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There is a difference between a tumour and cancer . We can say that every cancer is a tumour but not all tumours are cancer. Tumour is a Latin word that means swelling. Not every swelling is cancer, but we may call a swelling as a tumour. Some also say that human fetus is the fastest growing physiological tumour of human body and fetus is neither cancer nor it is harmful. Burkitt lymphoma is found to be the fastest growing cancer in the human body. This tumour is capable of doubling its size within 14 hours. It is very aggressive. It is the most common childhood tumour of African children. It commonly affects children between 4-20 years of age. It is more common in male children and rarely affect the female child. Lymphoma has two types; Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin. Burkitt lymphoma is of Non-Hodgkin type. It has further two types, endemic and sporadic form. Endemic form is that form which is prevalent in Africa and sporadic form occurs in America and other countries. Most of the cases o...

Trichomoniasis is a very common sexually transmitted disease and is easily curable. It is estimated that each year nearly 74,00,000 new cases of trichomoniasis occur in both men and women worldwide (2014). Trichomonas vaginalis is the parasite that causes this infection. Both men and women can harbour this parasite but it the woman who faces the symptoms and trouble. Men may have this parasite inside their urogenital tract but usually, it doesn’t produce any symptom in them. Sometime a man may feel some discomfort after ejaculation or urination but this is not common. So men mostly behave as a carrier. Signs and symptoms of trichomoniasis Trichomoniasis is asymptomatic in males but females may show the following signs and symptoms; Copious, frothy, greenish yellow or cream-coloured vaginal discharge. Valvar itching and burning Painful urination Reddish vaginal and cervical mucosa, tender and eroded. Painful sexual intercourse View of Cervix in Tr...

Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of nail of fingers or toes. I have seen more cases of involvement of toe nails than those of fingers. Fungus loves moisture, and that is why fungal infections are more common in the summer se ason. Because in summer, sweating of feet inside the shoes, make a very favourable growth media for fungus. Moreover, those people who regularly use antibacterial soaps, are also more prone to get fungus infection as compared to others. Although anti-bacterial soaps have their benefits. In more than 90 % of cases, the causative agents of onychomycosis are “Trichophyton rubrum (70%)” and “Trichophyton mentagrophytes” (20%)” (Reference Medscape) Onychomycosis is a common infection of the nail and is somewhat difficult to treat as compared to other fungal infections. I used the words “difficult to treat” because it needs long term treatment and patient compliance. It may require 3 months to 1 year of treatment for complete eradication. But it is completely treata...

People buy sunscreens or sunblock cream and apply these, but many of them complain of unresolved sunburn. They say that sunblock doesn’t work on them. There could be three possibilities; They are using a low-quality sunblock They are not using the proper amount of sunblock They don’t apply sunblock 15 to 30 minutes before going into the sun Sunblock protects against skin cancer . Use a sunblock daily, whenever you go out into the sun. Even use it on cloudy days, because the ultraviolet rays of the sun can cross the clouds. 1. How to choose a sunblock? Check the brand of the sunblock, it should be well known and reviewed. Then, select broad spectrum sunblock. A broad spectrum sunblock is that sunblock which blocks both ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays. After confirming its spectrum, check the SPF value ( What does SPF mean in Sunblock ). American Association of Dermatology recommends SPF 30 sunblocks. It is better to buy a water-resistant sunblock. So when you buy a sunblock, m...

Everything in this world comes with its advantages and disadvantages so does the the skin color. White skin is more prone to have sun burn and skin disease as compared to dark colored individuals. This is a good news for dark colored individuals that they are less likely to have acnes, sun burn, cracked skin and also skin cancer (to some extent). Dark color provides natural protection against sun light radiations. Dark colored skin has more concentration of melanin, a brownish pigment, that is released under the influence of sunlight by the special cells called melanocytes that are present in the skin. Those individuals whose one or both parents have dark complexion then they also have a tendency to get a dark complexion. Because the genes that they get from their parents increase the concentration of melanocytes in the skin which produce more melanin and increased concentration of melanin in skin means they will have a darker complexion.   This melanin absorb the sun radiatio...

“ Cosmetology is a business, I don’t practice cosmetology, I only deal with the dermatological diseases ”, Said Dr Uzma Ali, Associate Dermatologist, Capital Hospital Islamabad. Cosmetics are the medicinal preparations that are designed to enhance the normal skin. Nowadays the market is full of creams and lotions that claim to whiten and clear the skin of acne in no time. People start buying them without knowing what they can cost to them in the long run. Of course, you would like to have a clear and glowing skin, but you should know what product is effective, safe and without side effects. But when you search on the internet yourself and start using a product just after reading a few positive reviews may cost you some weird side effects. For example, I heard about golden pearl whitening cream, it is highly advertised and used by the young girls to make their skin fair. It does work, I have myself witnessed few girls whose faces were dull and pimpled, but gold pearl made them white a...

Use of Sunblock creams or sunscreens is now popular amongst both male and female sexes. When you go to a dermatologist or cosmetician to have an opinion about better skin care management, they will tell you to use a sunblock whenever you go out in the sun. When you go to a shop to buy a sunscreen, you don’t know what SPF sunblock should you buy?. You fear that an SPF 15 sunblock is nothing in front of SPF 50 or 90 sunblock, then you also worry about the cost of a high SPF sunblock. Sun rays contain ultraviolet radiations that have the tendency to damage your skin. Our skin has the ability to resist this damage for a few minutes to an hour depending upon the colour of the skin. Dark coloured individuals tend to withstand the sunlight for a longer period of time as compared to a fair coloured individual. White skinned individuals more commonly complain of sun damage, rash, pimples and acne as compared to dark skinned individuals. Why do the dark colored individuals withstand sunlight b...

Breast cancer is the world’s number one cancer that affects women. The two major risk factors for breast cancer are female sex and older age. Those women who are genetically predisposed may get breast cancer in earlier ages, that is 30-40 years. But breast cancer after menopause can merely be a disease of ageing only. So every woman has a great threat of breast cancer and is present all the time. Breast cancer, if diagnosed earlier is completely curable. Surgery, chemo, and radiotherapy have proven 100% results. But all this only work if you caught your cancer early. Do You Know? Pink ribbon is used to represent breast cancer. It is a symbol of breast of cancer and pink is the color that represents breast cancer. Which country has highest risk of breast cancer in Asia? Click here Today the purpose of writing this article is to educate all the women, especially those who belong to developing countries, about the prevention and protection of themselves against breast cancer. I high...

Breast cancer is the commonest cancer of women all over the world. But in Asia, Pakistan is the country that has the highest incident of breast cancer according to 2014 statistics. According to a study that is done by the doctors of Agha Khan Hospital Karachi, every one out of 9 women has breast cancer in Pakistan. This is the highest in Asia. In Capital Hospital Islamabad, during a weekly academic conference, Dr Naeem Taj, the head of the surgical department, told the audience that breast cancer has high mortality and morbidity in Pakistan because in here, it is diagnosed in late stages. Most of the patients we receive in our general OPD usually have Grade III or Grade IV disease. The main reason for the late presentation is poverty, lack of facilities, illiteracy, lack of information, lack of interest of the government in the health sector and women’s shyness. For example, if a woman has a lump and present to a secondary level hospital that doesn’t have the facility of breast c...