Women can avoid consequences by overcoming shyness

Islamabad: Whereas, breast cancer is the most prevalent disease among women worldwide, in Pakistan one out of eight women suffer from this life threatening disease.

Devouring thousands of women annually, this killer disease can only be cured 100 per cent by early detection and by consulting the doctor right away. This was the crux of consultation with every medical expert who came across the scribe while penning down this piece of information.

The symptoms as pointed by a doctor at Nuclear Oncology Research Institute (NORI), Dr. Samina Manzoor are breast lump, node in axila, nipple discharge having blood, nipple retraction and skin changes. "Some people are asymptomatic having no symptoms at all," she said. About the causes of breast cancer, she said, it occurred in women who were not married, late marriage, after marriage no pregnancy, fatness and weakness in women.

When asked about the heavy casualty rate in women due to breast cancer, Dr. Samina said that it was due to shyness and ignorance of the sufferers owing to which they come at third or fourth stage for treatment.

She floated the message for women to overcome shyness, ignore taboos and go for check- up to save precious lives. Another medical practitioner, Dr. Shazia Zahoor, advising about the precaution regarding breast cancer said, one should eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, avoid exposure to chemical that can cause cancer.

Moreover, she said," social networking improves condition of breast cancer patient." "But, there is no way to avoid any type of cancer," she maintained. She advised the women to have regular check-ups even if one was not suffering from any disease.

Her views regarding social networking were endorsed by a research saying that breast cancer survivors with a strong social support or networking seemed to live longer and have a lower risk of cancer coming back. The researchers found that women with fewer social ties before and during the cancer treatment are at higher risk of death form the malignancy.

She lamented that with treatment of the breast cancer at the last stages, survival rate decreased. She said that the high ratio of the deadly disease might be due to the reason that it was not diagnosed early and consequently if there were three cancer patients one was suffering from breast cancer.

About the social implications of breast cancer, mother of a victim of breast cancer, Amna Bibi while talking to this agency said that the disease had devastated the life of her daughter. Amna Bibi said after falling prey to breast cancer the life of her daughter was totally destroyed as her son-in-law divorced her daughter instead of taking care of her.

She said, social consequences might be the reason, why women were shy about the disease so that that their life might not be spoiled. The husband of a patient of breast cancer at NORI, Ghaffar Khan when asked about the problems being faced, demanded of the government to construct more cancer hospitals to cater to huge population.

Medical experts were of unanimous view that awareness should be created among masses about the fatal consequences of the killer disease in order to save precious human lives. Moreover, they said women should keep aside shyness, ignore taboos and go for check up to avoid fatal consequences.