palpation
東北大学の研究チームは、新たな乳がん検診方法を発見しました。マンモグラフィー(乳房エックス線撮影検査)に超音波を組み合わせたもので、より正確な診断が可能になるようです。日本女性には乳腺の組織が多く、マンモグラフィーではがんとの区別が時折困難なものでしたが、新たな診断方法はこれにも対応しているとの事です。
Japanese team develops promising breast cancer detection method
A team of researchers from Tohoku University has developed a new method to detect breast cancer by combining a mammogram with an ultrasound in a procedure that appears to be more accurate than mammogram testing alone.
The team, lead by Noriaki Ohuchi, a professor at the university, divided roughly 73,000 women randomly into two groups — one group underwent traditional mammography X-ray testing while the other group was examined using both mammograms and ultrasound. The cancer detection rate was 1.5 times higher for the latter group, with the detection rate for early stage cancer being particularly high, according to the team.
中略
In Japan, the health ministry has recommended that local governments conduct mammograms once every two years after the age of 40. Last year, a panel for the ministry stopped recommending palpation and visual examination to detect breast cancer but maintained its mammogram recommendation.
The decision was based on the fact that the rate of breast cancer for women in Western countries increases as they age while in Japan it peaks for those in their 40s and 50s. Mammography examination rates are also lower in Japan, at 40 percent. One reason is that more Japanese women have high-density breast tissue, making detection of the cancer more difficult.
今回取り上げるのは”palpation”になります。Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionaryには” physical examination in medical diagnosis by pressure of the hand or fingers to the surface of the body especially to determine the condition (as of size or consistency) of an underlying part or organ”とあり、日本語では「触診」と定義されています。
”feel, touch”を意味する語幹”palp”に持つ名詞であり、派生語として”palpate”「…を触診する」,”palpable”「1.〈正式〉明白な、簡単に分かる 2.〈やや古〉触診できる」”palpably”「明らかに」などがあります、合わせて確認してしまいましょう。なお、各単語の定義は『G3』より、形態素の定義はEnglish Vocabulary Elements より引用したものになります。(あいづ)
