Healthy diet helps reduce cancer risk, expert claims<\/p>\n
Debbie A Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Early cancer detection and adopting a healthy lifestyle can help
\nreduce the risk of breast cancer and secondary cancers in women,
\naccording to a health expert.<\/p>\n
Zubairi Djoerban, internist and hematologist at Cipto
\nMangunkusumo General Hospital, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday
\nthat eating vegetables and fruit five times a day or taking a
\ndaily 30-minute brisk walk could reduce the risk of breast
\ncancer.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar titled Breast Cancer:
\nHow to Prevent and to Cure, he said that eating fatty foods,
\nsmoking and drinking alcohol made women susceptible to breast
\ncancer.<\/p>\n
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among
\nIndonesian women after cervical cancer. He said that if breast
\ncancer was found, it was not uncommon for a secondary cancer to
\nbe found in the brain, bones, lungs or liver.<\/p>\n
Zubairi said that one in 10 local women were prone to breast
\ncancer, and a woman from a family that had no history of cancer
\nstill had a 10 percent risk of having breast cancer.<\/p>\n
\"A woman is 80 percent likely to get breast cancer if three
\nwomen in her immediate family have had breast and\/or ovarian
\ncancer,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Elderly women, women who were 30 or over at their first
\npregnancy, had never breast-fed, never married or who were very
\nyoung when they had their first period or who experienced a late
\nmenopause are also at high risk of breast cancer.<\/p>\n
Zubairi, however, said that although breast cancer was often
\nfound in elderly women, Indonesian women aged between 20 and 40
\nyears also had been found to have early signs of breast cancer.<\/p>\n
Another speaker at the seminar, Soehartati Gondhowiardjo,
\nradiologist and oncologist at the Jakarta Breast Cancer Clinic,
\nsaid women could examine their own breasts.<\/p>\n
\"We can detect a cancer if the diameter is already one
\ncentimeter, but I recommend young women have an ultrasound or
\nmammogram to be more thorough,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Soehartati said that most patients consulted their doctors
\nonly after the cancer had developed into a third-stage cancer,
\nmaking the recovery process more difficult and painful.<\/p>\n
\"They often come with some secondary signs like reddish
\nbreasts, bloody nipples, ulcers or retraction of the breast skin
\nand nipples,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Citing a study conducted in the U.S., Soehartati said that
\nearly detection could help reduce breast cancer deaths by up to
\n30 percent.<\/p>\n
Zubairi said that women diagnosed with breast cancer may
\nchoose to undergo surgery or take hormonal and medicinal
\ntreatment. \"But they should consider at what stage their cancer
\nis and its size,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that an internist, an oncologist, a pathologist and
\nfamily members were needed to help patients before, during and
\nafter treatment because chemotherapy was rough on patients,
\ncausing hair loss, nausea and vomiting.<\/p>\n
\"Some of the side effects can be reduced by medicine but
\npatients badly need the moral support to boost their optimism,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Zubairi said breast cancer patients who had recovered should
\nhave regular checkups because recurrences often occurred.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/healthy-diet-helps-reduce-cancer-risk-expert-claims-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}