Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
VERIFIED CONTENTConsultation: dr Tadeusz Oleszczuk, gynecologist-obstetrician
Statistical data show that up to one in four people will develop cancer. Despite the development of medicine, more and more Polish women die of cancer every year. Most women suffer from breast cancer. Why is this situation worsening despite the constant progress of medicine? Is there anything we women can do to prevent cancer and premature deaths? We asked the gynecologist Dr. Tadeusz Oleszczuk about it.
Patrycja Pupiec: The incidence of various cancers is increasing. Why, despite the development of medicine, there is an upward trend?
Tadeusz Oleszczuk:Among women, the most cases of breast cancer, colorectal cancer and lung cancer occur. Men, apart from the last two, most often suffer from prostate cancer. Please note that for both women and men, colorectal cancer is the most common cancer. Why? By contaminated food that reduces the effectiveness of the immune system over the years, and accumulating chemical additives exceed safe limits. Huge amounts of heavy metals, pesticides, preservatives are used, and we eat them and poison ourselves.
Did you know that plastic is even found in the umbilical cord blood of newborns? We are surrounded by various types of chemicals, used to protect crops, in breeding and producing meat. Therefore, it is best to choose vegetables, preferably organically grown. In addition to diet, genes and chronic stress are less frequently responsible for he alth.
So there is a clear relationship between diet and cancer incidence?
We eat products that are of deteriorating quality. Prof. Jan Lubiński from Szczecin analyzed the levels of zinc, selenium, arsenic and cadmium. It turned out that if their values are correct, the risk of cancer is zero. The levels of these elements can be checked by taking blood tests. Unfortunately, few people have it correct. After diagnosing cancer in my patients, I recommend such tests. I observe a drastic exceeding of the norms.
What do the results show?
The analyzes confirm that the norms have been exceeded several dozen times, which proves that the organism is poisoned and incorrecthorizontal elements that determine resistance. Then we look for what products can influence this state of affairs.
And stress?
It takes away our immunity, because at the expense of the immune system we fight stress, not cancer cells. Often, even long-term stress causes cold sores or flu. A well-rested and properly regenerated person gets sick less often.
Breast cancer is the most common in Polish women, right?
Yes, roughly 18,000 women in Poland suffer from breast cancer every year. Now, the pandemic will cause even greater growth.
Why?
First of all, it's about detectability - now women will go to specialists in the advanced stage of the disease. Reporting for prophylactic examinations has decreased following the limitations of the pandemic.
Well, at what point of the disease do patients most often come?
Please remember that cancer does not appear overnight. Cancer takes 8 to 15 years to develop on average. Translating this into, for example, cervical cancer - with HPV you have to live about 3 years for it to develop and cause cancer. Due to the lack of preventive examinations, we take this invaluable time for the early detection of cancer in its pre-invasive phase.
Each cancer has its own biology and specificity. Unfortunately, cervical cancer patients in Poland usually come in advanced conditions, because they have not performed cytology for many years. If we regularly do a Pap smear, we are able to detect cervical cancer early enough and 100%. cure it, but when a woman comes in stage II or III, the effects of treatment are not that optimal.
That is why gynecologists talk so much about this examination - a preventive examination is simple, cheap and, above all, effective in detecting cancer.
Since each neoplasm has different symptoms, are there any points of contact, general symptoms?
In endometrial cancer, women experience heavy bleeding more frequently. Ovarian cancer does not show strictly gynecological symptoms, but rather symptoms from the digestive system. The woman seeks advice from a gastroenterologist and the problem lies elsewhere. Then he has an ultrasound and he has an ovarian tumor the size of a tennis ball. Ovarian cancer is a highly lethal cancer, and unfortunately, if diagnosed late, there may be little you can do. There is still breast cancer.
I often observe young girls in their thirties who do self-examination and there is a tumor in their breasts.A woman delays going to a specialist, sometimes for several months, and these few months are a very long time. Once it comes to the office, it turns out that the cancer has already spread to the lymph nodes. I then ask why did she come only now, and she replies that she thought it would be okay for her.
