Advice for People With Health Conditions That Will Be Fasting This Ramadan

WORDS LIM TECK CHOON

For the upcoming fasting month, we are pleased to share some important advice from the good people at Alpro Pharmacy.

WILL THE USE OF INHALERS INVALIDATE YOUR FASTING?
  • There are 2 types of inhalers: ‘preventer’ inhalers and ‘reliever’ inhalers. If you are unsure which of your inhalers is which, check with your doctor.
  • While fasting, you should continue to use your preventer inhalers, typically twice a day—before sahur and before you go to bed. It’s best to check with your doctor how often and when you should use your preventer inhaler.
  • Use your reliever inhalers when you have an asthma attack.
WILL FASTING PUT YOU AT RISK OF DEHYDRATION OR LOW BLOOD GLUCOSE (HYPOGLYCAEMIA)?
  • If you have diabetes, check your blood glucose 2 hours after sahur and when you experience symptoms such as dizziness, cold sweat, blurred vision, and shivering. Checking your blood glucose won’t invalidate your fasting.
  • If your blood glucose level is below 3.9 mmol/L, you will need to break your fast for the sake of your health.
  • People with diabetes shouldn’t delay breaking their fast. Keep some dates with you if you have diabetes and you’re fasting. That way, when you’re still stuck in traffic or at work during iftar, you can break your fast with 1 or 2 dates.
  • Eat foods rich in dietary fibre for optimal blood glucose control during the fasting month. Dietary fibre helps keep you feel full longer and stabilize your blood glucose levels.
HOW TO FAST WHEN YOU HAVE GASTRIC PROBLEMS
  • If you have gastric problems, break your fast by eating moderate amounts of foods.
  • Avoid eating fried foods and gassy drinks in too much amounts or too quickly.
  • Also, it’s best to avoid drinks that are high in caffeine, such as coffee.

MIASA Launches Young Advocates for Mental Health Programme on International Women’s Day

WORDS LIM TECK CHOON

In conjunction with International Women’s Day, the Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA) hosted a half-day event at Royale Chulan, The Curve (Kuala Lumpur) on March 11, 2023.

TRANSCENDING ALL BOUNDARIES: BE REVOLUTIONARY

The theme of International Women’s Day this year, ‘Transcending All Boundaries: Be Revolutionary’,  calls for the championing of efforts that will empower women in spite of continuing challenges faced across many sectors of society.

The Founder and President of MIASA, Puan Anita Abu Bakar, outlines the different barriers faced by women due to various cultural and societal norms, which are further compounded and exacerbated for those who have a particular disability or struggles with their mental health.

“When women find it hard to talk about difficult feelings, they tend to internalize them,” she says. “This can lead to depression, eating disorders, and self-harm.”

She shares that past statistics indicated that around 1 in 5 women faces a mental health challenge such as depression and anxiety.

“So, today, we want to let every woman know that there is help, there is support, there is recovery when facing mental health issues. No one has to struggle alone. You don’t have to struggle alone,” she asserts.

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS ACROSS ALL GENDERS, BECAUSE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES DON’T DISCRIMINATE 

While MIASA champions and supports the efforts to empower women across various social and political sectors of life in Malaysia, the association also is well aware that mental health issues do not discriminate based on one’s gender.

Hence, to achieve the goals and objectives of the association, Puan Anita highlights that broad discussions of gender stereotypes and gender equity should not be restricted to only barriers faced by women.

“In our work within the mental health field in particular, we have a front-row seat to witness the harmful effects gender stereotypes can have not only on women but men too, namely when it comes to expressing one’s feelings. For example, we know that many young boys are implicitly taught to believe that they need to ‘man up’ and that crying is a sign of weakness for example,” she explains.

“So let’s take this opportunity to acknowledge those barriers and boundaries as well, and ensure that all of us, man and woman alike, work harmoniously together to ensure gender equity from all sides,” she concludes.

LAUNCH OF YOUNG ADVOCATES FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMME TO ACHIEVE GENDER EQUITY THROUGH A ZERO-STIGMA GENERATION 

This inaugural programme from MIASA will build on the importance of building a generation free of stigma and discrimination—the zero stigma generation.

