Friday, October 28, 2011

10-Steps to Prevent Breast Cancer








By Yeam Pik Wah, Marketing Executive, President College 

1. Maintain a healthy body weight (BMI less than 25) throughout your life.
Weight gain in midlife, independent of BMI, has been shown to significantly increase breast cancer risk. Additionally, and elevated BMI has been conclusively shown to increase the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer. 

2. Minimize or avoid alcohol.
Alcohol use is the most well established dietary risk factor for breast cancer. The Harvard Nurses' Health study, along with several others, has shown consuming more than one alcoholic beverage a day can increase breast cancer risk by as much as 20-25 percent. 

3. Consume as many fruits and vegetables as possible. 
Eat seven or more servings daily. The superstars for breast cancer protection include all cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) ; dark leafy greens (collards, kale, spinach) ; carrots and tomatoes. The superstar fruits include citrus, berries and cherries. Note: it is best to eat cruciferous vegetables raw or lightly cooked, as some of the phytochemicals believed to offer protection against breast cancer are destroyed by heat. 

4. Exercise regularly the rest of your life. 
Many studies have shown that regular exercise provides powerful protection against breast cancer. Aim for 30 minutes or more of moderate aerobic activity (brisk walking) five or more days a week. Consistency and duration, not intensity, are key!  

5. Do your fats right! 
The type of fat in your diet can affect your breast cancer risk. Minimize consumption of omega-6 fats (sunflower, safflower, corn and cottonseed oils), saturated fats and trans fats. Maximize your intake of omega-3 fats, especially from oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, lake trout and herring). Consume monounsaturated oils (canola, olive oil, nuts/seeds, avocados) as your primary fat source, as these foods have potential anticancer properties. Specifically, canola oil is a good source of omega-3 fats; extra virgin olive oil is a potent source of antioxidant polyphenols, including squalene; and nuts and seeds provide you with the cancer protective mineral, selenium. 

6. Do your carbs right!
Minimize consumption of the high glycemic index, "Great White Hazards" - white flour, white rice, white potatoes, sugar and products containing them. These foods trigger hormonal changes that promote cellular growth in breast tissue. Replace these "wrong" carbs with whole grains and beans/legumes. Beans/legumes because of their high fiber and lignan content are especially special. 

7. Consume whole food soy products regularly, such as tofu, tempeh, edamame, roasted soy nuts, soy milk and miso.
Only consume organic, non-GMO (genetically modified) soy. Epidemiologic studies have shown a positive association between soy consumption and reduced breast cancer risk. 

8. Minimize exposure to pharmacologic estrogens and xeno-estrogens. 
Do not take prescription estrogens unless medically indicated. Lifetime exposure to estrogen plays a fundamental role in the development of breast cancer. Also avoid estrogen-like compounds found in environmental pollutants, such as pesticides and industrial chemicals. Buy organic produce if you can afford it; otherwise, thoroughly wash all non-organic produce. Minimize exposure to residual hormones found in non-organic dairy products, meat and poultry. 

9. Take your supplements daily.
A multivitamin, 500-1,000 mg of vitamin C in divided doses, 200-400 IUs of vitamin E as mixed tocopherols, and pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Also take 200 mcg of the mineral selenium or eat one to two Brazil nuts as an alternative. If you have a chronic medical condition or take prescription drugs, consult your physician first. 

10. Maintain a positive mental outlook.
Engage in self-nurturing behaviors regularly. Develop rich, warm and mutually beneficial relationships with family and friends. Get adequate sleep (7-8 hours per night). The mind-body associations with breast cancer are significant.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

UKM Hospital KL Campus Visit

By Adrian Chong Jin Yao, M4 Intake

The trip to UKM KL Campus was…. well to say it was normal or just ‘ok’ would be an understatement. I mean unless you are a pathologist, doctor, mortician or ....you get how I’m grouping all these, you don’t see parts of real human bodies all around you, do you? Ok, maybe not only see (the internet…) but touch, smell, feel and I really hope not taste or hear. It is generally no doubt an interesting trip. 


Well, the trip to the place itself was unexpected. We were joking around before the trip on how or going to get there. Bus? Monorail? LRT? Someone even told me walking there. In the end all of us guess wrongly, we get a free ride on the President College staff’s car! Who cares if we guess wrongly, who’s complaining? Thank you for the ride anyway.


So, the wait to enter the anatomy museum was not that long. The only downturn was probably the typical KL heat plus our all black shirts only gets worse as time lingers. I can say now that it is worth the wait.

In the anatomy museum the first question I heard was ‘is it real?’.  Is it really real? Really? Of course it is really real or it won’t really be called the anatomy museum and President College would not really bring us here. Really real! Thus, we all found out that it is real. That’s where the fun part begins.

Personally, I have been to that place before 4 years ago and most of the exhibits are the same except of the plastinated cadaver. But I don’t mind ‘enjoying’ the exhibits again and especially for the first timers, it was shockingly interesting. Everyone spread out around the mini anatomy museum as soon as they enter. I could hear gasps, whispers (yes, from a living breathing human being) and chatting – the excitement and passion.


The staffs gave a short briefing in the anatomy museum. I manage to throw some question in return for some valuable information. I mainly ask about the plastinated cadaver (the new family member!). It seems that the people there have sent their people to Germany, which is the first country to produce plastinated cadaver through plastination. This process has been in this world for some time, however, not many countries know about it. Among the country which has made its name on this are Germany, of course and China. Malaysia had just inherited this about 3 years ago and UKM are the first in Malaysia.


