Health Care

1. Women should have a breast examination by a doctor every three years after the age of 20, and every year after the age of 40, and self-examination every month. Also, a woman after the age of 40 should undergo mammography every 1-2 years. It is an ideal tool for detecting breast cancer while a tumour is very small, less than 1.00 cm, before it can be felt. More frequent mammography is required in women who have a family history of breast cancer. It may be noted that with this procedure breast cancer can be detected almost three years earlier than it would otherwise be detected on physical I clinical examination. It involves a very low I limited as well as safe exposure to radiation. Mass realization in this respect is urgently required.

2. Self-examination of the testes should be done by men every month after the age of 40.

3. A Papanicolaou's smear (commonly called Pap smear) is recommended, every year, after the age of 40, for the exclusion of the cancer of the cervix in females. This test plays an effective role in detecting precancerous and cancerous cervical lesions. It is valuable in a cervical cancer screening programme. An ultrasound, preferably transvaginal sonography, should also be carried out to rule out the malignancy of the uterus, especially of the cervix.

4. Both in men and women, digital-rectal examination (DRE) and proctoscopy examination, should be done every year after the age of 40, to exclude the possibility of cancer of the rectum and the anal canal. DRE examination will also be useful for diagnosing the cancer of the prostate (especially those with a family history of prostate cancer). If possible, even though it is a bit cumbersome, a colonoscopy I sigmoidoscopy examination should be carried out every 3-5 years, to exclude cancer of the colon and of the rectum. A simple test of stool for blood or RBC, and if need be occult blood, is also required, at least yearly.

5. Examination of the urine for blood/RBC, or occult blood should be done every year in both sexes after the age of 40, for an early detection of cancer of the urinary tract. In females, urine tests should not be done during menstruation period as the blood may then contaminate the urine. More precisely, ultrasonography of the urinary tract is required.

6. Ultrasonographic examination of the abdomen may be done every year, especially after the age of 40, to exclude malignancy of the various organs of the abdomen, including prostate. It is a safe test and has no radiation hazards, unlike X-ray ICT scan.

7. Chest X-rays may be carried out yearly after middle age, especially of those who are prone to the cancer of the lings like chronic smokers, to exclude asymptomatic lesion of this disease.

It is important to discuss here some of the related topics, and provide some relevant information about the female breast and the use of female hormones with special reference to malignancy. However, it is no less important to study some of the details about the male breast, including carcinoma of the male breast, which, if it develops, spreads much more rapidly than cancer of the female breast.