Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

Within the brain, communities of cells and areas of the brain interact at their own pace—different paces for different regions. These interactions in the brain are assessed by the EEG (electroencephalogram), a record of the minute amounts of electrical activity that brain cells give off as they relate to each other. The normal EEG appears as a series of wiggly lines, with rhythms seeming to move almost at random across the paper. The electrical activity measured varies from one area of the brain to another. But on rare occasions a “blip” appears among these wiggly lines, a small jolt of electricity, a “spike.” This spike is like the minor episode, such as an automobile accident, that disrupts a community briefly. The brain quickly resumes its activity. Such spikes on the EEG are of little consequence. Only when they recur frequently in one area of the brain is it evident that that particular community of cells is prone to disruption.
When an electrical disturbance involves one area of the brain it may be visible in twitches of the hand. It may spread throughout one side of the brain, a unilateral seizure, or it may spread throughout the whole brain, causing a generalized seizure. Each of these disturbances is a single seizure, but a single seizure is not epilepsy. Two or more seizures are called epilepsy.
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Preclinical animal studies have shown that tamoxifen may in fact act as a weak promoter of liver cancer. In rats fed low doses of tamoxifen, liver tumors occurred in approximately 11.5 percent of the animals, and at higher doses as many as 71.2 percent developed liver cancer. To date there have been only anecdotal reports of a possible association between liver cancer and the use of tamoxifen in humans. Remember, however, that we know very little about the long-term side effects of this drug when it is given for more than five years. Furthermore, because breast cancer in its advanced stages frequently metastasizes to the liver, some liver cancers potentially caused by tamoxifen could be incorrectly attributed to the spread of breast cancer. The result would be an underestimation of the actual incidence of liver cancers attributed to tamoxifen. Liver biopsies are potentially useful in determining whether a cancer in the liver is chemically induced by tamoxifen or is a result of breast cancer cells that have metastasized.
Although no direct link to liver cancer has been made, accounts of liver complications from tamoxifen are on the rise. Reports from a Committee on the Safety of Medicines in the United Kingdom suggest that at least four deaths have occurred in five patients who developed liver failure from tamoxifen. At least one other death occurred among five patients with tamoxifen-induced hepatitis.
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Weight management is the key to prevention of obesity-related cancers, but there are also specific recommendations relevant to certain conditions.
Because of the effect of prolonged high levels of oestrogen on the breast and endometrium in obese women it is important to avoid gaining weight during adult life, in particular middle age. This also seems to reduce the possibility of a build-up of carcinogens in fatty tissue, which is part of the pathogenesis of colonic cancer. A diet high in vegetables, fruit whole-grains and beans is probably protective. The American Institute of Cancer Research cites physical exercise as being of particular importance in reducing the risks of obesity-related cancer, although the paucity of research makes it difficult to pin down the exact mechanism. It is suggested that lifelong regular exercise decreases the effect of prolonged insulin exposure.
At a meeting in February 2001, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of the WHO) concluded that overweight and a sedentary lifestyle are associated with raised cancer risk and recommended that, to minimize the risk, overweight and obese people should avoid gaining extra weight and should lose weight through dietary changes and exercise.
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