Plastination is a very complicated process and it yields complicated money. One plastinated body could cost at least 110 thousand ringgit. I have seen a plastinated body a few months before this in Management & Science University and the staff there did explain the plastination process. Although they did not tell me where this specimen was obtain, when I proposed this to the staff in UKM, it seems that UKM sold it to MSU and a few others under some company name I forgotten. (Can’t think of company name that sells stuff like that! The Body Shop? Body glove?) Intriguing isn’t it?

We went below the anatomy museum, where they store wet specimen of cadavers. The staffs of UKM did brought us a male body (don’t ask how I know if it is a male) to mingle with. It was a hands-on (more like fingers-on for most of us) on a real cadaver.  There was a lot of Q&A session between the students and the staff in charged.

Among the questions I clearly remembered are:

Q: How long can you keep a wet specimen?
A: Between 5-10 years.

Q: Do you import bodies?
A: Nope. Bodies are donated and are obtained from unclaimed bodies. Things like that cannot be imported or exported. It is not market material except for the black market. (What happen to the selling of plastinated cadaver?)

Q: We treat all these cadavers with respect, right?
A: Of course, once the body can’t be used anymore, we will send them to the memorial centre to be burned every single piece of flesh and bones.

Q: Do you like your job?
A: (Laughs) Yeah, I do. (Ok……)

Q: Aren’t you scared? Are there any supernatural occurrence?
A: Nope, if I’m scared I wouldn’t be working here. (Duh, good answer). This place must be closed by 5.30pm . So, I never really heard it around here from anyone.

Q: How much does the wet specimen cadaver cost?
A: We don’t sell the wet specimen. Even if we do, it will only cost less than then ten thousand and the process of making one is quite costly itself. (Who wants to buy it? Don’t buy one for me please.)

 So , that’s basically some of it.
That wraps up the trip and we all departed away from there. For once in my life I’m seeing my friends washing their hand like some killer pandemic was among us. We waited for the ride back for some moment at a bus stop. (Buses were actually stopping for us, too bad we saw signs stated ‘UTAR’, ‘UM’ etc…..oops no ‘President College’) We finally got back to Putra mall safely, home sweet home.


We really enjoy the trip. We could really see how it is like studying medicine with cadavers. I hope none of us would change our mind on taking medicine line and etc after this trip. I could see the satisfying look on everyone although some even looked hungry after the examining the cadavers (yikes!). To conclude things, although I have a dilemma now (whether to sleep in my room or my parents room tonight), it was a really real awesome trip.

Thanks, President College!

Blood Donation Drive @ President College, KL

By Farah Amin Siru, Marketing Executive, President College

Blood cannot be manufactured. It can only be given as a gift from people.

It was this simple realization that got me on the bandwagon of donating blood as often as possible. Personally I believe it is probably one of the most unselfish acts a person could perform for another.


On the 8th of September 2011, President College Kuala Lumpur hosted a blood donation drive on our campus premises on the 28th Floor at The Mall, Jalan Putra here in the heart of the city as an effort to raise awareness of this noble practice as well as to encourage others to make their own contribution for society.  


There was a good turnout; mostly our own students but there were a few outsiders sharing the  building who came by and donated as well.

People need to realize that this activity lives and learn to shun any fears or misconceptions associated with needles and pain. There is only a brief sting like a pin-prick for a second and then its over. Bring a friend along to donate with you, thus you'll be able to share the experience and it won't seem so frightening; the whole process usually takes around 30 minutes to 1 hour and the medical staff are always very friendly and kind. They even provide refreshment and snacks after wards to keep up your energy for the rest of the day and to stimulate the body to replenish the loss.


World Blood Donor Day
June 14 is celebrated around the world as World Blood Donor Day. Its the birthday of Karl Landsteiner; the creator of the 'ABO blood group system'. The World Health Organization (WHO) chose this day to recognize millions of brave hearts who make a conscious effort in saving lives and improving the health of others by donating blood. 


Why should one donate blood?

Blood is called the gift of life, there is a constant need for  consistent supply of safe blood in all health units worldwide because blood can be stored for only a limited period time before use. This can only be ensured if a sufficient number of healthy people donate blood on a regular basis. 

Safe, germ-free blood not only saves lives but also improves health. Blood transfusion, or for that matter blood donation is needed for: 

• Accident patients 

• Many surgical and terminally ill patients 

• Women with pregnancy related complications, such as haemorrhage before,  
   during or after  childbirth 

• Children with severe anemia

• People with conditions such as thalassaemia, haemophilia, and sickle cell anemia. 

Health Benefits of Donating Blood:
  
Apart from the exalted feeling of saving someone's life, blood donation has other health benefits as well:

• Donating blood one can get rid of excess iron accumulated in the body due to its over consumption. Excess iron residues can stimulate formation of free radicals in the body, which are responsible for 
causing damage to various body cells and tissues. Free radicals are also associated with many ailments such as cardiac diseases and cancer

• Blood donation also helps to burn extra calories and reduces cholesterol level in the body. The count of blood cells decreases in the body after donating blood, which stimulates the bone marrow cells to produce new red blood corpuscles in order to replenish. As a result, the entire circulatory   system gets refreshed.

• There are no major disadvantages of donating blood, except that sometimes one may experience mild nausea or dizziness for a short while, or may experience a temporary drop in blood pressure. But given the amazing mental satisfaction and health benefits, one should never stop from donating blood. It is one of the noblest of all human acts, and a healthy individual should volunteer for it at least 4 to 5 times a year.