If anything disturbing appears in the results, consult your doctor. In 80 percent. these will be mild changes, but the 20 percent remains. The sooner cancer is diagnosed, the greater the chance of a cure.
What should worry a woman and suggest visiting a specialist?
She should be worried about poor blood counts, anemia, frequent and recurring infections, family history of untreated thyroid diseases, digestive tract disorders, i.e. frequent bowel movements or constipation. It all speaks of immunity and the immune system.
Doctor, what to eat?
The most important thing is to do no harm, which is the question of what not to eat. It is mistakenly believed that white meat is the he althiest, and the truth is that it currently contains the most harmful substances from feed production and then additives during breeding. Similarly with fruit. Of course, you have to eat them, but seasonally. Apples in August, in September, not all year round all the time ("abundance without borders"). Today the fruit is several times sweeter than it used to be.
The more sugar we supply every day, the better conditions we create for fungi and yeasts in the intestines, which kill the good bacteria. We harm ourselves unknowingly, because we think that one coffee with milk and sugar is nothing. One time, of course, but if we do it every day, we increase the risk of weakening the effectiveness of the immune system, and years later it may increase the risk of cancer.
What examinations should a woman necessarily perform regularly?
Of course, some research results from the sexual cycle of a given patient. If you complain of breast pain or have periods every 40 or more days, I will have to have your hormone levels tested. We are talking about prophylaxis here, so I recommend cytology and ultrasound of the breasts, preferably at the radiologist, once a year. Especially when a girl is on hormone treatment.
Cytology may be an exception, because if everything is fine during the 3 years of annual cytology, another test can be performed every two, up to 3 years. The data show that if you undergo cytology at least once in your life, the risk of cervical cancer drops by 40%.
And additionalresearch?
I try to look at the patient holistically and depending on what I hear during the interview, I order in-depth research. It's worth looking at your family's thyroid gland. If mum, grandmother, sister, aunt were ill, she will probably also have a problem. Then you need to perform an ultrasound of the thyroid gland and assess its volume, because disturbances in this organ may translate into its reproductive capabilities. It is worth checking the level of selenium and zinc in the body.
If there is too much or too little selenium it can increase the risk of cancer by up to 20 times. There are also many symptoms, such as cold hands and feet, which a woman does not associate with symptoms related to hormonal problems. And the thyroid may be responsible for that. The breasts, on the other hand, are specialized nobody's organ.
Sometimes a woman is referred to many specialists. There should be a mammologist who would only deal with conditions that involve the bust. And so, a woman with cysts in her breasts is referred to a family doctor, then to an endocrinologist, gynecologist who sends her to an oncologist, who in turn states that it is not a cancer, so he will not be treated. Cysts can be caused by thyroid disorders or high levels of prolactin. Or breast leakage outside of lactation.
It's not normal for any pleasure to flow out of your breasts. Here you cannot say "this type is like that". It's a disorder that needs to be diagnosed. In fact, the gynecologist is the kind of doctor who should look at the symptoms and adjust them all and find the cause.
There is a lot on these shoulders of the gynecologist …
It's true. Please also note that each doctor has a different experience in treating a specific regimen or professional interests. A specialist working at the hospital, when he sees the fibroids, he will say that they can be operated on. On the other hand, the doctor working at the clinic may suggest that you wait and see how the situation develops. Much depends on the symptoms and complaints and each approach is individualized.
In my practice, I had a lady who lived with fibroids for 15 years, had heavy menstruation, chronic anemia - and even if from a medical point of view nothing serious threatened her, it is also about the comfort of a woman's life.
Many European countries have a differently organized he alth care system and the results of cancer treatment there are much better than in Poland. Is there a chance to improve this state of affairs in the coming years?
I don't count on it even though we have very good doctors. In many countries, insurance systems are well developed. There is greater access to treatmentoncological. Reporting for prophylactic examinations is definitely more effective and it can be seen in the stages of advancement at the time the cancer is detected. It can be compared to owning a car - if you have to have your car inspected every year, check yourself once a year.
