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File Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Let’s TALK Naseeruddin Shah with wife Ratna interacting with cancer patients at CanSupport

The walk is being organised by CanSupport (an organisation that helps cancer patients and their families) in partnership with the international community. They have the active support of the U.S. ambassador and his wife. Nearly 5000 people are expected to take part in the walk.

At a press meet in New Delhi, Harmala Gupta, herself a cancer survivor and the founder president of CanSupport, spoke about breast cancer. The tragedy of the disease, she said, is that it tends to strike at an age when the family needs the patient more. “This is a problem which is not going to go away,” said Harmala. “We should catch it early to get it cured.” Sunita Kohli, an interior designer and architectural restorer, added, “The man may be the breadwinner, but it is the woman who has to run the house. The entire family gets involved, so, if a woman is healthy the whole family is healthy.”

Also present was Dr. Sidhartha Sahni, a cancer surgeon from Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon. He stressed that there would be a higher rate of success in treatment if women went for regular check-ups. Women often do not go for check-ups, he said, advising they should allow themselves to be examined once a year to detect the problem. A mammogram normally costs around a thousand rupees.

Breast Cancer is a malignant tumour that starts from the cells of the breasts. A malignant tumour is a group of cancer cells that may invade surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. The disease occurs almost entirely in women, but men can get it too.

Simply being a woman is the main risk factor. Although women have many more breast cells than men, the main reason they are more likely to develop breast cancer is because their breasts cells are constantly exposed to the growth-promoting effects of the female hormones, oestrogen and progesterone.

There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer. But a woman might reduce her risk somewhat by changing those factors that can be changed. If you avoid alcohol, exercise regularly and maintain a healthy body weight, you are decreasing your risk of getting breast cancer. Breastfeeding for several months also seems to reduce breast cancer risk.

Participants are requested to bring registration confirmations with them.

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