Some common breast cancer myths

 

In Indian women, breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers. Breast cancer accounts for roughly 14 % of all cancers in women, with the percentage being higher in urban areas than in rural India. When some breast cells begin to develop abnormally and multiply more quickly than healthy cells, a lump gets formed. Cells in the breast might go to lymph modes or other regions of the body.

But patients sometimes are caught unawares and fail to take treatment at the right time due to several myths.

Myth- breast cancer cannot be developed because there is no family history.

Fact- many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

Myth 1- breast cancer is incurable.

Fact- if caught early enough, it is curable.

Myth 2- breast cancer is contagious or infectious.

Fact – it is not infectious or contagious.

Myth 3- breast conservation surgery is riskier than total breast removal or mastectomy

Fact- breast conservation surgery combined with radiation therapy is just as safe as total breast removal or mastectomy.

Myth 4- every breast lump is cancerous.

Fact –every breast lump should be investigated, but not every breast lump is cancerous.

The majority of new breast lumps are benign and if you had a recent normal mammogram, that percentage is likely to be even higher.

Myth 5- men are immune to breast cancer.

Fact – men account for 1 % of all breast cancer patients. Although it is uncommon, men can develop breast cancer.

Although male breast cancer accounts for only 1 – 2% of all breast cancer cases, the incidence rate is gradually increasing. Furthermore, due to a lack of awareness and delayed diagnosis, men have a higher mortality rate from breast cancer.

Myth 6- breast cancer can be caused by stress.

Fact – there is no evidence to support a connection between stress and breast cancer. There is evidence that stress does not increase the risk of breast cancer. That is not to say that stress does not affect health. This can have significant mental and physical health benefits, but it does nothing to reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Myth 7- abortion raises the risk of developing breast cancer.

Fact- this question arises because we know that estrogen exposure is directly related to breast cancer risk and abortion disrupts the normal hormonal cycle of pregnancy. But according to research, there is no link between abortion and breast cancer.

Myth 8 – a healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of breast cancer.

Fact – while it is true that overweight postmenopausal women are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer, there is nothing a woman can do to eliminate breast cancer risk. Even after a bilateral mastectomy, women are still at risk of developing new breast cancer.

Myth 9-breast cancer risk is increased by wearing underwire bras.

Fact- although underwire bras do not increase the risk of breast cancer, it is always recommended wire-free bras. The wire may irritate the skin beneath the breast, resulting in skin breakdown. This breakdown could allow bacteria to enter the breast, resulting in infection.

In Indian women, breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers. Breast cancer accounts for roughly 14% of all cancers in women, with the percentage being higher in urban areas than in rural India. When some breast cells begin to develop abnormally and multiply more quickly than healthy cells, a lump gets formed. Cells in the breast might go to lymph nodes or other regions of the body. But patients sometimes are caught unawares and fail to take treatment at the right time due to several myths.

https://www.thehansindia.com/life-style/some-common-breast-cancer-myths-713819

Can you contract two COVID-19 variants at the same time?

Can you catch two coronavirus variants at the same time?

An older woman from Belgium has been subject to scientific review after it emerged that she died from contracting two strains of the SARS-COV-2 virus.

More recently, scientists from Brazil have also reported two particular case studies wherein two people who had tested positive for coronavirus, had been genomically found to have two strains of the virus at the same time.

While we do know that the new emerging strains of coronavirus have an impact on the severity and some people are more at risk for contracting COVID-19 than others, the startling evidence only points out the fear of the unknown- it could be completely possible to catch two strains at once.

The evidence, at this point, remains bleak at the moment and is subject to further investigation. Even so, what are the chances of one being susceptible to such a scenario? If so, what should we know about the same?

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Findings from the observations

The incidents of co-infection, or developing two strains of the virus at the same time are isolated incidents but do have a lot of similarities in question.

In the first case, wherein the older woman from Belgium was found to have contracted two virus strains- the Alpha variant (first said to have originated in the United Kingdom) and the Beta variant (detected in South Africa). The woman, who had been admitted to a hospital for an injury went for a routine PCR test which diagnosed the co-infection. The woman rapidly developed respiratory symptoms in a matter of 5 days, and consequently died. Investigations revealed that the woman had not been vaccinated.