The MIASA Young Advocates for Mental Health programme is a 6-month programme that provides a platform for young people to:

  • Learn about mental health and mental health conditions
  • Understand the stigma and discrimination around mental health
  • Acquire qualities and skills of an effective advocate
  • Receive access to the different resources that support people struggling with mental health issues.

“It is a programme that also goes beyond acquiring knowledge; it provides participants hands-on experience with mental health peers through the shadowing sessions,” Puan Anita further elaborates.

For more information on MIASA and its mental health services as well as programmes, you can visit their website by clicking here (link opens in a new tab).

Can Stress Cause Heart Diseases in Young Adults? A Cardiologist Explains

WORDS LIM TECK CHOON

HOW COMMON IS HEART DISEASE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS? 
Dr Timothy:

Heart disease is common. In general, the risk factors are:

  • Male gender
  • Advancing age
  • Smoking
  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure or hypertension
  • High levels of fats in the blood or hyperlipidaemia
  • Family history
  • Physical inactivity.

Young people that develop heart disease often are significantly overweight, or they have smoking or uncontrolled diabetes from young as major risk factors.

HOW ABOUT FATAL HEART DISEASE?
Dr Timothy:

Fatal heart disease is rare in otherwise apparently fit young people.

Nonetheless, we all know of people that have heart attacks or those who even collapse at a young age.

In many cases there is an underlying driving factor, such as smoking, or an underlying heart muscle defect such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

CAN STRESS INCREASE A YOUNG ADULT’S RISK OF HEART DISEASE?
Dr Timothy:

Stress may also play a role, but this is hard to define. Stress is a very personal matter.

For example, some people thrive in stressful environments, while others struggle. How this translates into cardiac risk is not clear-cut, especially as there is no universal definition or measurement scale for stress.

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO YOUNGER ADULTS WHEN IT COMES TO STRESS MANAGEMENT?
Dr Timothy:

We all feel stressed. Sometimes it can be a motivating factor, but sometimes it can be overwhelming and daunting.

It is important to be comfortable and happy in life. Find things you enjoy.

Work hard but don’t do things to excess. This includes overworking, overeating, etc.

Find a job you enjoy. After all, you will spend a significant amount of your time at work.

Find time to relax yourself and keep your body fit and healthy. A simple evening walk may be enough. Jogging or cycling with your family may be even better.

Expert Coalition to Educate Malaysians & Prevent Another COVID-19 Surge

PRESS RELEASE
COVID-19 IS STILL A THREAT

As we welcomed 2023, China reported a huge spike in daily COVID-19 cases during the end of year holiday seasons 2022.

After a period of pandemic fatigue and indifference, the event sparked sudden and short-lived fear and caution among the global as well as Malaysian community.

The news triggered some Malaysians to be up in arms, calling for a ban on travellers from China and reinforcement of pandemic SOPs such as the mandatory wearing of mask in public areas.

Nonetheless, the interest soon died down as other headlines made their way in the news.

It appears that it is only when crises are about to hit our shores that we react.

In fact, as highlighted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), we need to always be prepared and cannot afford to be reactive.

On January 27, 2023, it announced and reminded member countries that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency of international concern.

WHO compared 28-days data between Dec 5, 2022 to Jan 1, 2023 and Jan 2 to Jan 29, 2023.

It found that although the number of cases reported decreased by 78%, the number of deaths increased steeply by 65%.

This result is mainly due to the large wave of cases and deaths in the Western Pacific Region, especially in China.

WHO further states that the numbers may be an underestimation due to the reduction in testing and delay in reporting in many countries.

STAY VIGILANT & PROTECT THE VULNERABLE

3 years into the pandemic, Malaysia has reported more than 5 million cases and over 36,000 deaths.

In 2021, it became the main cause of death in Malaysia, overtaking heart disease.

The risk of death is higher among:

  • Those above 60 years
  • Individuals with underlying health conditions
  • Unvaccinated individuals

According to MOH data between Jan 1, 2022 to July 31, 2022, 75% of COVID-19 deaths were among individuals 60 years and above, and 86% of deaths were among those with at least one underlying health condition .

Compared to the first year of pandemic, we are now more prepared to curb COVID-19 due to advancement in preventive measures, rapid diagnoses, and management tools such as vaccination, rapid test kits (RTK) as well as early treatment with antivirals.

