THE assembly sitting yesterday partly turned into a lesson on breast cancer as those present learnt little known facts about the deadly ailment.
Among new things learnt was that while men were less at risk than women, their chances of surviving the ailment were lower as men did not have certain breast tissues which, to a certain extent, protect vital organs.
State Woman and Family Development, Community Welfare and Health Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said men should take precautions, similar to those taken by women, such as doing breast self-examinations and undergoing a mammography at hospital.
She said based on statistics over the past eight years, women made up over 95 per cent of breast cancer sufferers in the country where one in every 20 were at risk of the ailment.
Accumulative risk of the cancer, based on racial breakdown, put Chinese women at the top, with one in every 16, followed by Indian women at one in every 17 while Malay women and other Bumiputera ethnic groups at one per 28.
Dr Robia, who was answering a question on the ailment by Tang Nai Soon (BN-Pekan Nanas), however, said there was no conclusive explanation why members of a certain ethnic group faced higher risk than others.
She said since 2004, 2,889 breast cancer victims were recorded in Johor, with 28 of them being men.
She explained that breast cancer usually originates at the inner lining of the milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk.
She said the most common early symptom was the presence of a lump that feels different from the rest of the breast, which could be detected by breast self-examinations or a mammogram procedure.
Other symptoms include the formation of an indenture on the breast skin and its sudden swelling as well as a nipple inversion.
Government hospitals in Johor with equipment for mammogram are Sultanah Aminah Hospital, Johor Baru; Sultan Ismail Hospital, Johor Baru; Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital, Muar; and Batu Pahat Hospital.
Kluang Hospital will have the equipment once it moves to a new building next year.
source - New Straits Times
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