This thus became one of the first documented cases of COVID coinfection globally. Further findings revaled that the woman had contracted the virus when both of the strains were in circulation across Belgium.

However, this isn't the first time cases of coinfection have been suspected. Months before, scientists narrowed down on patients from Brazil who were found to test positive for two different variants, including a variant of concern, Gamma variant.

Contrastingly, unlike the Belgian woman, patients in Brazil had less severe outcomes, did not seem to have been impacted by the variants of concerns, and recovered without requiring hospitalization.

Another case of coinfection, from Portugal, was seen to have impacted a patient who was seemingly recovering from a pre-existing COVID-19 infection and caught on another variant. This, researchers, feel led to prolonged viral shedding and severe outcomes for the patient, a teenager with healthy outcomes.

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Are coinfections a possibility?

While these are the few 'rare' cases of COVID coinfection reported globally, scientists do believe that coinfections, especially with respiratory viruses aren't that uncommon, and right now is the time to delve more research into safeguarding populations from this added risk while cases surge. RNA viruses such as influenza and hepatitis C commonly mutate and are known to lead to coinfections.

Since viruses are known to evolve and mutate over time, they also lead to mutations that pose a risk to us. While not all mutations are scary, the ones that are capable of evading natural immune response pose the highest risk of infection. For example, an individual's immune response, and the behaviour of the variant could hold clues to why people, in the above documented cases could be reacting so differently and had varied severe outcomes. 

How worried should we be about coronavirus mutations?

There's also a phenomenon that differentiates risk factors pertaining to coronavirus infection. As experts say, coronaviruses can also undergo large changes in their genetic sequence by a process called recombination. When two viruses infect the same cell, they can swap large parts of their genomes with each other and create completely new sequences.

Even so, while coronavirus has a lower known risk of mutating, the possibility of coinfections have pegged concerns of the virus acquiring more mutations rapidly than ever, and the urgent need for more genomic testing and sequencing, which is not happening everywhere.

It should be remembered that coinfection, a rare possibility is still subject to further investigations.

Who is a higher risk?

Scientists are studying into the risks, but it has still emerged that vaccination paves the way for fewer severe outcomes and risk of infection. While the Belgium woman who died from a coinfection was unvaccinated, scientists also believe that vaccination would help mitigate the risks of future variants propping up and taming down risks of coinfection.

As with the risk of contracting COVID-19, the risks of coinfection could be the highest for the ones who are susceptible to frail immunity and health issues. Age-related waning immunity, a deficient immune response could be increasing risk factors.

Individual immune response could also be putting one at a more heightened risk for coinfection. While the findings are preliminary in nature, more research is needed to conclude the same.

What can be done to minimize the risk

Low vaccination rates, globally, pose a heavy risk to fueling the continued spread of coronavirus infections. The only thing that could really help minimize the risk of coinfection, mutants emerging is rampant vaccination. In the forthcoming months, we could also see more effective booster shots or universal COVID-19 vaccine shots that could work against all variants of concerns.

Emphasis on taking more precautions

The rise in coinfection cases- even if rare only point out why we cannot be complacent with our approach and take COVID-19 lightly.

While countries like India stand at a critical juncture of diminishing second wave and an emerging third wave of infections, there shouldn't be a drop in COVID-appropriate measures and hygiene factors right now. As long as vaccinations continue to happen at a good rate, and crucial preventive measures are being followed, our fight against COVID-19 can be successful. Vaccination, as proven can also mitigate the risk of severe outcomes and mortality with emerging variants of concerns.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Is Diarrhea a Symptom of COVID-19? New Study Says Digestive Issues May Be Common With Coronavirus

You've likely heard the most common symptoms of COVID-19 by now: dry cough, fever, shortness of breath. But now, researchers are warning that another less-common symptom may be more prominent than doctors once thought: diarrhea.