These tools are important particularly to prevent severe COVID-19, keeping individuals especially those with risk factors away from hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and ultimately death.

Nonetheless, these tools will only be useful if they are being utilized optimally.

While Malaysians were quick on the uptake of primary COVID-19 vaccination doses, the uptake of booster doses are very poor with only 49.7% uptake of the 1st booster and a mere 1.6% of the 2nd booster (as of Feb 7, 2023) .

While no concrete data is available, there are good reasons to believe that due to pandemic fatigue, people are now less likely to test and seek treatment for COVID-19.

It is also important to note that antiviral treatment needs to be taken within the first 5 days of symptom onset. Thus, speed is of the essence.

We cannot risk another surge of COVID-19 globally or locally as it would put a toll on our healthcare system and risk overwhelming it.

In addition to COVID-19, we are also facing the threat of other respiratory illnesses such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

As it stands, we are currently experiencing overcrowding in Emergency Departments.

Hence, it is crucial that we answer the calls of WHO and the Ministry of Health Malaysia to continue urging the public especially those who are in the high-risk groups (older persons, individuals with underlying medical conditions) to take precautions against COVID-19.

OUR CAMPAIGN

The Malaysian Society of Infection Control and Infectious Diseases (MyICID) in collaboration with the Family Medicine Association Malaysia (FMSA) and Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) are organising an educational campaign themed COVID-19: QUICKLY TEST & TREAT.

Our objectives

This campaign aims to urge the public especially individuals who are at high-risk as well as their family members to continue protecting themselves and others from severe COVID-19 by:

  • Getting primary and booster doses
  • Testing immediately upon onset of symptoms
  • Seeking early treatment, within the first five days of symptoms

Our campaign’s panel of experts

  • Dr Alif Adlan Mohd Thabit Infectious disease physician
  • Dr Ang Peng Peng Infectious disease physician
  • Dr Suriani Sulaiman Family medicine specialist
  • Dr Balachandran S Krishnan General practitioner
THIS IS A PUBLIC COMMUNITY MESSAGE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Have Diabetes? Here’s an Improved Way to Track Your Blood Sugars

WORDS LIM TECK CHOON

Continuous glucose monitoring (often abbreviated as CGM) is basically a system that allows one’s blood glucose levels to be monitored automatically.

HELPS TO IMPROVE YOUR DIABETES MANAGEMENT

This system opens up a world of opportunities for better blood glucose management for people with type 1 diabetes as well as those on type 2 diabetes that require insulin.

After all, with information of their blood glucose levels that can be obtained immediately, they can make quick informed decisions about their food choices and the dosage of their insulin as well as when to administer it.

LETS YOU ANTICIPATE A POTENTIAL INCOMING MEDICAL EMERGENCY

The ability to observe the pattern of the rise and fall of their blood glucose also allows them to be alert of the possibility of a hypo- or hyperglycaemic episode, and take prompt measures accordingly.

NOT JUST FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES

Additionally, continuous glucose monitoring can also benefit people with kidney problems as well as pregnant women worried about gestational diabetes.

RECOMMENDED BY EXPERTS 

It’s really not surprising, therefore, that the 23rd Hong Kong Diabetes and Cardiovascular Risk Factors—East Meets West Symposium reported a growing consensus on the definitions and targets of continuous glucose monitoring metrics to allow healthcare professionals and people with diabetes to make full use of this system in diabetes management.

Indeed, the United Kingdom has already taken steps to do this.

All in all, this is a remarkable example of how technology is making diabetes management, which can be complex and confusing to some people, considerably easier to figure out and implement correctly!

Continuous glucose monitoring is a feature in certain types of blood glucose monitor or glucometer. You can talk to your doctor or your pharmacist for more information on continuous glucose monitoring and whether you can benefit from using a glucometer that comes with this feature.

Reference: Oliver, N., Chow, E., Luk, A. O. Y., & Murphy, H. (2023). Applications of continuous glucose monitoring across settings and populations: report from the 23rd Hong Kong Diabetes and Cardiovascular Risk Factors – East Meets West Symposium. Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association, e15038. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/dme.15038

Highlights of the Safe Medication Disposal Practices Roundtable

WORDS LIM TECK CHOON

Alpro Pharmacy hosted an industry roundtable, called Safe Medication Disposal Practices in Malaysia–Past, Present & Future, on 15th December 2022 at Monash University Malaysia.

