Choosing a suitable site is especially important when treating a child with cancer, and all measures to try and reduce the stress and anxiety related to this event for the child are vital. Dr Wainwright, a paediatric oncologist, explains how this is done as well as highlights the importance of looking after the veins and preserving them for future use.
Currently, doctors only use three primary senses to diagnose a patient: hearing, sight, and touch. But, why use three senses when we could be using four? This is where our furry friends come in, adding the fourth sense – olfaction – to help diagnose cancer. In no way is it suggested to replace medical equipment or diagnosis; dogs are simply adding to the equation.
One can only imagine what a child cancer patient goes through when being ‘prodded and pricked’ to find a vein in order to receive repeated infusions. Luckily, the children being treated at The Gold Fields Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Out-Patient Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, in Soweto, don’t have to endure such a traumatic and painful procedure anymore, thanks to Abela Africa Medical and ICU Medical as they recently donated a VeinViewer Flex machine to the unit. What is the VeinViewer Flex? VeinViewer Flex is a highly portable vascular access imaging device that can help find the optimal venipuncture…
With World AIDS Day observed on 1st December, Dr Sarah Rayne talks about the connection between HIV/AIDS and cancers.
Throat cancer, in particular oropharynx cancer, is such a concerning cancer now, because it is one of the few head and neck cancers with a rising incidence, unlike others which are decreasing due to the general decrease in smoking worldwide. Currently more than half of oropharynx cancers are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
What is the oropharynx? It is the middle part of the throat behind the mouth. Most cancers start in the palate tonsils (or where they used to be) and the base of the tongue.