What can we women do to have a better chance and not to get sick?
Educate yourself. So that every woman knows what is happening in her body. That the school would teach how a person is built, how individual organs work. This is science-based knowledge, do not look for information somewhere on internet forums, just ask experts and learn from their knowledge and experience.
For example at school?
This is the right place to shape he alth awareness. Maybe if the girls had such prophylaxis classes, they would go to the doctors more often, because they would know that it is nothing wrong and it is normal, that this is not a reason to be ashamed, and my friends also have regular examinations and then those 4,000 women who suffer from cancer cervix every year in Poland, it could be diagnosed and treated.
What worries me is that poor sex education does not talk about the existence of a cervical cancer virus that can be transmitted through intercourse. Little does he know about it, and then he thinks that it does not concern him. The lack of education means that women do not know about it, that there is a vaccine that protects against disease.
In Europe, cervical cancer practically does not appear in the incidence statistics anymore. It was eliminated by vaccination and prophylaxis, and in Poland it ranks 6th on the list of morbidity. And this cancer can be detected and the 2,500 women who die of cervical cancer in Poland each year could live on. We do what we can, but it is extremely difficult to break into the awareness of women in terms of education.
With each preventive action that is organized, neoplasms are detected. You need to be checked prophylactically when there are no complaints.
Especially recently, in many organized prophylactic campaigns aimed at women, men are seen. Can a partner play a role in preventing a woman's he alth?
Of course. Sometimes it happens that the partner brings the woman to the examination or I hear from my patient - my husband told me to come and have an ultrasound or a gynecological examination. This visit is only a few minutes. Just as there is an annual car check-up, so should a he alth check-up. In over 90 percent. these preventive examinations are fine.
Thanks to this, we are sure that there is a risk that something will appear for usit will surprise you, it is minimal and he alth awareness increases because you start paying attention to the things indicated by the doctor. Unfortunately, men do not have a specialist assigned to look at their entire he alth, just as a gynecologist should look at a woman's he alth. The gentlemen are a bit left to themselves, but that is another matter.
gynecologist-obstetrician Tadeusz OleszczukGynecologist-obstetrician with over 30 years of experience. Author of the books "What the gynecologist will not tell you" and "Calm your hormones".
www.tadeuszoleszczuk.pl
fb.com / drtadeusz
Read other articles from the StrefaKobiety series:
- First visit to the gynecologist: what can you expect?
- 20 percent couples deal with infertility. Mostly not the fault of the woman
- Last menstruation and menopause. How to prepare for it?
- A woman must be he althy before starting contraception
- How to take care of intimate hygiene to avoid infections?
- Allergies - where do they come from? Allergy to semen and condoms
- A couple in the gynecologist's office? Situations in which it is worth coming with a partner
- Dr. Oleszczuk on the prohibition of abortion: I am always on the side of women and this is the case in this case
- Pain in the intimate areas. Is it normal to feel pain?
- Sexually transmitted diseases. How to take care of your safety?
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), or when the body and mind suffer
- Gynecological visit during a pandemic. What has changed?
- Breasts. What about their appearance should worry us?
- Are you pregnant and afraid to vaccinate against COVID-19? Expert explains why it is worth doing this
- Why is it so long to be diagnosed with endometriosis?
- Endometrial cancer, i.e. a cancer in which lifestyle is important
- Why are uterine fibroids mostly only monitored?
- Gynecologist: People are afraid to name the basic elements of the reproductive system, let alone know what the physiology of the cycle looks like
Patrycja Pupiec Editor specializing in he alth promotion and psychology. Curiosity about people and their stories drives her to take up socially difficult topics. Author of the StrefaKobiety series devoted to women's he alth, in which she talks to a doctor about prevention and the problems they face. He likes to be up to date, which is why he follows scientific discoveries, especially those related to medicine. Privately, a lover of animals, hiking and the work of Edward Stachura.