Tongue cancer is today seen an increase in occurrence among people all over the world. This is one of the unique types of oral or mouth cancers. Like any other cancer it is caused due to excessive cell division which is out of control and forming growth or tumour on the tongue.

Type of tongue cancers

There are mainly two types of tongue cancers. One is called the oral tongue cancer since it affects the part of the tongue that you stick out. The other type affects the base of your tongue, where it connects to the throat. This type is often diagnosed only after it spread to the lymph nodes in the neck.

Who is at risk?

In our country the main cause of tongue cancer is tobacco abuse. Tongue cancer can affect any age group.  Rarely tongue cancer affects young children too.

What are the symptoms of tongue cancer?

The first signs of tongue cancer are the appearance of a lump or sore on the side of your tongue that doesn’t cure. The sore may be pinkish-red in colour. The sore can also bleed if pressure is applied on it. There may be pain near the affected tongue area and changes to your voice and trouble swallowing food may be other symptoms.

Whenever you get a sore right on your tongue or inside your mouth and it doesn’t go away in a couple of week’s time then it is advisable to see a doctor immediately. If the problem is at the base of the tongue then the condition may be asymptomatic in the early stages. It is usually detected when you visit your dentist on a regular visit.

What causes tongue cancer?

In our country the main cause of tongue cancer is tobacco usage. It can affect any age group after prolonged tobacco usage. More refined tobacco products can produce cancer tongue even after that period of exposure ( As short as six months). Tongue cancer without exposive  to tobacco can occur in older adults. Rarely tongue cancer can affect young Children .

Tongue caner is also caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The same virus can infect the genital areas and cause cervical cancer, penile cancer and even anal cancer. It is a common sexually transmitted disease.

Other reasons that  causes tongue cancer include alcohol consumption, jagged teeth and not taking proper dental care of gums and teeth.

Instead of the above causes, tongue cancer may also be inherited and the genes play a major role in this.

How is it diagnosed?

Your doctor will do a preliminary physical examination of your mouth and its parts and ask questions to you about any symptoms. It will be advised to take few X-rays or a CT scan. A sample tissue may be extracted from your mouth and sent for biopsy test to find the presence of any cancer cells and their stage.

What is the treatment?

The treatment depends on the location of the tumour and its size or growth. Surgery is the best way to remove the tumour from any part of the tongue. The surgery will involve taking out the tumour along with some healthy cells around it and some lymph nodes, so that the cancer does not come back.

When the cancer is located at the back of the tongue, usually the doctor will suggest a radiation therapy. Sometimes a combination of chemotherapy, cancer fighting drugs and radiation is applied.

Later the patient is given physical therapy to help them get back the ability to chew, move the tongue, swallow and speak better.

How to prevent tongue cancer?

Avoiding any type of tobacco is the best  way to prevent tongue cancer. Many cases of the base of the tongue cancer are caused by HPV. Some precautions that will help you avoid it include getting vaccinated for HPV, using latex during sexual contact.  Avoiding alcohol and taking good care of teeth and gums also prevent tongue cancer.

Have you ever noticed at sometime a soft, rubbery bulge under your skin in any part of your body? This could be lipoma and they happen when a lump of fat starts growing in the soft tissue of the body.

Lipoma though classified as tumours they are benign ones and harmless. Lipomas are the most common tumours under your skin. They are usually found on the upper body, arms and thighs.

What causes lipoma?

Generally it is not very well know about what causes lipoma. It is observed that middle aged men and women tend to get them and it is mostly a hereditary condition.

Lipomas appear after an injury, the can be inherited, a rare disease called Madelung’s disease can cause them. It is seen that lipoma mostly affects alcoholic men.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptom is the appearance of small and soft lumps under the skin. The lumps are usually less than 2 inches wide and sometimes more than one will develop.

When you press on a lump under the skin and it slips easily under skin, it is a lipoma. Normally such lipomas do not cause pain but if they bump against some nerves or have blood vessels running through them.