HIGHLIGHT #1
THE NEED FOR PROPER DISPOSAL OF MEDICINES
  • According to Foon Hwei Foong from Malaysian Community Pharmacy Guild, unwanted medications disposed into landfills are reabsorbed by water streams. This means that these medications eventually leads back to the water that we drink.
  • Dr Saw Pui San, a lecturer from Monash University Malaysia’s School of Pharmacy, cited how irresponsibly discarded contraceptive medicines ended up in our waterways and caused the sterilization of fishes.
  • Antibiotics are strictly regulated prescription medication, and many efforts were made to prevent antibiotic resistance. However, another often overlooked possible cause of antibiotic resistance is the leakage of improperly discarded antibiotics into our water systems.
HIGHLIGHT #2
THE POLICY IS THERE, BUT THE AWARENESS AMONG THE PUBLIC IS LACKING
  • Amrahi Buang, President of the Malaysian Pharmacists Society, stated that laws and policies are in place across all access points of medication distribution in this country, with the Malaysian National Medicines Policy (MNPP) clearly stating the measurements and governance in place for medication safety.
  • He opined that health and medication literacy is still lacking within the Malaysia public, hence the need for an pharmaceutical industry medium to act as an education platform for the public.
  • Furthermore, he stated that pharmacists are strongly encouraged to start working collaboratively with their colleagues as well as other key players in the pharmaceutical industry to educate on, implement, and practice safe medication disposal.
  • Ostwin Paw, the CEO of Alpro Foundation, called for leaders in the industry to kickstart the conversation on the impact and risks of unsafe medication disposal methods on the environment.
HIGHLIGHT #3
ALPRO PHARMACY HELPS TO LEAD THE WAY 
  • Lim En Ni, the Chief Pharmacist of Alpro Pharmacy, shared that Alpro Pharmacy launched the Safe Medication Disposal campaign in 2021 in a joint effort with several key pharmaceutical companies in the country.
  • To date, the initiative has safely disposed more than 1,000 kg of medication waste as well as garnered more than 100,000 signatures from the community pledging their support within 3 months since July 2022.
One of the key initiatives of the Safe Medication Disposal campaign is the placement of dedicated medication disposal bins at all Alpro Pharmacy outlets nationwide to collect excess medicines for proper and ethical disposal. For more information on this as well as on proper medical disposal, click here to visit the Safe Medical Disposal Campaign webpage (link opens in a new tab).

Hoping for a Baby? These Multivitamins May Increase Your Odds of Success!

WORDS LIM TECK CHOON

Data from a recent study conducted by Singaporean researchers suggests that multivitamin supplements that contain folic acid and iodine may be beneficial to women that are planning and hoping to conceive a child.

WHAT THE STUDY DID

The investigators interviewed 908 women between 18 and 45 years old that were trying to conceive. These women were enrolled in the Singapore PREconception Study of long-Term maternal and child Outcomes (S-PRESTO).

As an aside, S-PRESTO is a large-scale study on the effects of nutrition, lifestyle, and maternal mood prior to and during pregnancy on the effects of the baby’s genetic materials and the presence clinically important outcomes of the pregnancy. This study is beyond the scope of this article, though!

Back to this study, the investigators were interested in 2 things:

  1. Fecundity, or the measure of the chances of successful pregnancy
  2. Time to pregnancy, or the time between the first moment when the woman tries to conceive and the time of successful conception
WHAT THE INVESTIGATORS FOUND
  1. Multivitamins containing folic acid and iodine improve the success rate of having a baby when compared to those that do not take these supplements.
  2. These multivitamins also are linked to shorter time to pregnancy.
  3. Vitamins D and E do not show any significant improvements to pregnancy success rate and time to pregnancy.
  4. On the other hand, consumption of evening primrose oil is linked to lower pregnancy success rate and slightly longer time to pregnancy, compared to those that do not take this supplement.
WHY FOLIC ACID?

Folic acid, or vitamin B9, plays a role in breaking down and reducing the levels of an amino acid called homocysteine in the body.

