It is well known that obesity increases one's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer, among other health problems. Now, a new study has concluded that obesity can harm an individual's sexual health too.

During the study, it was found that the rate of unplanned pregnancies is four times higher among single obese women than normal weight women, despite them being less likely to have been sexually active in the past year.

Obese women are less likely to seek contraceptive advice or to use oral contraceptives. Obese men have fewer sexual partners in a 12-month period, but are more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and develop sexually transmitted infections than normal weight men.

The research led by Professor Nathalie Bajos, Research Director at the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale in Paris, is the first major study to investigate the impact of being overweight or obese on sexual activity and sexual health outcomes such as sexual satisfaction, unintended pregnancy and abortion.

The authors undertook a survey of sexual behaviours among 12,364 men and women aged between 18 and 69 years of age living in France in 2006. Of the participants, 3,651 women and 2,725 men were normal weight (BMI between 18.5 and 25), 1,010 women and 1,488 men were overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) and 411 women and 350 men were obese (BMI over 30).

The results showed that obese women were 30 percent less likely to have had a sexual partner in the last 12 months. Obese men were 70 percent less likely to have had more than one sexual partner in the same period and were two and half times more likely to experience erectile dysfunction.

Sexual dysfunction was not associated with BMI among women. However, obese women under 30 were less likely to seek contraceptive advice or use oral contraceptives.

They were also more likely to report an unintended pregnancy. Obese men under 30 were far more likely to have had a sexually transmitted infection.

Obese women were also five times as likely to have met their partner on the internet, more likely to have an obese partner, and less likely to view sex as important for personal life balance.

The authors suggest that social pressure, low self-esteem and concerns about body image may help explain these findings.

The authors conclude that the public health impact of these findings is important.

They said: "The scale of the problem and the magnitude of the effects (particularly the fourfold increase in risk of unintended pregnancy among obese women) warrants focused attention. In terms of targeting advice and care, a considerable proportion of the population is obese, is easily identified as such, as is at increased risk in terms of poorer sexual health status."

Indian-American medical oncologist Sanjay Goel has won a USD 450,000 award for his unique, patient-oriented approach to colorectal cancer research.

Goel is a researcher at Montefiore Medical Centre and Albert Einstein College of Medicine has been presented with The American Society of Clinical Oncology Cancer Foundation's Advanced Clinical Research Award.

The Indian-American received the award at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago recently.

Goel is one of three recipients of the award, which is presented annually to physicians who have 5 to 10 years of experience and are full-time faculty members in a clinical setting at an academic medical centre.

Each winner receives a 3-year award totalling USD 450,000 to support original research that is currently not funded.

In a new study, smoking was found to have a strong association with the presence of flat adenomas (precancerous polyps) in the colon and may explain the earlier onset of colorectal cancer in smokers, as well as the advanced stage with which they present when compared to nonsmokers.

Flat adenomas are more difficult to detect and have more aggressive pathology than the typical raised type of polyp detected during colorectal cancer screening.

Colorectal polyps, which are growths residing in the lining of the colon or rectum, start as a small colorectal polyp known as an adenoma and their removal is the key to prevent colorectal cancer.

"Little is known regarding the risk factors for these flat lesions, which may account for over one-half of all adenomas detected with a high-definition colonoscope. Smoking has been shown to be an important risk factor for colorectal neoplasia in several screening studies," said study lead author Joseph C. Anderson, MD, Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Conn.

The study found that in 600 asymptomatic patients who underwent screening colonoscopy, smoking was associated with the presence of flat adenomas. The patients were examined using colonoscopy and divided into groups of non-smokers, heavy smokers and low-exposure smokers. After a multivariate analysis, heavy smoking was the only variable that was found to be predictive of advanced flat colorectal neoplasia.

Botox - popular for its ability to smooth wrinkles when injected into the face, may have another use that goes beyond the cosmetic, say Johns Hopkins researchers.

Botox is a toxin that works by weakening or paralyzing certain nerves and muscles.

In the new study, the researchers found that patients with a painful and debilitating nerve compression disorder called thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), reported a significant reduction in short-term pain after receiving a single, low-dose injection of Botox in a muscle located in the neck.

