (POSED BY MODELS) GETTY

Anearinfection

cantemporarily

impair hearing

Q

IHAVEJUST

RETURNED

FROMINDIA

WHEREI WAS

DIAGNOSEDWITH

DYSENTERY.I FEEL

MUCHBETTERIN

MYSELFBUTSTILL

HAVEVERYLOOSE

STOOLS.CANI GO

BACKTOWORK?

A

Dysentery

is highly

infectious, so we

MYSTOMACHWON’T

GO BACK TO NORMAL