ADVICE FROM OUR WOMAN’S WEEKLY DOCTOR
Migraine meds
A massive retrospective analysis of data on more than 10 million migraine attacks collected using a smartphone e-diary app compared the efficacy of 25 acute medications. Triptans, ergots and antiemetic drugs emerged as the top-performing classes of drugs, followed by opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and combination analgesics. The winners among the triptans were eletriptan, zolmitriptan and sumatriptan – which has the advantage of being available from your pharmacy.
BRCA TESTING
People of Jewish descent are six times more likely to have faulty BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which when normal would repair precancerous DNA damage. This leaves them at higher risk of certain cancers, including breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic. Anyone in England, aged over 18, with Jewish ancestry will be invited to take a genetic saliva test looking for faulty BRCA1/BRCA2. If positive, they’ll be referred to local clinical genetics services for further management.
Coping with MELANOMA
This is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body
Melanomas occur any where on the body, commonly sun-exposed areas. Rarer types affect the eyes, soles of the feet, palms or genitals.
Melanoma risk links to having pale, easily burnt skin, red or blonde hair, blue or green eyes, a large number of moles and family history of skin cancer, increasing with age and previous sunburn.
People with black or brown skin most often get melanoma on the soles, palms or under nails. Look out for unevenshaped moles of two or more colours, large moles (over 6mm wide), or any changes, such as bleeding or itching, or becoming swollen, crusty or sore.
See your GP if worried about any skin lesion, even if not pigmented. Treatment depends on its location, spread and general health. Your GP may refer you to a specialist (dermatologist), who will ask about changes and look closely with a magnif ying device. They may do an excision biopsy – cutting it out with surrounding skin (to lower the chances of it coming back), then send it to a lab for diagnosis. If it’s melanoma, you’ll need blood tests and further tests, such as CT or MRI scans, to see if it’s spread to your lymph nodes. The test results show how deep it is and how far it has spread (the stage).
A specialist team looks after you throughout.
Surgery is the main treatment, usually done by a plastic surgeon to get the best result. Swollen lymph glands may need removal if the cancer's spread. If a large area of skin is removed, skin may need to be taken from another area and used as a graft to cover the wound.
Radiotherapy is sometimes used to reduce the size of large melanomas and help relieve symptoms. Targeted medicines and immunotherapy aim to stop the cancer growing, helping your immune system find and kil