What are the treatments?

Lipomas are usually harmless and doctors will mostly ask the patient to leave them alone but keep a watch on it between visits. If it hurts or if you don’t like the look of it, you can have it removed.

The doctor will remove it surgically with a small cut. In most cases the person can go back home shortly after the surgery. Other treatments include using steroids to shrink the tumour and liposuction using a needle and syringe to suck out the fatty tissue.

Case of large lipomas

Lipomas if they are larger than 2 inches are called ‘giant lipomas’.  They can cause severe nerve pain or make you self-conscious about your looks. Sometimes lipomas will make it difficult to fit into your favourite dress.

These sort of ‘giant lipomas’ may require surgery under anaesthesia and a little longer stay at the hospital. Lipomas rarely come back and hence they may not cause any other disease in your body. If increase in size, change in colour of skin, painful, have to consult doctor immediately.

Asthma is a chronic problem that occurs in the tubes that carry air into the lungs. Asthma can make it extremely difficult to breathe; the airways get so narrow that air can’t pass freely. The result is a serious wheezing problem and breathlessness which is known as the asthma attack.

Today there is no proper cure for Asthma but most people control the symptoms through medications and lifestyle changes.

What causes asthma?

Some triggers like dust, chemicals and food can make the condition in the airways worse, where the swelling in the airway gets worse and blocks the space inside. This makes the airways smaller. The body also makes lot of mucus that clogs the airways. This is when it becomes hard for air to get in and out of the lungs and you start wheezing.

Symptoms of asthma

One of the main symptoms is wheezing where you get short of breath, start gasping and feel tightness in the throat. You hear a whistling sound in the chest which is called wheezing. Sometimes the condition will be accompanied by severe coughing.

Severe asthma is life threatening and if you don’t use medicines properly then it can be really tough to control an asthma attack.

Who are at risk?

You are more risk of catching asthma if your immune system is underdeveloped those with history of allergy. This is the case in developed countries where too much hygiene and use of more household cleaning sprays. Asthma usually develops during childhood. Few might continue to have in adulthood.  It affects those with parents who have asthma or a close family member with asthma.

More boys have asthma than girls but as they grow up more women get asthma than men.

Work related Asthma

Certain type of job or occupation raises the chance of getting asthma as an adult. This is true of those working in factories and other places where there is a lot of chemicals and dust that is created around them. Prolonged working in these conditions causes asthma.

Smoking

People who smoke whether men or women, teens or adults they are likely to get asthma. Second-hand smoke also can lead to breathing problems and asthma. Especially children who are around people who smoke have more chance of contacting asthma.

Body Weight

Being overweight is another reason for getting asthma. A study found that more adults with overweight bodies were affected with asthma than those who were of normal weight.

Diagnosis

A lung test is called spirometry and it actually measures how much air you breathe in and out. The spirometry results will enable a doctor decide whether you have asthma and how severe it has become. Certain allergy tests are also recommended by the doctor to pinpoint the triggers that cause asthma.

How to avoid asthma?

I Work out an action plan with your doctor

I Find out your asthma trigger and safeguard from it

I Take allergy shots

I Use prescribed rescue inhaler for sudden asthma attacks

| To continue meter dose inhale when symptomatic.

We all are aware of cardiac arrest, which simply means the heart suddenly stops to beat. When this happens it cuts off blood supply to the brain and other vital organs. It is deadly and a serious emergency. You should take medical help immediately to save life.

Symptoms of Cardiac Arrest

Even before a cardiac arrest is due a person will feel very tired, dizzy, weak, short of breath and sick to the stomach. Cardiac arrest can also happen without any warning signs. When it happens the person may suddenly collapse, lose consciousness, have no pulse and stop breathing.

