HEALTH TRENDS

EU helps endometriosis awareness in Jamaica

Hundreds of Jamaicans walked through the streets of Kingston recently to help increase awareness of endometriosis, a disease that affects roughly 10 per cent of women of childbearing age.

Health officials estimate that some 15 million women in Europe suffer from the condition, and a total of approximately 176 million women in the world. There are more than 100,000 women in Jamaica alone estimated to suffer from the disease. However, lack of information results in no diagnosis or late diagnosis, at the risk of complications. The consequences of the disease on fertility also push some of the women affected to silence, depression and marginalisation.

Hosted by the Better Support and Awareness for Endometriosis (BASE) Foundation, the walk from Devon House to the Emancipation Park in New Kingston, was held under the patronage of Lady Allen. It also had support from staff of the Delegation of the European Union (EU), along with colleagues from other diplomatic missions and staff of the Department of Correctional Services.

EU supported the BASE Foundation with the launch of its inaugural funding of $150,000 from the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).

Cancer breakthrough: Promising treatment uses patient's own immune system to attack diseased cells

Being called a game-changer in the fight against cancer, researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, United States, have successfully used the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells.

A group of 16 people with advanced leukaemia, who ran out of treatment options, went through targeted T-cell therapy. It effectively eliminated the cancer cells in most patients.

Out of the 16 patients, 14 achieved total remission. However, one doctor is warning that this treatment does not cure cancer on its own.

"What we know is this cancer comes back and the only way to cure it is with a bone marrow transplant. You can only go for a bone marrow transplant if you've first eliminated the cancer cells in the blood," said Dr David Agus, who leads the Westside Cancer Center at the University of Southern California.

He said that this therapy was able to effectively remove the cancer cells from the blood and that "most of the patients were able to go on to transplant" and from there, the patients could actually be cured.

Agus said that this breakthrough could not have been made even 10 years ago, because it builds on a decade of work in gene therapy.

Doctor encourages early screening for colon cancer

Consultant gastroenterologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), Dr Mike Mills, is appealing to Jamaicans to get screened for colon cancer as this can save lives.

"Cancer of the colon is a disease that can be prevented by taking steps at the appropriate age. There are risk factors that can be identified. Everyone is at risk for colon cancer. Once you hit age 45 to 50, your risk of colon cancer increases, and this is when we start to institute screening," Mills said.

He explained that through screening, the condition can be identified at an early stage, and interventions made to prevent complications.

He said that colon polyps, which develop along the lining of the colon, usually develop into cancer and if caught early, can be removed by colonoscopy, which is one type of screening.

Mills noted that although age was the number-one risk factor in colon cancer, others also play a role. "Genetics plays a significant role as well. We find that for a quarter of patients, there is a family history of colon cancer ... the more individuals in the family that have colon cancer, the stronger your risk profile for colon cancer," he explained.

He also pointed out that a healthy diet and lifestyle play a big role in lowering the risk of colon cancer, and recommended increased intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, fibre, and water as well as exercise.

He further recommended that persons stay away from high consumption of fat, red meat, and processed meat; limit alcohol intake to one to two glasses of red wine per day; and eliminating smoking as a control factor - not just for colon cancer but for other cancers as well.