High levels of homocysteine can cause effects that can affect fertility, such as increasing the ageing rate of a woman’s eggs and triggering the death of trophoblasts, which are cells of the outer layer of the developing embryo that helps it to attach to the woman’s endometrium for further development, protect the embryo, and eventually form the placenta.

Hence, by reducing the effects of high levels of homocysteine, folic acid can help improve the chances of a successful pregnancy.

HOW ABOUT IODINE?

Past tests on animals suggested that iodine can help improve the regulation of ovulation, increase the odds of a successful fertilization of an egg by a sperm cell following sexual intercourse, and promote successful implantation of the fertilized egg into the endometrium of the woman for further development.

Iodine also plays an important role in the development of nerve and brain cells of the foetus.

HOWEVER, SOME POINTS TO NOTE BEFORE YOU RUSH TO THE PHARMACY!

The investigators noted that more research is needed before we can make any conclusive statements about the effects of folic acid and iodine on one’s hopes of a successful pregnancy.

For example, their study did not measure the exact amounts of these nutrients that will work best on a woman hoping to conceive, and more research would be needed to determine whether their results can be replicated.

However, they believed that women trying to conceive could potentially benefit from taking multivitamin supplements containing these two nutrients, when this is also done in conjunction with other beneficial lifestyle modifications such as being physically active and cutting down on smoking and alcohol intake.

Reference: Ku, C. W., Ku, C. O., Tay, L. P. C., Xing, H. K., Cheung, Y. B., Godfrey, K. M., Colega, M. T., Teo, C., Tan, K. M. L., Chong, Y. S., Shek, L. P., Tan, K. H., Chan, S. Y., Lim, S. X., Chong, M. F., Yap, F., Chan, J. K. Y., & Loy, S. L. (2022). Dietary supplement intake and fecundability in a Singapore preconception cohort study. Nutrients, 14(23), 5110. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14235110

Thinking of Traveling? Get These Tips to Keep Yourself Flu-free!

DATUK DR CHRISTOPHER LEE
Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician
Member of the Malaysian Influenza Working Group
FLU FACTS THAT ARE NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT
  1. On board the plane, you have an 80% chance of getting the flu if there is an infected person–who may or may not have symptoms–sitting one row in front or behind you, within 2 seats to either side.
  2. Flu viruses can survive for up to 48 hours on certain surfaces, including your overhead compartment handle, seat-belt buckle, video screen, food tray, arm-rest, and control panel.
  3. You can try disinfecting the items mentioned in the above point, but it would be impractical to disinfect everything you will touch when you land, such as your luggage bag, trolley, the toilet flush, car door handle and so on.
TRAVELING SOON? HERE ARE 2 SIMPLE TIPS

Tip 1: Follow the COVID-19 SOPs when possible
Masking, although no longer promoted in most countries, may help reduce the chances of catching the flu.

However, it is less effective when those around you are not masked. This is where the next tip comes in.

Tip 2: Get the flu shot
The additional protection conferred by the annual flu vaccination is therefore recommended to prevent the disease.

When injected, the vaccine introduces inactivated flu viruses into the body. These have been killed and are unable to cause disease.

Instead, they stimulate your body to produce antibodies that will spring to your defense if you happen to be exposed to the flu.

Allow 2 weeks to reach the desired level of immunity before flying off.

MORE ABOUT THE FLU VACCINE
It gives you a better shot at beating the flu and reducing your risks of heart problems 

Flu vaccination helps prevent severe flu-related infection, hospitalization, and death . It is also associated with a 34% lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events . There was also an 18% reduced risk of death reported in patients with heart failure .

In people with type 2 diabetes, flu vaccination has been associated with a reduced risk of heart failure by 22%, stroke by 30%, heart attack by 19% and pneumonia by 15% .

With the COVID-19, flu, & RSV triple threat in the northern hemisphere, the flu shot is a good bet 

Noting that flu viruses mutate constantly, Datuk Dr Christopher Lee explains that currently available flu vaccines have been updated to effectively fight virus sub-types that are circulating in the northern hemisphere at this time.

“This will help reduce your risk of contracting the disease. The flu vaccination is recommended for those travelling abroad, especially high-risk groups as the importation of flu cases through air travel can result in the spread of flu within the community,” he adds. “So, if you have not been vaccinated against the flu, now is a good time to get it done. The annual flu vaccination is your passport to healthy holidays. Don’t leave home without it.”