A new study published Wednesday in The American Journal of Gastroenterology claims that digestive issues—like diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain—may be more common in those with COVID-19 than was once thought, with up to half of patients diagnosed with the disease in the study issuing complaints of those issues. Also important: Compared to study patients without gastrointestinal issues, those who had GI complaints had a higher risk of mortality.

The research, a cross-sectional multicenter study from China by investigators from the Wuhan Medical Treatment Expert Group for COVID-19, examined 204 early cases of novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China from three separate hospitals. The average age of the patients was 54.9 years, and included 107 men and 97 women.


The study authors noted that while respiratory issues remain the most common symptom of novel coronavirus, many patients—99 of the 204, or 48.5%—experienced digestive symptoms as their chief complaint that generally worsened with time. Some patients also never presented with respiratory symptoms at all. “Clinicians must bear in mind that digestive symptoms, such as diarrhea, may be a presenting feature of COVID-19, and that the index of suspicion may need to be raised earlier in these cases rather than waiting for respiratory symptoms to emerge,” write the authors.

Those with digestive symptoms—which included anorexia or loss of appetite (83.8% cases), diarrhea (29.3%), vomiting (0.8%), and abdominal pain (0.4%)—also had “a worse clinical outcome and higher risk of mortality compared to those without digestive symptoms,” Brennan M.R. Spiegel, MD, MSHS, FACG, Co-Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Gastroenterology, explained in a press release. And, due to the fact that patients without digestive symptoms were more likely to be cured and discharged than patients with digestive symptoms, (60% of those without digestive symptoms were discharged, versus only 34.3% of patients with digestive symptoms), Dr. Spiegel emphasized “the importance of including symptoms like diarrhea to suspect COVID-19 early in the disease course before respiratory symptoms develop.” That in itself could lead to an earlier diagnosis of COVID-19, "which can lead to earlier treatment and more expeditious quarantine to minimize transmission," he said.

It should also be noted that those with digestive symptoms took much longer seek medical care. While the average time from symptom onset to hospital admission for those without digestive symptoms was 7.3 days, those with them took 9 days to be admitted. Researchers believe this may be an indicator that those with digestive symptoms sought care later because they did not yet suspect they were infected with the virus since they weren’t experiencing the most commonly discussed respiratory symptoms like cough or shortness of breath.


Niket Sonpal, MD, Board Certified NYC Internist and Gastroenterologist, who was not involved with the study, explains to Health that this is a “significant” finding, due to the fact that, “in the earlier stages of the outbreaks in China, Iran, and later Italy, we mostly saw the lower respiratory symptoms—dry cough, fatigue, accompanied by fevers.”  Diarrhea was seen in some cases, “but not an overwhelming amount in the reported cases, as we see with the dry cough and the fever,” he explains. The significance here “has more to do with testing and hospital admission, as reports out of China state that many patients who presented, first, with digestive symptoms were made to wait longer until they had the respiratory issues as well before they could get tested or receive medical attention,” says Dr. Sonpal. According to the study, these people too should have been a priority.

At the community level, these findings should be used to promote social distancing and isolation to flatten the curve, says Dr. Sonpal. "There is so much we do not know about this virus, and while we are moving as fast as possible, it is up to the community to stay home to control the spread," he says. He also urges that if you do experience diarrhea during the coronavirus pandemic, you should exert extra caution to protect those around you.

“With many viruses, the fecal matter needs to be taken into consideration,” he explains. “This is part of the reason why, when possible, a sick person should be using a different bathroom from others inside their home. If this is not possible, while it may be tedious, the CDC says it is in everyone’s best interest for the sick person to disinfect the bathroom after using it to avoid other members of the family becoming infected through bodily fluids.” That's, of course, in conjunction with the other preventive tips from the CDC, which include washing your hands frequently, avoiding large crowds or groups of over 10 people, keeping a safe distance from those who are sick, and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces.

The information in this story is accurate as of press time. However, as the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to evolve, it's possible that some data have changed since publication. While Health is trying to keep our stories as up-to-date as possible, we also encourage readers to stay informed on news and recommendations for their own communities by using the CDC, WHO, and their local public health department as resources.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement