KOTA KINABALU: Cancer in any form is the most dreaded disease, attributed to uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in the body. There are about 100 types of cancer that if left untreated can lead to fatality. It affects many parts of the body including breasts, lungs, colon, kidney and pancreas among others. These cancers tend to metastasis meaning it can spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when cancer cells break away from the original tumor and travel through the bloodstream or lymphatic system to establish new tumors in different organs or tissues. This can impair the treatment and at some stage the survival expectation can plummet drastically.
There are three primary treatment for cancer one being removing the cancerous tumor or affected tissue through an operation, another is the radiation therapy where radiation are used to target and destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy is another way of killing cancer cells or prevent their growth.
Pain is the most uncomfortable and fearsome aspect of cancer especially at an advanced stage. It is safe to say that knowing one has cancer is nerve-wrecking and terrifying as it has been dubbed ‘the silent killer’.
A Medical Clinic called Klinik Famili Dr. Juliana, at Iramanis Kota Kinabalu can alleviate the fears of cancer patients with the Remission 1 Degree Hyperthermia medical device developed by AdipoLABs based in Korea. The Remission 1 Degree detection and treatment device is designed to assist in treatment of pain.
The clinic proprietor Dr Juliana Samuel says patients who wish to seek this treatment many do so by making an appointment with them in their clinic. They are required to bring their medical history file so the doctor to be able to take further actions.
After that the patient will be treated with the machine. It will screen the painful area by visualising and actualising the invisible pain area. Its interesting feature is that it identifies pain by colours on the computer screen. Pain is visualised in red while normal is in blue. It can also measure the pain depth.
Dr Juliana shares that this treatment will lessen pain but it is not absolutely painless. There may be heat in some sensitive areas but there will not be excruciating stabbing pain. This machine can treat six patients a day.
“This machine is quite costly but I believe it will be available in general hospitals in future. This can ensure that most people can afford to get treatment from it. However, at this moment we are the only clinic that has this machine,” she shares.
She says the treatment cost is still challenging for most but with collaborations with insurance companies, Non-governmental Organisations and Government Welfare authorities, the affordability may be realised in future.
Remission 1 Degree Hyperthermia uses a treatment where a certain degree of heat is passed on into the target area. The treatment is called hyperthermia. This is a medical treatment that involves raising the temperature of a specific part of the body or the whole body to target and destroy cancer cells. Elevated temperatures can have several effects on cancer cells. It damages and destroy it as cancer cells are sensitive to heat as compared to normal cells. It can also increase blood flow to the tumour and help deliver oxygen to the area and therefore enhances treatments like radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
With the presence of this Remission 1 Degree Hyperthermia, cancer patients will have pain respite and positive treatment. -BNN
