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Doctors often advise women with genetic risk and family history of
breast cancer to get mammography, especially for those who are positive
for BRCA genes. It should be noted that undergoing tests such as
mammography and genetic tests does not appear to help in the prevention
of breast cancer.
It is noteworthy that mammography helps the doctor to diagnose breast
cancer in the early stages of the cancer; doing mammograms does not help
doctors to diagnose the breast cancer before the cancer has started
growing.
If breast cancer is detected in the early stages, results of surgery
i.e. mastectomy are better and a significant number of these patients
can live five years, whereas if the cancer is detected after it has
spread to surrounding tissues, results of surgery are not all that good.
Management of high risk patients;
There are four options for the management of those women with family
history of breast cancer and are positive for BRCA genes.
1. Watch and wait.
2. Take oestrogen lowering drug tamoxifen for rest of their lives.
Tamoxifen has various side-effects such as stroke, cataracts, deep vein
thrombosis, uterine cancer and pulmonary embolism.
3. Undergoing mastectomy (surgical removal of breasts).
4. Nutritional approach i.e. consuming a diet free of animal - based
foods and low in refined carbohydrates aided by regular monitoring of
those at high risk. Internationally famous nutritionist T. Collin
Campbell PhD says, “I stand by the usefulness of the fourth option even
for women who have already had a first mastectomy.”
It is noteworthy that diet is an effective treatment of
already-diagnosed disease with advanced heart disease (Ornish D et al,
JAMA, 280, 1998, 2001-2007), liver cancer and melanoma and clinically
documented Type II Diabetes.
D. P. Athukorale Colombo 7
Reference: The China Study by T.
Colin Campbell PhD and Thomas M. Campbell.
Although many representations have been made both in print media and
direct to the authorities concerned, it is indeed disheartening to note
the action to be taken to arrest the situation in regard to low Farm
Gate Price of Coconuts appears to be going on snail speed. At the
Colombo Coconut Auction held on January 29, the highest, average and the
lowest price recorded Rs. 16.75, Rs. 16.00 and Rs. 13 respectively.
The auction price on January 22, Rs. 17.71, Rs. 16.46 and Rs. 15
respectively. Accordingly, there is a drop in the market prices. May I
appeal to the authorities concerned to take remedial action to arrest
the situation. Unless the growers get a minimum Farm Gate price of Rs.
20 per nut under the current situation, the industry will head for
natural disaster.
Supply of Adult and Young Palm Mixture Fertilizer at Rs. 1,000 per 50
kg. bag is also an immediate requirement and this proposal should be
implemented, so that application of same could be done in May/June 2009.
The earnings from the Import Cess of Edible Oil could generate adequate
revenue to fund the subsidy on fertilizer.
J. V. R. Dias
Any Sri Lankan citizen today could have a great sigh of relief now
that the curtain has fallen 99 per cent on the treacherous and murderous
LTTE. Thanks to the great President with Government in power and the
self-sacrificing heroic Security Forces.
Equal burdens shouldered by the Anti-LTTE Tamil heroes are also
immeasurable. The feats of these historic saviours will shine in golden
letters in the history of this country. The LTTE has committed crimes to
fill books and books to lay side by side with Hitler’s.
The task of the day now is to restore the country especially North
and East viewing the ruins caused due to the reign of terror by the LTTE
for nearly three decades. Estimates are unimaginable. Herein, the Sri
Lankan expatriate community especially the Tamils who have taken refuge
in well-to-do countries could do a lot.
It is a known fact that most of them funded the LTTE due to
persuasion and force. They are an educated lot but were actually
ignorant of the havoc caused by the LTTE during the whole period. They
now have to turn back and repent for funding arms and crimes.
Today, it would be a great thing on their part, if they could
continue to send the same amounts of funds to the Local Government
institutions in power in the North and East. Such magnanimity could even
extend to double, treble or even more to restore and save the lives,
property, culture and what not - reduced to dust during the last dark
era of three decades.
I hope our Government will extend and offer such ideas to win over
the hearts and minds of our beloved expatriate Sri Lankan Community who
can well afford it.
K. E. de Abrew Mount Lavinia
TV viewers enjoy watching teledramas over any of the local
broadcasting channels according to their choice. After a day’s hard
work, anyone of us prefer to sit down comfortably in front of a TV for
watching a drama.
In the midst of the play, during the half hour broadcast, many
intermissions are allowed for commercial ads. At the end, if I would
mention that more time is taken for ads than the drama itself, is not an
exaggeration.
Most of the viewers understand and accept that without those
advertisements it is not at all possible for them to enjoy watching the
drama. The reason is that these programs are sponsored by various
commercial organisations in return for advertising their products. As
such, all of us are compelled to willy-nilly watch them too.
There are very few ads, as we see today, are able to attract the
viewers. Many of them do not clearly depict what they intend to. If
these ads could be so designed to impart some sort of amusement with
added quality, then we may not feel sorry for loss of our time watching
ads too.
M.R.A.L. Gunasinghe Veyangoda
A large number of pensioners who called over for their monthly
pension payments on February 12 at the post office, Wattala and the sub
post offices controlled by it, were turned away on the ground that the
Funds for payment were exhausted.
It has been the practice all along to supply the paying offices with
the pension schedules a few days prior to the date of payment to enable
them to be ready with the necessary Funds. Hence it is apparent that
this situation was due to bureaucratic blunder and negligence.
We pensioners were greatly inconvenience and subjected to harassment
as a result as many of us await the payment anxiously as the meagre
pension is insufficient to meet our needs.
Besides many of us are compelled to hire private transport to get to
the office of payment due to old age and sickness. Furthermore instances
are not uncommon when they depend on the payment to pay the hire.
I hope the Director of Pensions will look into this matter in the
interests of the pensioners who have been subjected to needless
harassment and desperation and take necessary action to avert such
situations occurring in the future.
A. P. Wattala
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