NEW HEMOFARM PREPARATIONS TO APPEAR SOON

A LOW COST METHOD OF DETECTION OF UTERINE CERVIX CANCER
Scientists have found in London that there are much cheaper ways than the pap smear test and colposcopy for the
detection of uterine cervix cancer.
Namely, the uterine cervix cancer, as is asserted in these studies, can also be detected with the aid of acetic acid, cotton
gauze and a strong light. This method, as they claim, can save millions of women who can afford modern examinations.
This study, which was published in The Lancet Medical Journal, shows a simple visual screening test, with the aid of which it
is possible to determine the early signs of uterine cervix cancer, which can help reduce the total number of cases of this
disease by a quarter.
This study is a turning point in the prevention of uterine cervix cancer – said Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, the medical director of
JHPIEGO, an international health organization which deals with the prevention of the uterine cervix cancer in the poorer
countries, following the publishing of the study.
Anyway uterine cervix cancer can really be prevented if the first signs are detected early. At least 250,000 women die of
this disease per year and more than 80% of the diseased come from the developing countries.
This visual screeing test can be done by nurse or a person trained to give healthcare assistance and this is done by firstly
washing the cervix with the aid of gauze and acetic acid, using a speculom to keep the cervix open. Following one minute
in case of precancerous lesions they become very white and can be seen by naked eyes with the help of a halogene
lamp. Researchers from France have used this method with the assistance of their colleagues from India as a screening test
in the case of 49,311 women in the period from 2000 to 2003. When they saw lesions, they eliminated them straight
away. Other 30,958 women were sent for detection of the first signs and symptoms of uterine cervix cancer as well as for
regular visits to institutions where screening was made possible for them. These women were followed in the period from
2000 to 2006.
167 cases of uterine cervix cancer were noted among them, as well as 83 deaths from this disease. There were 92 death
cases among those who did not follow-up their condition and have the screening. This shows that there were 35 percent
fewer deaths among women who had screening as compared to those who did not. Also, there were 25 percent fewer
cases of cancer among them.
All the women in the study were healthy and were aged between 30 and 59, when the study began.
This screening, as the scientists say, proved to be as efficient as the pap smear test, which is a much more expensive
technique which is applied in the West and entails taking cells from the cervix so as to be studied under a microscope in a
laboratory.
It is possible to drastically reduce the rate of diseased from uterine cervix cancer by this ‘’new’’ test – pointed out Sanghvi.
Experts believe that this low cost method can also be applied in modern countries, just as it is applied in the developing
ones.
This study has given us guidelines as to how we can detect at low cost the first changes on the cervix, yet this method is not
perfect. There are many mistakes and possibilities for changes not to be cancerous and therefore the medical workers
would have to be well trained in this field. Also, this test could not be applied in the case of menopause women, nor in the
case of those who have had more than two, three children, because in their cases the changes on the cervix occur in those
zones which are not visible to the naked eye – said Dr. David Kerr, professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Oxford.
Still, he admitted, the pap smear test is really expensive for women from poorer countries.
DARK CHOCOLATE REDUCES BLOOD PRESSURE
Following serious studies, scientists have determined in Germany that cooking chocolate reduces blood pressure, but the
quantity required for this effect to be achieved is less than one chocolate cube. The health benefit of dark chocolate has