Dr Rosemary

MEDICAL ADVICE COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR

the bowel does eventually settle down again, though this can take several months.

I’M due to have radiotherapy soon for prostate cancer. What this will involve?

aTWO types of radiotherapy are used for treating prostate cancer – external beam therapy, and internal radiotherapy, known as brachytherapy.

With external treatment, the radiotherapy beams pass through your skin to the prostate gland, while with brachytherapy the treatment is given via tiny radioactive seeds that are placed inside the prostate gland. These then slowly release a low level of radiation to the prostate over the following six to 12 months. Some men have just one type, while others have both.

Brachytherapy is only suitable for early prostate cancer that has not spread outside the prostate.

External beam radiotherapy involves going to the hospital every day for four to eight weeks and treatment sessions last about 25 minutes each. Side effects tend to start a few days after the treatment begins and include tiredness and redness and soreness of the skin. Inflammation of the bladder and lower bowel can also occur, leading to diarrhoea and pain on passing water.

Side effects from external beam treatment tend to subside in the weeks after treatment has finished but occasionally loose stools and some discomfort in the bladder area can persist.

Get more detailed information from Prostate Cancer UK by calling 0800 074 8383 or visit prostatecanceruk.org Q a Yes but it’s rare. It is known that in about three per cent of people who take statins, there is a slight rise in one of the enzymes (known as ALT) that is produced by the liver but this is usually only temporary and does not cause any symptoms or harm. It is thought to be due to the liver adapting to metabolising the statin.

About one in 100,000 people

CAN a short course of statins damage your liver?