6 November, 2012 Clippings

Breast cancer high among women in their 30s

Breast cancer awareness has taken center stage but mothers, wives and daughters are still not comfortable talking about it.

Could this be the reason why there is an increase in the number of undetected breast cancer cases? We give you the facts and the statistics of breast cancer in India. Find out which city has the most number of cases.

Based on the 2006-2008 studies, 16 per cent of women between 30-40 suffer from breast cancer. This number has gone up - it was 7 per cent 25 years back.

If you compare breast cancer to other leading cancer like ovary, mouth, lungs, stomach breast cancer amounts to 29.3 per cent. That is a staggering percentage compared to stomach cancer that holds 2.4 per cent.

According to the stats breast cancer affects 25 per cent to 32 per cent of all female cancers patients in all major cities.

Mumbai: Approximately 4000 to 4500 women new cases of breast cancer were detected in 2005.

Mumbai: Breast cancer is no longer associated with women above the age of 60; according to the study 52 per cent of breast cancer patients are below 50 years.

Delhi: Compared to other metros, Delhi has the most number of cases accounting to 31.4 per cent.

Delhi: Breast cancer in females is the highest accounting for 31.4 per cent compared to cancer of the cervix uteri.

Bengaluru: About 54 per cent breast cancer patients are in the 25 to 50 year age group.

India and US: In 2008, 1,82,000 breast cancer cases reported in the US and in India, 1,15,000 new cases were diagnosed.

India and US: In the US, 1 in 8 women can develop breast cancer, but India is not far behind.

Globally there are 1384 (thousand) cases and 458 (thousand) deaths.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

06.11.2012

Aspirin enough to prevent blood clots

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney, found that people who have suffered blood clots in the veins of the leg (deep vein thrombosis or DVT) or the lungs (pulmonary embolism or PE) are less likely to suffer a recurrence of the serious blood clots or a heart attack when on low-dose aspirin.

"The results suggest the simple, inexpensive treatment of low-dose aspirin could prevent thousands of patients from experiencing recurrent clots each year and may make substantial healthcare savings in Australia and worldwide," said John Simes, professor at the University of Sydney, The New England Journal of Medicine reports.

Simes, also director of the National Health and Medical Research Council's Clinical Trials Centre at the University of Sydney, said: "These results suggest that aspirin prevents about one third of recurrent blood clot events.

"For every 1,000 patients treated for one year, aspirin can be expected to prevent about 20 to 30 episodes of recurrent major thrombotic events at the cost of about three significant bleeding episodes," added Simes, according to a Sydney statement.

Operating since 2003, the study completed recruitment of 822 participants from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India and Argentina.

All the participants had previously suffered a DVT or PE that occurred for no particular reason, called 'unprovoked VTE' (venous thromboembolism).

They had completed, on average, six months of anti-coagulant treatment, generally with warfarin. They were randomly allocated to receive either low-dose enteric coated aspirin or a matching placebo.

On average, participants were followed for three years.

Tim Brighton, from Prince of Wales Hospital and principal study investigator, explained: "Aspirin reduces the risk of important blood clotting event including recurrent VTE, myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death.

"We now have clear evidence that aspirin is of benefit for patients who are unable or do not wish to continue warfarin in the long term," added Brighton.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

06.11.2012

Everyone has a will to win but very few have the will to prepare to win

Vince Lombardi