An American trained Neurotoxicologist and Integrative Medicine, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of In-Country Medicare in Abuja, Dr John Tor-Agbidye, speaks on an emerging field of Integrative medicine otherwise known as “Soft medicine”, a specialty of medicine that combines the physical aspects of healing using both orthodox and alternative medicine, in this interview with Dennis Mernyi

What is the meaning of Integrative or soft medicine as you call it?
Man is born to live and die. How well we live and how soon we die depends on our lifestyle. The biological age of a man is 130 years. Going by this, life even starts at age 70. No one ever dies of old age. We die from the disease that comes from our wrong lifestyle. It is our bad lifestyle that makes the body succumb to diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

With advances in orthomolecular and functional medicine, the medical world has come to know the mechanisms of disease and how the disease evolves at the cellular level (pathophysiology of disease). We all agree that the unit of life is the cell. Cells come together to form tissues and tissues form organs that make up the various systems of the body. Integrative medicine takes a holistic approach to our Well-being/prevention and disease management. The various organs of the body do not function independently.

Thus, a malfunctioning heart could eventually fail kidneys function or the liver for example. Functional medicine focuses on identifying the root causes of the disease at the cellular cell. At In- Medicare Limited (IML) we use these key concepts or approaches to render our services in the following categories. These include boosting the immune system. This enhances the immune system, our natural defence against diseases including Covid-19. Well-being and disease prevention.

How did you come about In-Country Medicare?
A long-standing family relationship and mutual friendship that lasted for over 25 years led to us physically meeting for the first time and the formation of In-Country Medicare in Abuja. The co-Founders had two things in common; both received their education in the USA, with a strong desire, passion, and love for their native countries. Both co-Founders concluded that given their excellent education in the USA, they would give up their comfort of working and living in the US and move back to Africa where their expertise and services are most needed and better appreciated.

Why inspired you the establishment of In-Country Medicare in Nigeria?
A dream does not become a reality through magic. It takes determination, sweat, and hard work. Thus, in September 2017, John Tor-Agbidye, and Dr Marjorie Lantum met in Abuja and formed In-Country Medicare to provided services in well-being and personalised and precision medicine, the first of its kind in Abuja and Nigeria at large. The goal is to reduce the propensity to travel abroad for medical care, hence the name “In-Country”.

What is the breakthrough so far by In-Country Medicare in Nigeria?
We have made a great impact on testicular cancer in men which can be deadly. Luckily, the disease is also easily curable if a man finds it in time. Testicular cancer usually begins as a painless lump, which can be found without a doctor’s help. For his good health, every man not just older men should know how to do a self-check of the testicles. Testicular cancer most often appears in men from ages 15 to 35. Start in your teen years. Checking testicles for lumps is quick, painless, and can save a life.

The best time to perform a self-exam is after a hot shower or bath because the warm water allows the scrotum to relax and the testicles to a dropdown. You can do the check while you’re sitting, standing, or lying down. You have to gently take each testicle and roll it between your thumb and forefinger to see if you detect anything different about how it feels compared with last time.

Your testicle should feel smooth and firm with a slight softness, a lot like a hard-boiled egg without the shell. As a guide, compare your two testicles to each other. It’s normal for one testicle to be slightly larger than the other and/or one to hang lower than the other. The epididymis sits on top of the testicle. Some men examining themselves for testicular cancer mistake it for a strange lump. They get a real fright before a doctor explains to them what it is.

A coiled tube through which sperm swim and mature. So what you need to have clear in your mind is that you are checking your testicle the hard-boiled egg. The lumpy epididymis, which lies on top of the testicle, belongs there and is supposed to be lumpy but not tender.

If you do find something that feels different, pick up the phone right away and make an appointment to see a urologist. Do this test around the same time each month to get into the habit. Sometimes a minor injury to the groin area may cause some swelling. This swelling can mask the presence of undetected cancerous growth. This is why a monthly check-up is necessary, so you know what’s normal for you from month to month, and what’s not.

What are the signs this testicular cancer and how early can one experience this?
People with testicular cancer may experience a variety of symptoms or signs. Sometimes, men with testicular cancer do not have any of these changes, or the cause of a symptom may be a different medical condition that is not cancer. So, having these symptoms does not mean that a man has cancer. Usually, an enlarged testicle or a small lump or area of hardness are the first signs of testicular cancer.

Any lump, enlargement, hardness, pain, or tenderness should be evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible. Other symptoms of testicular cancer usually do not appear until after cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms of testicular cancer may include, a painless lump or swelling on either testicle. If found early, a testicular tumour may be about the size of a pea or a marble, but it can grow much larger. Pain, discomfort, or numbness in a testicle or the scrotum, with or without swelling. Change in the way a testicle feels or a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum.

