Detecting cancer early significantly increases the likelihood of successful treatment, as it often prevents the disease from spreading to other parts of the body. While screenings, like mammograms and colonoscopies, are essential for detecting many types of cancer, knowing your body and recognizing changes can also be incredibly valuable. Self-exams—simple screenings you can perform at home—allow you to monitor your body for early signs of potential issues.

Although these exams don’t replace medical screenings, they offer an added layer of self-awareness and health monitoring that could potentially help detect certain cancers in their early stages.

Dr Supratim Bhattacharyya, Consultant - Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgeon, Apollo Cancer Centres said, "Early detection of cancer is among the most important factors to achieve a better prognosis and long-term cure. Detecting cancer at home involves being aware of generalized cancer symptoms such as fatigue, unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, or lasting pain. A few more specific symptoms include painless breast lump for breast cancer, bleeding with stool or unexplained Anaemia, altered bowel habits for colorectal cancer, non-healing ulcers of oral cavity cancer, size/ shape/ colour/ border asymmetry of moles, indicating skin cancer, etc. It is imperative to be vigilant and to consult a physician in doubt."

Self-exams can be an empowering way to take charge of your health. They involve straightforward steps that familiarize you with your body, making it easier to notice unusual changes. Here’s a look at self-checks for four types of cancer that you can perform at home.

Getting to Know Your Body: How to Perform a Self-Exam

Regular self-exams can help you detect skin, oral, breast, and testicular cancers early. Learning these step-by-step techniques will guide you through what to watch for and how to inspect each part of your body thoroughly.

Skin Cancer

According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, a spot that looks different, changes, itches, or bleeds can be an early warning sign of skin cancer. If you notice any unusual skin spots, consider consulting a board-certified dermatologist for a professional evaluation. Here’s how to perform a skin self-exam:

1. Examine Your Body in a Full-Length Mirror: Start by examining your front and back in a full-length mirror. Then, check the right and left sides of your body with your arms raised.

2. Inspect Your Underarms, Forearms, and Palms: Bend your elbows to look at your forearms, underarms, fingernails, and palms.

3. Check Legs, Toes, and Feet Soles: Look at the backs of your legs and feet, as well as the spaces between your toes, toenails, and the soles of your feet.

4. Examine Your Neck and Scalp: Use a hand mirror to inspect the back of your neck and scalp. Part your hair to look more closely at your scalp.

5. Review Your Back and Buttocks: With the hand mirror, examine your back and buttocks for any unusual marks or spots.

Oral Cancer

Oral cancer can be harder to detect because there are no widely recommended screening tests for the general public. However, the Mouth Cancer Foundation emphasizes that regular self-exams could save lives by catching warning signs early. It’s advisable to do a monthly check if you’re over 16 years old. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

- Lips: Use your fingers to pull your upper lip up and your bottom lip down, checking inside for sores or color changes. Feel around for any lumps or changes in texture.

- Gums: Gently use your fingers to feel both the inside and outside of your gums.

- Cheeks: Open your mouth and pull each cheek out one at a time, inspecting for red or white patches or any tenderness.

- Tongue: Pull your tongue out gently and check each side for ulcers or swelling. Lift your tongue to examine its underside.

- Mouth Floor: Look under your tongue and press along the floor of your mouth to feel for lumps or swelling. Check the roof of your mouth as well.

Breast Self-Exam

Breast self-exams can help detect changes in breast tissue that may indicate early signs of breast cancer. Here’s how to perform both visual and manual exams:

1. Visual Exam: Stand in front of a mirror with your hands on your hips. Check your breasts for any changes in size, shape, or skin texture. Lift your arms above your head and repeat.

2. Manual Exam while Standing: Use your right hand to examine your left breast, pressing firmly in circular motions across all areas, including the underarm.

3. Manual Exam Lying Down: Lie on your back, place a pillow under your shoulder, and use your opposite hand to feel each breast.

Testicular Self-Exam

Testicular cancer is one of the most common cancers among young men. A quick self-exam, especially during or after a warm shower, can help detect lumps or unusual textures early. Here’s how:

1. Gently roll each testicle between your fingers, feeling for lumps or changes in size.

2. Pay attention to lumps, swelling, or soreness. A painless mass or a feeling of heaviness can be early signs.

If you notice any suspicious changes during a self-exam, consult your doctor. A change doesn’t necessarily mean cancer, but early detection is key to effective treatment, and follow-up tests can provide clarity and peace of mind. These self-checks, alongside routine screenings, can play a vital role in safeguarding your health.