This article was contributed by the Flu Prevention is An Act of Love campaign under Immunise4Life, a major initiative to promote life course vaccination by the Ministry of Health, Malaysian Paediatric Association, and the Malaysian Society of Infectious Diseases & Chemotherapy. Learn more at actoflove.ifl.my (link opens in a new tab).

Read This Before You Reach for Your Snacks This FIFA World Cup Season

WORDS LIM CHAIN YIN

LIM CHAIN YIN
SEA Nutrition Lead
Mondelēz International
TIP 1
Portion Out Your Snack
  1. Be sure to pace yourself throughout the equal halves.
  2. Once you’ve decided what you want to eat, portion it out. This can help you slow down, so that you enjoy your snack.
  3. Check in with yourself to see if you’re full and satisfied before having another portion.
  4. To keep tabs on how much you eat, always check the serving size per package on the label and put your snack in a bowl or on a plate.
TIP 2
Alter Your Choices

If you’re watching the game late at night, you might have a craving for something to eat. Remember that your body works harder when it’s sleeping, so try to snack on something light that will give you energy to keep going, but won’t make it hard for your body to digest.

TIP 3
Enjoy Every Bite

Snacking while engaging in other activities—in this case, watching the game—can easily lead to unconsciously eating more than you should.

  1. Take a moment during the interval to savour your snack with all of your senses. To fully enjoy your snacking experience, pay attention to the smell, taste, texture, shape, and colour of your food.
  2. Take small bites and chew slowly and be sure to finish one bite before starting the next.
TIP 4
Put Your Snacks Out of Reach

When watching a game in your living room, make sure your snacks are beyond arm’s reach. That way, you will be less likely to keep going back for more and inadvertently grab more than you need.

TIP 5
Drink Water, Lots of It!

Your brain tends to trick you into wanting to snack more, but you might just be thirsty. So, drink a glass of water and wait for a couple of minutes before deciding whether or not you’re hungry.

Snacking mindfully is a simple way to tune into your body’s needs. It can be practised by anyone, anywhere, and at any age. It is a great habit in cultivating a positive relationship with food by making deliberate and conscious choices to promote your well-being as well as keeping a balanced lifestyle. But habits take time to build and change, so taking small steps is a good way to start out!

Keep the Hope of Pregnancy Alive in Spite of Breast Cancer

WORDS LIM TECK CHOON

DR CHRISTINA LAI NYE BING
Consultant Clinical Oncologist
Sunway Medical Centre
DR HOO MEI LIN
Consultant Gynaecologist and Fertility Specialist
Sunway Medical Centre
WHY IS BREAST CANCER SO PREVALENT AMONG YOUNGER WOMEN THESE DAYS?

Aside from unhealthy diet and exposure to cancer-causing chemicals or carcinogens in the environment, Dr Christina Lai Nye Bing shares that one possible factor is that women are choosing to marry and have children at a later age.

This somewhat paradoxical concept can be explained by the link between breast cancer and the female sex hormone oestrogen.

“Breast cancer is a hormone-related cancer, and high levels of oestrogen in the body increases the risk of breast cancer as it encourages cancer cells to grow by promoting cell division and reproduction,” Dr Christina explains. “Women in the previous generation who get married and have children earlier have a lower risk of breast cancer, as the oestrogen in their body decreases when they are pregnant and choose to breastfeed.”

IS PREGNANCY IMPOSSIBLE AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY?

Given that chemotherapy plays a big part in the treatment regime of many women with breast cancer, this raises the concern of whether the dream of having a family in the future an impossible one for them.

The unfortunate truth is that chemotherapy affects a woman’s fertility, with a 40% to 80% chance of early menopause.

The ovaries stop producing eggs upon menopause, so with that, the dream dies… or does it?

While Dr Hoo Mei Lin admits that the damage to the ovaries due to chemotherapy is irreversible, there is still a glimmer of hope.

“Patients can plan ahead, as conservation methods such as embryo freezing, egg freezing, and ovarian tissue freezing are available to enable patients to fulfil their wish of having children,” she shares.

Egg and ovarian freezing are suitable options for women that do not have a partner prior to having to undergo chemotherapy.

KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE

