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However, blood flow back to the heart is by means of the veins, and there is no pump to assist in the venous return … in the case of the lower limbs the flow is all uphill, against gravity.

The veins contain valves which allow oneway flow only, towards the heart and also break the blood up into smaller columns.

Flow of blood in the veins is mainly due to the action of the muscles, compressing the blood and forcing it onwards, towards the heart.

Negative pressure in the chest, on breathing, does tend to “suck up” the blood and aid its return.

The veins and arteries have nerves supplying the muscle in their walls, which maintain contraction of these vessels, so that there is a certain natural tone.

Sometimes an emotional cause, such as a fright, or bad news or the sight of blood, acting through the nervous system, causes the blood vessels to lose tone. They dilate, and the blood then tends to stagnate or pool in the abdomen and lower limbs.

The venous return to the heart is impaired, the blood pressure falls, an inadequate volume is pumped to the brain, the person feels giddy, nauseated, the vision goes grey and then black, the person is pale and sweaty and then consciousness is lost.

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If the cancer is not detected on screening, symptoms may indicate it has been present for a longer time and may have spread beyond the cervix. At operation it is usual to remove the uterus, the tubes and the ovaries.

In some cases, a more extensive operation, removing all the lymph glands in the pelvis as well, is done. Irradiation of the area is often combined with operation and cytotoxic drugs may be used.

Cancer of the body of the uterus is less common and occurs at an older age than cervical cancer. Most women who develop it are postmenopausal.

This is usually accompanied by bleeding or a discharge. Any bleeding from the vagina after the change of life must be investigated. It isn’t always due to cancer but that diagnosis must be excluded before any other is considered.

Promiscuity and multiple pregnancies are not risk factors for this cancer. But the use of oestrogen, the female hormone, is a definite part of its cause. The symptoms of the menopause, the hot flushes, the dry vagina, the lethargy and depression are believed to be due to a reduction in the amount of circulating oestrogen.

Giving oestrogen tablets or injections can relieve these symptoms. This drug, if taken regularly, can prevent osteoporosis or the thinning of the bone which occurs in older women.

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Many cancer patients, with or without their knowledge and informed consent, are involved in research into cancer treatment. It is important for you to understand something about this. Basically, there are three different stages of testing for new treatments.

In Phase I studies, researchers test drugs or other treatments that have never before been tried on humans. They have been tested only in the laboratory and on various animals. Phase I studies are designed to find out how the treatment can be used in humans, not whether it is effective against human cancer. It is not expected that there will be any benefit to the individual patients involved in this type of research. The aim is to find out things such as whether it can be taken by mouth or injection, whether it is broken down by the liver or passed out through the kidneys, what doses are safe, how often they should be given and what side effects there are. Because these things are not known, patients who are the human ‘guinea pigs’ in these tests may experience unexpected severe and unpleasant side effects or even die as a result of the treatment. Therefore, only patients for whom there is no known effective anti-cancer treatment available are asked to take part in these studies. You might be happy to participate, knowing that by doing so you could help future patients. However, if you go into it because you hope it will help you personally, it is extremely likely that you will be disappointed.

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