Ask the doctors: Readers respond
Hello, dear readers, and welcome to a bonus letters column. We’re deep into hiking, picnic and barbecue season, so please remember to break out the bug spray. You’re fending off mosquitoes and ticks, each of which can transmit some unpleasant diseases. And don’t forget about your furry friends, who are vulnerable to both of those pests – and to fleas, too.
Now, let’s talk about your letters.
• A column about turkey tail mushrooms, a fan-shaped fungus with a long history in traditional Chinese medicine, continues to generate interest. Here in the U.S., these mushrooms are being studied for their potential to bolster immune response and for possible antitumor properties.
“I’m writing on behalf of a relative with breast cancer who has consulted her oncologist about this mushroom, but the doctor doesn’t have any knowledge about it,” a reader wrote. “The question is whether the mushrooms are known to interfere with chemotherapy.”
Unfortunately, due to the wide range of chemotherapy drugs and the limited amount of research into the mushrooms, it is not possible to make a definitive statement about this question. However, in a small study with breast cancer patients, the mushrooms appeared to boost the efficacy of chemotherapy. That study, which was published in the medical journal Cureus, is available online.
• We are hearing from many of you regarding a recent column that discussed the potential benefits of companion animals for people living with the physical and psychological symptoms of PTSD.
“I just wanted to say that while a specially trained animal may be great, in our family, an ordinary pet has been a huge help,” a reader wrote. “My son has PTSD, and we can’t afford a service dog. We helped him adopt a dog from the pound. Training her and having her with him has eased a lot of the anxiety that he has been living with.”
• Last winter, we discussed how the immune system identifies tattoo ink as a foreign substance and sends cells known as macrophages to remove them. Some surgeons conducting biopsies have reported that lymph nodes next to a tattoo are sometimes stained with ink. This led a reader to ask about a tattoo of their own.
“Two years ago, I got a small tattoo under my clavicle,” they wrote. “I’m getting it surgically removed, but, as it has faded, I assume there is ink in my lymph nodes. Should I have the lymph nodes removed?”
Lymph nodes are an important part of your body’s immune and drainage system, and removing them is not a surgery to be undertaken lightly. Side effects can include infection, scarring and lymphedema, which is a permanent buildup of fluid in the area the lymph nodes served.
The accumulation of tattoo dye in lymph nodes occurs over a long period of time. With a small tattoo that is just two years old, you should seek opinions from several doctors before considering lymph node removal.
Thank you, as ever, for your letters, questions and kind thoughts. We’d like to remind you that we can’t offer a diagnosis, second opinion or comment on medications or treatment strategies.
Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla.edu.