For example, 1 testicle may become firmer than the other testicle. Or testicular cancer may cause the testicle to grow bigger or to become smaller. Dull ache in the lower abdomen or groin and sudden build-up of fluid in the scrotum. Although rare, some testicular tumours make hormones that cause breast tenderness or growth of breast tissue, a condition called gynecomastia. Other signs like lower back pain, shortness of breath, chest pain, and bloody sputum or phlegm can be symptoms of later-stage testicular cancer.

Swelling of one or both legs or shortness of breath from a blood clot can be symptoms of testicular cancer. A blood clot in a large vein is called deep venous thrombosis or DVT also occurs. A blood clot in an artery in the lung is called a pulmonary embolism and causes shortness of breath. For some young or middle-aged men, developing a blood clot may be the first sign of testicular cancer.

What about breast cancer, particularly in women, how is it physically checked?
Breast cancer is the most common cancer with almost 50,000 women diagnosed each year and around 11,500 deaths as a result of breast cancer. But more women than ever are surviving breast cancer as advances in medicine and awareness are increasing. As with all cancers, the faster breast cancer is diagnosed, the less likely it is to spread and the more chance you have of quickly getting back to living the life you love. Breast cancer can occur at any stage in a woman’s life cycle, so it is important that whatever age you are, you check your breasts regularly (once a month or so) so that you can monitor any changes.

What should you look for in terms of symptoms?
It’s not just a lump that you should be checking for. There are several other indicators of breast cancer that you can look out for too. Get in touch with your doctor if you notice one or a combination of the following changes in your breast: Dimpling, puckering or bulging of the skin, redness, soreness, rash, or swelling of the nipple that has changed position. An inverted nipple pushed inward instead of sticking out clear or bloody fluid leaking from the nipple.

You can begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips. Here are what you should see: Breasts that are their usual size, shape, and colour. Breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling, but if you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor’s attention, dimpling, puckering or bulging of the skin with a nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple pushed inward instead of sticking out with redness, soreness, rash, or swelling.

In this case, another look again at your breasts with your raise your arms above your head and look for the same changes. Now, lean forward so that there is a pendulum effect in your breasts, look for any dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin. While you’re at the mirror, look for any signs of fluid coming out of one or both nipples this could be a watery, milky, or yellow fluid or blood.

Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first three finger pads of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Use a circular motion.

Check the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage. Follow a pattern to be sure that you cover the whole breast. You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast. You can also move your fingers up and down vertically, in rows. This up-and-down approach seems to work best for most women.

Be sure to feel all the tissue from the front to the back of your breasts: for the skin and tissue just beneath, use light pressure; for tissue in the middle of your breasts use medium pressure, and for the deep tissue in the back use firm pressure. When you’ve reached the deep tissue, you should be able to feel down to your rib cage. Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand earlier described.

Now, what are those warning signs of breast cancer?
Sharp pain in your breast, possibly with some tenderness, may have you wondering if it could be something serious. A breast lump is often the first thing that women and even men notice that spurs a visit to their doctor. Although breast cancer generally shows no symptoms in the early stage, timely detection can turn a story of breast cancer into a survivor’s tale. Although a lump in the breast is typically associated with breast cancer, much of the time such lumps aren’t cancer.

Common causes of benign breast lumps include breast infection fibrocystic breast disease lumpy breasts fibroadenoma noncancerous tumor, fat necrosis damaged tissue. With fat necrosis, the mass can’t be distinguished from a cancerous lump without a biopsy. Even though the majority of breast lumps are caused by less severe conditions, new, painless lumps are still the most common symptom of breast cancer. Early on, a woman may notice a change in her breast when she performs a monthly breast exam or minor abnormal pain that doesn’t seem to go away.

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Early signs of breast cancer include changes in the shape of the nipple breast pain that doesn’t go away after your next period a new lump that doesn’t go away after your next period, nipple discharge from one breast that is clear, red, brown, or yellow unexplained redness, swelling, skin irritation, itchiness, or rash on the breast swelling or a lump around the collarbone or under the arm.

A lump that is hard with irregular edges is more likely to be cancerous and the later signs of breast cancer include retraction or inward turning of the nipple enlargement of one breast dimpling of the breast surface an existing lump that gets bigger an “orange peel” texture to the skin vaginal pain unintentional weight loss and enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit visible veins on the breast. Having one or more of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you have breast cancer. Nipple discharge, for example, can also be caused by an infection.

How deadly is testicular cancer?

Testicular cancer can be deadly. Luckily, the disease is also easily curable if a man finds it in time. Testicular cancer usually begins as a painless lump, which can be found without a doctor’s help. For his good health, every man not just older men should know how to do a self-check of the testicles. Testicular cancer most often appears in men from ages 15 to 35. Start in your teen years. Checking testicles for lumps is quick, painless, and can save a life.