If in doubt, get checked out

To mark Mouth Cancer Awareness Week from November 11-17, and also Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Hull in print looks at these fatal but also preventable illnesses.

Don't be fooled by the giant toothbrush and larger-than-life dentures – Emma Raper has a serious health message to tell.
The comedy props come in handy when Emma, a dental health educator with the Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust, visits schools, residential homes and mother and toddler groups across the city to warn of how smoking increases the risk of developing mouth cancer.
Research carried out by the Dental Health Foundation found that one in four people in the UK had never even heard of the illness.
Yet it is on the rise - 4,750 new cases are diagnosed across the country every year causing the deaths of 1,600 people – a 30 per cent increase compared to ten years ago.
And this is why Emma's work, to raise awareness about the disease in Hull, is so important. "People aren't aware of the warning signs," she says.
"If they suffer from mouth ulcers that do not heal after three weeks, or have white or red patches inside the cheeks or on the tongue, gums and lips, it may be they are showing symptoms of the disease.
"It's vital that people take care of their oral hygiene and visit the dentist.
This can be a lifesaver as a dentist will notice anything suspicious and then refer a patient to a hospital for further tests, advice and treatment if required.
"And the earlier the cancer is detected and treated the better a patient's chances of survival."
Smoking is by far the most common cause of mouth cancer, and this is why Emma urges all smokers she meets to quit the habit.
Drinking alcohol to excess is also a cause, but combining the two can make an even more dangerous mixture.
People who smoke and drink heavily are 30 times more likely to develop mouth cancer.
Emma's message is simple – by stopping smoking, drinking moderately, and visiting the dentist on a regular basis your risks of ever developing the illness will be massively reduced.

Free screening

As part of Mouth Cancer Awareness Week, a mobile dental vehicle – complete with its own dental surgery inside - will be driven into and parked in Queen Victoria Square on Wednesday November 14.
A dentist and other health professionals will be on hand to offer free mouth cancer screening and give people advice on stopping smoking.
The screening will be aimed at people aged 40 or more as Hull people in this age are group more prone to the illness.
"If you have white or red patches inside your cheeks or under your tongue or are worried about an ulcer that does not heal then it's well worth coming along to get checked out," adds Emma.
"It just takes a few minutes and could save your life."

Extended risks

Professor Michael Lind lays the foundation stone for the area's new £70m cancer hospital at Castle Hill, Cottingham

Meanwhile, mouth cancer also has another deadly offshoot.
"Patients with mouth cancer often develop lung cancer, the two cancers are linked and regularly occur at the same time," says Prof Michael Lind, a consultant in medicine at the Princess Royal Hospital in east Hull and the foundation professor of oncology at the University of Hull.
"There are 450 new cases of lung cancer in Hull every year - the city has one of the highest incidences of the disease in the country.
"It's all down to smoking. The patients I see have been heavy smokers throughout their lives.
It's not unusual for them to have started at 14 years of age and by the time they reach their mid 40s they are at an extremely high risk of getting lung cancer and other health problems such as chronic bronchitis.
"Lung cancer is a ruthless killer. For most cancers, survival rates are going up because of better screening and treatment. A woman with breast cancer, for example, has up to an 80 per cent chance of survival five years after diagnosis, whereas a man or woman with lung cancer will only have a 20 per cent chance of survival over the same period.
"My advice to Hull people is simple. Stop smoking. There can be no excuses, no putting off the decision, people simply must make use of the help available and quit now.
"Once a patient gets lung cancer it's usually the end. In the vast majority of cases, medical experts and cancer treatment specialists, including myself, are not going to be able to save their lives."

Lung cancer facts

• The number of lung cancer cases in Hull is 70 per cent above the national average.
• Around 40 per cent of adults in Hull smoke. In parts of Bransholme 54 per cent of adults are smokers – that's the highest rate for any area in England.
• Up to 90 per cent of the risk of developing lung cancer is caused by smoking

Working in partnership
Hull Primary Care Trust tel. (01482) 344700