A growing number of Chinese women are suffering from breast
cancer due to unhealthy diets, a poor environment and increased
stress at work, experts have said.
The latest figures from the Beijing Center for Disease Control
and Prevention show the incidence of the disease in Beijing and
Shanghai has spiked in the past decade.
In the capital, about 45 women out of every 100,000 currently
have the disease, 23 percent more than in 1997.
In Shanghai, the number is 55 in 100,000, up 31 percent in the
past decade.
A recent survey by the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association showed an
even higher rate in Shanghai - with 60 women in 100,000 suffering
from the disease, equivalent to about 4,500 new cases every year.
In 1972, the figure was just 17 in 100,000.
Professor Qiao Youlin of the Cancer Institute and Hospital of
the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences said Monday: "Unhealthy
lifestyles are mostly to blame for the growing numbers.
"Researchers found that just 10 percent of the cases are due to
heredity.
"Chinese women, especially those living in cities, should pay
extra attention to their health and examine their breasts for any
suspicious lumps on a monthly basis," he told China
Daily.
Symptoms to look out for include unusual pains in the breasts or
armpits, he said.
Qiao said women should quit smoking and drinking alcohol, stop
using cosmetics that contain estrogen, exercise more, go to bed
earlier and cut down on oily foods.
Retired English teacher Dai Weiwen was diagnosed with a
malignant tumor at the mid-stages of the disease in late 2000. The
61-year-old Shanghai resident said she had been aware of the tumor
for nearly a decade before it got worse.
"I tired easily but thought it was from work," she said.
Dai had her left breast removed when the cancer cells spread,
but her condition is now stable. She is now involved in programs
aimed at tackling the disease around the world.
Qiao said more needs to be done to raise awareness of the
disease.
(China Daily October 30, 2007)