Diet contributes to cancer- Dr. Kapuwa
By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Medical Superintendent of the Kenema Government Hospital, Dr. Ibrahim Kapuwa has urged people to monitor and watch their diets, saying that studies have shown that most diets are contributing factors to cancer, especially excessive eating of red meat. “When cancer reaches the worst stage, it can’t be cured at all,’’ he said.
In an interview with Politico on 1st February 2022 at his office, Dr. Kapuwa explained that cancer is the product of cells in the human immune system that grow abnormally.
He said a lot of women have died of cancer because they failed to report earlier when it started while some people attributed it to witchcraft until the condition became worst before going to the medical side.
The medical superintendent said, one of the major causes of cancer is smoking as it’s because of its dangers that health practitioners discourage people from the habit, noting that it has a high potential for one to get cancer. He added that another cause of cancer would be genetic predisposition which can transfer from one generation to the other.
Dr. Kapuwa maintained that there are different types of cancer that exist and one of the most common is breast cancer which is prevalent in women and that prostate cancer is also similar to a greater extent to that of breast cancer.
He reiterated that for prostate cancer, men whose father’s had been affected by it have the potential to be affected through the genetic disposition from the father. He said cancer does not fall under communicable diseases unlike other diseases such as tuberculosis and pointed out that there are many types, signs and symptoms of cancer depending on the type.
He said typically breast cancer symptoms, start with a lump in the breast like a bulb and can develop little by little with no pain which leads to most women not paying attention to it. It will continue to grow in the breast and with time other symptoms such as fever, weakness of individual with other clinical signs detected by the medical practitioners.
The doctor further stated that when cancer reaches the dangerous condition on a woman the breast will resemble an orange cover while a woman will experience nipple discharge with fluid which will be the highly critical moment of that patient which it will lead to bleeding with bad ordure and end to be serious cancer.
He said there is another cancer known as cervical cancer which occurs in the uterus of a woman and which is becoming alarming in the country.” He said cervical cancer is caused by a virus known as human papillomavirus which is transmitted through sexual intercourse.
However, he said there is currently a free screening exercise ongoing at the Cottage Hospital in Freetown for women to know their status and the risks of contracting the virus.
Dr. Kapuwa noted that cancer can be treated when detected earlier and reported to a doctor. He therefore encouraged all to be doing regular checkups and to treat cancer cases with the seriousness they deserve instead of attributing it to other unsubstantiated issues like witchcraft. He called on women to be doing medical check-ups to know their status.
Copyright © 2022 Politico (04/02/22)
