Test identifies HPV-related cancers early — and more health headlines

Medical Watch Digest for Sept 10

Test identifies HPV-related cancers early

A new way to detect cancer years before symptoms arise.

Mass General Brigham scientists developed a blood test to identify HPV-related head and neck cancers up to a decade before anyone would notice the growing cancer.

 Human papilloma virus causes about 70-percent of head and neck cancers. But unlike cervical cancer caused by HPV, there is no screening.

Most patients are diagnosed after the tumor has grown and cancer cells spread to the lymph nodes.

A screening blood test can detect HPV head and neck cancers earlier which translates to earlier and less invasive treatment and greater survival.

Muscle loss during early cancer treatment

When kids are diagnosed with cancer, the disease and the treatment wreak havoc on the muscles.

Young cancer patients lose skeletal muscle at a time when they should be rapidly gaining it.

That can hamper response to therapy, and increase the risk for long term health problems.

Losing muscle which is the body’s metabolic reserve, can lead to chemotherapy toxicity.

 Muscle loss also makes children more vulnerable to heart and metabolic problems including high blood sugar and insulin resistance.

Researchers from the exercise medicine research institute at Edith Cowan University, urge parents to keep their kids moving and preserving muscle even through the difficult time of cancer treatment.

Dogs suffered extra stress during the Pandemic

Dogs suffered in pandemic much like people.

They were inside with their human families experiencing incredible stress. They were largely separated from the socialization of other dogs.
Ultimately, a new study in the Journal PLOS One, revealed pandemic impacted fear, attention, aggression and trainability leading to behavioral changes in animals.

 As many people adopted new dogs into the family in pandemic, they found training challenging.

Doctors say understanding the stress they felt will help people improve their relationships with their pets’ and their pets’ behavior.