Though the study, was small, researchers say it suggests Botox is a safe, noninvasive alternative to the syndrome's treatment of last resort: surgery to remove the first rib and sever one of the muscles in the neck.

"There haven't been many alternatives to the use of surgery to treat this syndrome," says Paul J. Christo, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study's lead author.

"Botox seems to be an effective treatment that avoids surgery's obvious drawbacks, such as its invasive nature and long recovery time," he adds.

The study has been published in the April issue of the journal Pain Medicine.

NEW DELHI: Radiotherapy for breast cancer patients could soon be a single dose 30-minute affair, instead of the tedious present-day regimen lasting over six weeks.

In a major breakthrough, a team of British doctors headed by University College London's Dr Jayant S Vaidya -- an Indian from Goa -- has succesfully created and tested a new technique that will blast the remnants of a tumour inside the breast in just one shot, lasting half an hour. The team used radiation on areas just around the tumour rather than the whole breast, as is done presently.

A 10-year trial of this Targeted Intraoperative Radiotherapy (TIR), conducted in nine countries involving over 2,200 women, confirmed that radiation targeting a specific area of the breast was as effective as whole-breast radiation in reducing breast cancer recurrence in women.

The results of this trial was published in the latest edition of the medical journal 'The Lancet'.

So, while a patient is still under anaesthesia following the removal of the tumour, a series of gentle X-rays are administered to destroy any remaining tumour cells at the cancer site. The technique is highly convenient, requiring just one session of radiation, making it less time consuming and less costly than whole-breast treatment.

"TARGIT trial can change two fundamental principles in the treatment of breast cancer: whole breast radiotherapy can be replaced by a targeted one-time shot and a much smaller dose of radiation may be adequate," Dr Vaidya told TOI from UK. Several hospitals in India, including Breach Candy in Mumbai and AIIMS in Delhi, have expressed interest in his work, he added.

"Breast cancer usually recurs around the area where the tumour was detected the first time. So it's logical to give concentrated dose of radiation to the tissues at highest risk of cancer coming back rather than the whole breast," he added.

Dr Vaidya said that since 2000, the team started delivering TIR to patients. A special machine called Intrabeam administered radiation from inside the breast to the exact site of the cancer, instead of the present-day external beam radiotherapy.

"Our decade-long TARGIT trial has now confirmed that old and new methods are as good as each other," Dr Vaidya said.

The therapy, however, has a few limitations at present. It can be done on patients over the age of 45 and the tumour should not be bigger than 3cm. "Our trials till now tried this technique on women above age of 45. So we don't know how effective it will be in stopping recurrence of cancer on younger women. Trials to find this are going to start soon," he said.

Dr Vaidya launched the TARGIT trial on March 24, 2000. In this randomized trial, women aged 45 years or older with breast cancer undergoing breast-conserving surgery were enrolled from 28 centres in nine countries. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive TIR or whole-breast external beam radiotherapy.

The study said, "At four years, there were six local recurrences in the intraoperative radiotherapy group and five in the external beam radiotherapy group. Recurrence in the conserved breast at four years was 1.2% in the targeted intraoperative radiotherapy and 0.95% in the external beam radiotherapy group. Radiotherapy toxicity was lower in the TIR group."

Prof Michael Baum, professor emeritus of surgery at University College London who carried out the first procedure using intraoperative radiotherapy in 1998 said, "Many women specially in the developing world who live hundreds of miles from a radiotherapy unit will be spared six weeks of treatment going back and forth to the radiotherapy centre."

* Targeted Intraoperative Radiotherapy (TIR) has a comparable recurrence rate of around 1% with presently used external beam radiation
* Radiotherapy toxicity were four times lower, with an incidence rate of 0.5% compared with 2% from EBR
* The new technique involves an intense blast of radiation to the tumour site extending to a radius of 2 cm lasting 30 minutes
* It takes place after the surgeon has taken out the tumour and before the wound is closed
* TIR completely avoided irradiation of the heart, lung and oesophagus causing no damage to these structures
* It is currently only available to women taking part in clinical trials