Women’s reproductive health is a sensitive subject. Even though there have been many advancements in women’s healthcare, large gaps in research and medical well-being of women have been observed. The general lack of information regarding women’s healthcare and education have also been highlighted in the recent years.

While you may think it is not a matter of urgency, a new report found a very concerning toxin in tampons, levels of which were higher than what is even allowed in drinking water.

A new report from two groups, the Women's Environmental Network (WEN) and Pesticide Action Network UK, has raised serious concerns. They found harmful chemicals in many of the menstrual products sold in regular stores across Britain. The study was particularly worried about finding pesticides, especially glyphosate, which is the most common weed killer used worldwide, in these products that women use in a very sensitive part of their bodies.

Disturbing Levels of Pesticides Detected

The findings are quite shocking. Tampons are a largely used menstruation product, which soaks the menstrual blood by insertion in the vaginal canal. The World Health Organization, a global health authority, has said that glyphosate probably causes cancer. Even more alarmingly, one box of tampons had levels of glyphosate that were 40 times higher than what's legally allowed in drinking water!

It's thought this happens because the pesticide might be sprayed on the cotton crops that are used to make tampons. The report also found another dangerous chemical called chlorpyrifos in some tampons. This is an insecticide that's actually banned in the UK because it can harm the brain and nervous system.

The report was very clear about how serious this is: they said that for some chemicals, there's no safe amount, so any trace found in period products should be less than what can even be detected.

Direct Threat to Health

There's worry about how these chemicals might affect health. This is because a part of the body that absorbs things very easily, the vagina, lets chemicals skip the body's natural cleaning systems and go straight into the blood. People are saying this isn't just careless, it's actually dangerous. They also feel it's wrong that these kinds of chemicals are still in period products today.

Lack of Regulation and Impact on Farmers

The report pointed out a major problem: there are no specific rules in the UK for these products. Manufacturers don't have to tell you what's in their products, and there are no laws to stop pesticide residue from ending up in the final product you buy.

The issue also affects cotton farmers. The report highlighted that "cotton farmers are being exposed to toxic pesticides at concerning levels." Many of these farmers are women, and they face health risks every day from working with these dangerous pesticides both on their farms and even in their homes.

Demands for Clearer Information and Change

People are strongly demanding that the industry be more open. It's simply not okay that users don't know what's in products they use on such private parts of their bodies. There's an urgent need for companies to be transparent (show all ingredients), take accountability (be responsible for their products), and make real changes in how things are done. This is because everyone who has a period deserves better and safer products.

The report asks the government to act quickly:

• Test period products very strictly.
• Make it a legal rule for companies to list every ingredient and extra chemical.
• Include organic, disposable period products in free school programs.

Concern regarding pollution and how it affects our health is a worry that affects many of us worldwide. As years pass on by, the pollution levels are also increasing, and so is our mortality risk. The World Health Organization (WHO) explains that exposure to air pollution is strongly linked with stroke, ischaemic heart disease, lung diseases etc. However, these are not the only things you must worry about when it comes to air pollution exposure. A new study shows that it could also affect the way our brain functions.

A study from Italy, published in a science journal called iScience, found a really important clue in our genes. It seems that when we breathe in polluted air, it can actually change how our genes work in the brain. Think of it like flipping a switch that creates the perfect conditions for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to start growing.

Early Warning Signs and High-Risk Groups

The researchers saw some worrying changes even in young adults. Their brain tissue showed signs of DNA damage that looked a lot like what you'd see in someone with Alzheimer's – but decades before they would normally be diagnosed. This is a huge red flag.

Certain jobs also put people at a higher risk. If you're a miner, factory worker, or driver, you're exposed to more polluted air. Even people who work with plastics face a hidden danger from tiny particles called nanoparticles that can get into their brains.

But here's some good news: this discovery could mean doctors can check for these changes without needing to do anything invasive, like surgery. They might be able to test for something called extracellular vesicles. These are like tiny packages that carry material from damaged brain cells. So, if we can test for these packages, it could give us an early warning sign from the brain itself.

Understanding the Complexities and Taking Precautions

It's clear that being generally unhealthy and breathing polluted air from a young age can increase your risk of these brain conditions. However, we still need a lot more research to fully understand how everything is connected. Experts from News Medical have pointed out that studying air pollution is tricky because the air we breathe in the real world is a mix of many different pollutants.

To help protect yourself on days when pollution levels are high, organizations like Asthma + Lung UK suggest some simple steps:

• Stay indoors as much as possible.
• Avoid exercising outside, especially vigorous activity.
• If you're walking, try to stay away from busy roads with heavy traffic.
• Keep your car windows closed when driving in traffic.
• If you do want to be active outdoors, try to do it earlier in the day, as the air tends to be cleaner then.