How it happens

The human heart has an electrical system that keeps it beating in rhythm and regularly. When the electrical signals get disturbed it causes irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia and then cardiac arrest. Most arrhythmia are not dangerous but some leads to cardiac arrest. With a cardiac arrest the blood supply to the various parts of the body stops and this causes a life-threatening situation.

What are the causes?

There are various factors that can lead to a heart attack:

A pre-existent coronary artery disease

A sudden loss of blood or sever lack of oxygen

High levels of potassium and magnesium in the blood

An inherited arrhythmia problem

An enlarged heart or change in shape of the heart

Cardiac Arrest & Heart Attack

In a heart attack the heart does not stop, but the blood flow to the heart gets blocked and so there is lack of oxygen to the heart. This can kill the heart muscles. But with cardiac arrest the heart itself stops due to disturbance in the electrical signals. Heart attack can also disturb the electrical signal and lead to a cardiac arrest and they are interlinked.

Is it heart failure?

No, cardiac arrest is not a heart failure. Cardiac arrest happens suddenly whereas a heart failure happens over a longer period of time. It is a condition where the heart gets weaker and can’t send blood or oxgen to the cells in the body. You will find it difficult to catch your breath after a normal activity like carrying groceries or climbing few stairs.

Who are at risk?

Those at risk for cardiac arrest can be:

If you are a male

Have coronary artery disease

Have family history of arrhythmia

Smoke, drink or do drug abuse

Have diabetes, BP or heart failure

Are overweight

Have already had a heart attack

The treatment

Immediatel treatment for emergency cardiac arrest is using a defibrillator that gives a sudden electric shock to the heart muscles. The shock can bring your heart back to action.

Once retrived the doctor may advise angioplasty or heart surgery to removes blocks in your artery. This is followed by medications and lifestyle changes to lower the risk of other heart problems and keep your heart working.

One of the effects of unmanaged diabetes is the damage to peripheral nerves, those  that help you feel pain, heat and cold. This condition mostly affects the feet and legs. In some cases it may affect the hands and arms also. It causes a tickling or odd feeling in the skin and at the same time cause numbness that will lead to injuries that the person may not realize has happened.

 What causes DNP?

 DPN the short form for Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy. A person with diabetes will have high levels of glucose and triglycerides (kind of fat) in their blood. Over time, they damage the nerves that send pain signals to the brain as also the tiny blood vessels that supply the nerves with nutrients. The best way to prevent or delay DPN is to control blood sugar and blood pressure.

 Who are at risk?

 Nearly 50% of diabetic patients have some kind of nerve damage. Two out of ten people have DPN especially those with a long history of diabetes. A person who is obese, has prediabetes or metabolic syndrome with high blood pressure, high sugar and high cholesterol along with belly fat is a sure candidate for DPN.

What are the symptoms?

 The symptoms include a tingling or burning sensation in the feet, toes and fingers. It will feel like ‘pins and needles’. In this condition the slightest touch of something like a bedsheet or a towel can hurt. Later the muscles become weak around the ankles and a person may find it hard to balance or painful to walk. Even though there is nerve damage there may not be very serious symptoms.

How to prevent it?

 The best way to prevent DPN or delay its progress is through regular check-ups. You should check every year if you have type 2 diabetes. For type 1 it is best to check every year after puberty or 5 years if you are diagnosed in childhood.

How is it diagnosed?

 Since DPN often starts in the feet and legs, the doctor will look for cuts, sores or circulation issues. You will be checked for balance and your walk. It will be checked whether you feel the temperature changes and delicate touches like vibrations. A thin piece of string or a tuning fork will be used for this purpose.

Blood and Urine Test

This will help the doctor to determine the exact blood sugar and triglyceride levels. The tests will be useful in ruling out other causes of DPN like kidney disease, thyroid problems, low B12 levels, infections or cancer.

 What is the treatment?

Medicines that is used to control depression and seizures will come in handy to to make the pain from DPN more bearable. Some sprays and ointments used to numb the pain will also help. The nerve damage though cannot be reversed.