A weekly round-up of news affecting your health.
VULVAR CANCER
Vulva cancer rates are on the rise in Australia as the population ages, new research shows.
A study by Cancer Council NSW and UNSW Sydney found that rates of vulvar cancer have been increasing significantly from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s.
The researchers looked at vulvar cancer incidence data across 13 high-income countries, and found that the overall increase was driven by a substantial rise of cases in women under 60 years of age.
"In Australia, we saw a 54 per cent increase in women under 60, and a 20 per cent increase in women of all ages," said Professor Karen Canfell, Director of Research at Cancer Council NSW.
About 280 Australian women are newly diagnosed with vulvar cancer each year.
Up to 40 per cent of all vulvar cancer cases are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection.
Professor Canfell says the findings suggest HPV has become more prevalent in women born around or after 1950 - a trend associated with changing sexual behaviours in men and women.
The number of cases of vulvar cancer is expected to further increase because of Australia's ageing and growing population, but HPV vaccination is likely to counteract the increase to some extent, says Prof Canfell.
Women are encouraged to go see a doctor if they experience vulvar cancer symptoms, which can include itching, burning and soreness or pain in the vulva; a lump, sore, swelling or wart-like growth on the vulva; bleeding not related to your period; or hard or swollen lymph nodes in the groin area.
IRRITABLE BOWEL
Giving patients a confirmed diagnosis of irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) is critical to ensuring their wellbeing, say two Australian researchers.
Despite the high prevalence of IBS in Australia, "delayed" diagnosis is far too common, Professor Jane Andrews, Head of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and Dr Ecushla Linedale at the University of Adelaide.
"The condition does not appear to be generally well handled within the health care system, which leads to frustration and dissatisfaction in patients and doctors alike," they wrote in a review for the Medical Journal of Australia.
The experts say early definitive diagnosis of IBS would do much to instil confidence in patients and allow them to move from searching for answers to effectively managing their condition.
"After making a diagnosis and explaining the symptoms, we have readily available access to effective therapies. To achieve these gains, doctors need to be better advocates for these proven therapies; otherwise, they will leave patients at the mercy of people with better marketing skills," they wrote.
EXERCISE
A person's choice of exercise can lead to healthier eating, suggests new research.
Researchers at The University of Western Australia have found that people who have no choice in the exercise they do are more likely to eat unhealthy food afterwards.
A small study, published in the international journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, found those who had the ability to choose what exercise they engaged in enjoyed the session more and made healthier food choices.
Natalya Beer from UWA's School of Human Sciences said taking away choice during exercise seemed to increase the likelihood of people eating unhealthy foods afterwards.
"We saw participants who had their exercise chosen for them consumed almost double the amount of energy from unhealthy foods compared to those who had choice," Ms Beer said.
The study involved 58 men and women with half given free choice about their exercise session. The other half, who were matched on variables such as sex, age, height, weight and fitness were told they had to exercise under conditions chosen by someone else.
The exercise choices given to participants included the mode of exercise (bike or treadmill), intensity and duration (between 30 and 60 minutes), the time of commencement, and the option to listen to music of their choosing.
After the session participants were provided a buffet-style breakfast which included a variety of healthy and unhealthy foods, while unwittingly being monitored by researchers.
Ms Beer says there is strong evidence that the behaviours we are seeing may be a result of conscious processing, such as licensing.
"That is, the justification of rewarding a healthy behaviour with an unhealthy behaviour," Ms Beer said.
"The message is simple - choose exercise you enjoy and you might feel less of an urge to reward yourself with unhealthy food when you finish."
TATTOOS
Australians with tattoos are being warned of potential 'cancer-like' reactions after a 30-year-old woman turned up at a Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with large, dark lumps under her armpits.
Doctors suspected the worst for the woman, but rather than cancer the lumps turned out to be a reaction to a tattoo that was inked on the woman's back 15 years previously.
According to a paper published in journal Annals of Internal Medicine, swollen lymph nodes resulting from a reaction to tattoo pigment may mimic the clinical and radiological features of lymphoma.
Medics say that since 15 per cent of Australians between 16 and 64 have tattoos, people should be careful to check for any reactions and keep a record of their tattoo history.