Looking Ahead: Prevention and Policy

There's a big call for more research to understand how air pollution affects younger people and other parts of our brain's thinking abilities. The results of this research could lead to exciting new ways to prevent these diseases. It could also push for better safety rules in workplaces, stricter environmental standards to clean up our air, and even new laws to protect public health from air pollution.

In recent years, weight loss injections such as Mounjaro (tirzepatide) have become extremely popular worldwide, promising quick and dramatic weight loss. Nevertheless, even though these medications bring much-needed hope to many who have issues with obesity and diabetes, the journey is normally not without difficult side effects. A 27-year-old British woman named Bethany Diana has spoken openly about her life-changing though tough journey when she lost 84 pounds in nine months on Mounjaro, highlighting the usually unspoken negative aspects of this weight loss medication.

Bethany's tale is inspiring. She lost six stone (84 pounds) and transformed from a size 18 to an eight, a change of body that has obviously increased her self-esteem and general well-being. On her TikTok handle (@bethanydianax), where she has gained over 75,000 likes, she gives her journey publicly, hoping to motivate people. Bethany says she is "such a better version" of herself after losing six stone (84 pounds).

Mounjaro's weight loss effects are documented. The drug, initially created to control type 2 diabetes, functions by imitating hormones that control hunger and blood sugar. Patients will usually feel fuller for a longer time, which, understandably, results in eating less and, as a consequence, weight loss. The NHS does caution, however, that Mounjaro is only to be prescribed to diabetes and certain specific medical needs patients, and that off-label usage to aid weight loss is cautioned against.

The Unpleasant Side Effects No One Talks About

Even in success, Bethany did not hold back from sharing the less glitzy details of her weight loss process. In a viral TikTok video that received over 100,000 views, she enumerated the side effects she had:

• Diarrhea, a typical gastrointestinal issue.
• Bad breath, one of the lesser-known but unpleasant symptoms.
• Hair loss, which she suffered but did not elaborate on at length.
• "Sulphur burps" – rotten egg-smelling burps caused by hydrogen sulfide gas within the gut.
• Constipation, nausea, heartburn, wind, and acid reflux.

Bethany's honesty provides a vital insight into the drug's effect other than weight loss figures, acknowledging that the journey to change can be painful and even traumatic.

One of the very noticeable grievances Bethany recounted was that "Mounjaro stole my booty." This expression summarizes a grievance often expressed by users of weight reduction pills — sagging or loss of volume in the buttocks and other places caused by rapid fat loss.

Quick weight loss can cause flabby skin and body reshaping that others will not find attractive or easy to accept. Though Bethany recognizes the transformation, she weighs it against her overall experience and confirms that her side effects were "temporary" but the weight loss was "for life."

Bethany's honesty resonated on social media. Several viewers posted their own side effects, corroborating her experience and generating a community conversation about the drug's impact:

One viewer wrote, "It's the sulphur burps and nausea I find hardest, especially when barely eating." Another confessed, "I had bad breath too, didn't know it was due to the injection." Others described milder effects such as constipation.

Though Bethany's tale comes to a positive end despite the side effects, note must be taken of the safety issues that accompany weight loss and diabetes shots such as Mounjaro and Ozempic. The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has noted more than 80 fatalities attributed to these drugs since they began more extensive use, with 22 deaths that directly involve tirzepatide.

A notably sad example is that of Susan McGowan, a 58-year-old Lanarkshire nurse, who passed away from multiple organ failure and pancreatitis after receiving only two low-dose injections of tirzepatide. Her death was the first to be recorded with this drug as a contributory factor on a death certificate, leading to increased vigilance.

The NHS has since released clear messages cautioning patients never to take anti-obesity drugs without a prescription and under medical guidance, highlighting the risks of unmonitored usage.

Bethany's tale summarizes the promise and the dangers of weight loss injections such as Mounjaro. The medication provides a powerful tool for shedding pounds, especially for individuals with type 2 diabetes or obesity-related complications. But it also comes with a range of side effects — from transient gastrointestinal upset to more serious health threats.

Individuals who contemplate such medications should speak to healthcare providers, carefully consider pros and cons, and be on guard for side effects. Weight loss is a personal, multifaceted experience, and an approach that benefits one may not appeal to another.

The rapid rise of Mounjaro and other drugs signals a shift in how obesity and diabetes are managed with pharmacology paired with lifestyle modification. Further studies are required to learn more about long-term consequences, achieve optimal dosing, and create safer protocols.