Cancer Research UK recently revealed that cases of oral cancer are on the rise in the United Kingdom, an increase attributed to increasing rates of infection by human papillomavirus (HPV).

For the first time, cases of oral cancer have increased above 6,000 a year. Two-thirds of the 6,200 cases that were diagnosed in the United Kingdom last year involved men.

As many as 8 in 10 Britons may become infected with HPV at a certain point in their lives. The virus is essentially harmless, except for a few strains that cause problems. one particular strain, identified as HPV-16, may lead to changes in the cell that may develop into cancer.

“We have seen a rapid increase in the number of HPV16-positive cases of oral cancer,” Richard Shaw, a Cancer Research UK expert in head and neck cancers based at the Liverpool Cancer Research UK Center, shared. “We have also noticed that patients with HPV-related oral cancers tend to be younger, are less likely to be smokers and have better outcomes from treatment than those whose tumours show no evidence of HPV. This raises questions as to exactly how these cancers develop and why they only affect a small proportion of people who are exposed.”

Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, said that it was important for people to become aware of the symptoms of oral cancer, as early detection of the disease increases one’s chances of survival. these symptoms include mouth ulcers that do not heal; lumps or thickening in the mouth, lips, or throat; or persistent red and white patches in the mouth.

Tags: human papillomavirus, oral cancer in UK, oral cancer virus

Aside loss to life and property, flooding also spawns an increased risk of infection due to exposure to contaminated and polluted waters. the prolonged flooding, now in its third month, has sparked an outbreak of infectious diseases in various parts of Thailand both from direct and indirect transmission. These diseases can be broadly divided into two major categories: viz, water-borne such as typhoid fever, cholera, leptospirosis and hepatitis a, and vector-borne such as malaria, dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever.

VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES

Floods may indirectly lead to an increase in vector-borne diseases through the rapid increase in vector numbers due to expansion of their breeding sites. Stagnant water collecting in pools after heavy rainfall or overflow of rivers are breeding sites for mosquitoes, and therefore can put people and emergency workers in flood areas at higher risk of contacting dengue and malarial infection.

MALARIA

The number of mosquitoes may decrease at the beginning of flooding as the water flushes out mosquito larvae, but their population quickly expands after a lag time which is usually around 6-8 weeks, before the onset of a malaria epidemic.

Risk factors for an epidemic include:

- Changes in human behaviour such as avoiding using mosquito nets or insect repellent, lack of information about infectious diseases associated with flooding and high population densities in emergency centres are all examples of risk factors with potential to cause an epidemic.

- a change in environment resulting from, say, construction of roads and buildings, water reservoirs or as a result of deforestation have corresponding effect on the breeding sites and habits of these vector-borne insects.

DENGUE HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER

Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with dengue viruses. Patients infected with the virus will show symptoms approximately one week after the infective bite. Symptoms can range from a mild fever (dengue), to a severe incapacitating high fever with blood vessels becoming temporarily “leaky” (dengue hemorrhagic fever: DHF) or a deadly form of the disease that causes the patient to go into shock and die (dengue shock syndrome: DSS), seen in 80%, 15%, and 5% of the cases.

Major symptoms range from high fever that can last 2-7 days, skin bleeding, enlarged liver, abdominal pain, and failure of blood circulation leading to a state of shock. the most dangerous stage is the failure of hemodynamic which occurs simultaneously with rapid decline of fever. If the patient does not receive proper medical attention in a timely manner, the conditions will continue to deteriorate, and death is possible within 12-24 hours after entering the state of shock.

While there are no specific antiviral medicines for dengue, early diagnosis and proper clinical management by experienced physicians can significantly lower the mortality rate.

1. Physician may prescribe antipyretic agents to lower high fever to prevent seizure in some patients. Use of acetylsalicylic acid (eg aspirin) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (eg Ibuprofen) are not recommended as they cause stomach bleeding.

2. Maintain adequate hydration in patients with high fever.

3. Monitor patients closely to detect and prevent shock.

4. Periodically check the change in platelet count and hematocrit.

For patients who experience shock or bleeding, doctor will need to provide specialised treatments using plasma fluid or colloid substance to save the patient’s life and prevent other complications that may occur.

“Lowering mosquito numbers and minimising exposure to bites are important. Mosquito breeding sites must be removed, destroyed, frequently emptied and cleaned or treated with insecticides. during epidemics spray insecticide regularly to kill adult mosquitoes.

- Early diagnosis and treatment: Monitoring laboratory confirmed cases every week allows us to detect malaria outbreak at the early stage.

- Monitoring the population of patients with fever and providing them with proper medical care in a timely manner can significantly reduce the rate of death from dengue hemorrhagic fever and malaria.

- Providing health education, promoting good hygiene and eating habits, and offering critical advice about dengue hemorrhagic fever and its symptoms can pave the way for early detection and treatment.

LEPTOSPIROSIS

It is caused by the bacteria Leptospires that affects both humans and animals. Humans become infected through direct contact with the urine of infected animals especially rodents or with a urine-contaminated environment.

Distribution

Leptospirosis is an occupational hazard for people who work outdoors or with animals and must stay in water for prolonged periods, such as farmers and sewer workers. it is also a recreational hazard to those who swim or wade through waters contaminated with the bacteria, which can gain entry through cuts and abrasions on the skin and through the mucous membrane in the eyes, nose and mouth.

Symptoms

Three to 10 days after infection patients experience acute fever, severe headache, muscle pain, chills, redness of the eyes, abdominal pain, jaundice, haemorrhages in the skin and mucous membranes, vomiting, diarrhoea, and rash.

