Dr. Puneet Gupta

Cancer, or the big C, is always in the news. Use any keyword related to cancer, and there is definitely information overload. Also, with more people surviving cancer, there are too many tales to tell. All this leads to misconceptions and myths, leaving people, who are looking for genuine information, completely confused. The following are some common misconceptions.

1. Cancer is a new-age disease: There is reference to cancer in ancient Egyptian and Greek stories, so cancer is definitely not new. However, it is true that the incidence has increased tremendously with the modern lifestyle habits.
2. Food items prevent cancer: There are claims that food items like kale, blueberries, green tea, broccoli, etc., can prevent cancer. It is not true. They do have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, but are not helpful in preventing cancer.
3. Acidic diet causes cancer: The body’s pH is not determined by the food products that we consume. Neither acidic nor alkaline environment is healthy, and further, the body has its own mechanism to regulate pH; so go ahead and eat what you like.
4. Sugars cause cancer: Sugar, believed to be the main energy source, is required for growth. Since cancer is linked to uncontrolled growth, it is believed that more sugar leads to more cancer. This again is a false notion, as there is no connection between the two.
5. Screening is only for breast cancer: Agreed, breast cancer is easy to screen for, but any person with predisposition can go for periodic screening to help in early identification and intervention.
6. Cancer medicines kill more than they cure: Whether it is chemotherapy or radiation, they do not pick only the cancer cells. When directed at a body part, the radiation affects the entire area. Chemotherapy targets and controls growth of a lot of normal processes, thereby affecting normal life.
7. There is no cure for cancer: It is not a simple process. Curing cancer involves multiple facets – some of which may not be known or unearthed. While there are some stories, which talk about how they conquered cancer completely, there are a greater number of failures. Do not conclude on either side. Each person and each type of cancer is treated differently.
8. Tight undergarments are not connected to cancer: As popularly advertised, tight underwear and underwired bras do not cause testicular or breast cancer.
9. Biopsies spread cancer: This is a misconception. Most people are scared to get a biopsy as they perceive that it may spread the cancerous cells to normal areas.

This is just a short list, and there are far too many false notions. Check with your doctor to validate the information before using it to take any decision.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!
 

Lybrate - Dr.Nupur Gupta talks about Cervical Cancer.

Hello I am Dr. Nupur Gupta consultant gynecologist and obstetrician practicing in Gurgaon. Today I am going to talk about cervical cancer and its prevention. We all know it is one of the very common cancers amongst females all over the world especially in developing countries, it is more common in developed countries because of poor maternal health. The patients don’t want to go to the gynecologist. There are no guidelines which they know about and they can go for screening for cancer. There are various symptoms that women should know that how cervical cancer can be diagnosed and when is the right time for them to report to their gynecologist. Especially with women, it can happen at any age and especially women who are sexually active with multiple sexual partners who have been infected with human papillomavirus at some point during their life and who have irregular vaginal bleeding and who have bleeding after intercourse which is called Postcoital bleeding and who have intermenstrual bleeding or sometimes they have foul smelling and vaginal discharge. These are all the symptoms which should prompt any female in reproductive age or during menopause, postmenopause to come to a gynecologist and go for screening.

There are various guidelines which are developed in UK, in US and over world and especially in India for females. When should Pap smear be done in any female, is every three years after three samples are negative in three consecutive years. After the age of 60 to 65 years we do it every five years and so on. So women don’t need to fear about cervical cancer anymore because now-a-days research has led to development of a new vaccine, a new innovation in health care which is vaccine against human papillomavirus which leads to this kind of cancer in females. It can be given to adolescent girls from nine years of age onwards and now-a-days it is also part of Indian Academy of Pediatrics immunization in India.

In some countries even boys are given this vaccine because this virus is known to be transmitted from male to female. Upto 26 years of age, any women is eligible to take the vaccine and also women above 26 but who are not sexually active and never had intercourse till date. But taking the immunization doesn’t mean that Pap smear need not be done, still Pap smear screening is mandatory to detect cervical cancer as far as possible. So now we know that cervical cancer is preventable and there is a vaccine which is available, there is Pap smear that can be done in women who are sexually active.

So if you want to know more about this cancer and prevent yourself being affected by this kind of cancer and go for screening you can consult me on lybrate.com which has all modes of consultation audio, video or a text mode of consultation.