These symptoms normally occur after wading through muddy water for prolonged periods (average 10 days). Patients need to seek medical care immediately. Do not try to treat yourself with any medicine.

Prevention

Avoid walking through dirty or muddy water especially when having sustained cuts or wounds in hands, arms, legs and feet without wearing protective gear, such as gloves and boots. Bathe immediately after wading through floods. Keep your accommodation and surrounding areas clean to control the spread of infection source (eg rodent and garbage control); eat properly and only cooked food; and store food in clean containers with protective covers.

Bangkok Health Research Center, Bangkok Hospital Group, call 1719.

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The symptoms of asthma in children is demonstrably reduced if you follow the Mediterranean diet, rich in vegetables, fruits, cereals and olive oil, providing high doses of beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, selenium, flavonoids and polyphenols antioxidant activity.

This follows a study by a group of researchers from the University of Athens (Greece), who examined 700 children aged 10 to 12 years. the paper argues that those who did not follow this diet and also consuming salty snacks and sweets more than three times per week had a 4.8 times greater risk of developing asthma symptoms.

This association also occurs with children who watch TV or play your game for more than two hours a day, says the work, collected in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

“taking into account that the presence of asthma is very high and has increased greatly in recent years, health professionals should inform parents, guardians and teachers of the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle from an early stages of life, “explains one of the authors of the study, Demosthenes Panagiotakos.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide, affecting 300 million people. It is estimated that by 2025 about 100 million more could develop the disease. It is believed that this rapid increase is due to changing environmental factors and changes in lifestyle of people, where diet plays a role of “vital importance”, according to researchers.

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ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2011) — Asthma is one of the world’s most common chronic diseases, affecting as many as 300 million people. it is estimated that by 2025 there could be an additional 100 million people with the disease. This rapid increase in asthma is most likely due to changing environmental or lifestyle factors, and over the last 15 years, changing diet has emerged as a promising contributor.

Two studies published in the in the February 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association explore the possible relationship between nutrition and asthma. Researchers review the rationale for investigating associations between diet and asthma, discuss the potential for dietary intervention to complement conventional asthma treatment, and summarize the recent data suggesting that diet may influence the development of asthma.

Investigators from the University of Aberdeen, UK, review three dietary factors that have been hypothesized to explain the increase in asthma — a changing antioxidant intake, an increasing ratio of n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) consumption and changing vitamin D status. although there is insufficient clinical evidence for the use of nutritional supplements to complement conventional asthma treatments, the authors note that ongoing studies may change this picture. They also review a small number of studies of maternal diet during pregnancy that suggest that dietary modification during pregnancy might reduce the incidence of childhood asthma.

According to Graham Devereux, MD, PhD, "The generally weak observational and very limited intervention data suggest that whilst there are associations between diet and asthma, the nature of the associations (with PUFA, antioxidants, nutrients, food), the timing (antenatal, infancy, childhood, adulthood), and the therapeutic potential of the associations are far from clear." He continues, "Future studies should consider the use of dietary intervention to increase the intake of nutrients highlighted by birth cohorts (vitamin E, PUFA, vitamin D, zinc) in order to capture the complexity of dietary nutrient intake. if shown to be efficacious, such a dietary intervention could be the basis for a low cost, safe public health intervention to rapidly reduce the prevalence of asthma in children and ultimately adults, with obvious beneficial consequences for the wellbeing of individuals and society as a whole. until the results of ongoing and planned trials are available, the practical consequences of research linking diet with asthma are minimal, and based on the available evidence, people with asthma, pregnant women, parents, and children should not be advised to change or supplement their diet in order to treat or reduce the risk of developing asthma."

In a study published in the same issue a multi-institutional team of researchers in Greece examined associations between salty snack consumption and TV or video game viewing and asthma symptoms in young adolescents. while noting that although both factors have been implicated in asthma development, results have been conflicting. In their cross-sectional study of 700 children 10-12 years old, living in and around Athens, Greece, they found that there was a 4.8 times higher risk of having asthma symptoms when salty snacks were consumed more than 3 times per week. This association was even more prominent in children who watch TV or play video games more than 2 hours per day.

The authors also found that children who consumed a "Mediterranean diet" were less likely to have asthma symptoms, consistent with previous studies evaluating the association between the Mediterranean diet and asthma in children. The Mediterranean diet has a high content of vegetables, fresh fruits, cereals and olive oil, with a high intake of beta-carotene, vitamins C and E and various important protective substances like selenium, flavonoids and polyphenols with marked antioxidant activity.

Lead investigators Demosthenes Panagiotakos, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition — Dietetics, Harokopio University, and Kostas Priftis, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece, conclude, "since the prevalence of asthma is quite high in industrialized populations, and has continued to increase during the past years, future interventions and public health messages should be focused on changing these behaviors from the early stages of life, by informing parents, guardians, teachers and any other person that could teach children a healthier lifestyle."

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Elsevier Health Sciences, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal References:

1. Keith Allan, Graham Devereux. Diet and asthma: Nutritional implications from prevention to treatment. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2011; 111 (2)
2. Fotini Arvaniti, Kostas N. Priftis, Anastasios Papadimitriou, Panagiotis Yiallouros, Maria Kapsokefalou, Michael B. Anthracopoulos, Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos. Salty-snack eating, television or video-game viewing, and asthma symptoms among 10- to 12-year- old children: The PANACEA study. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2011; 111 (2)

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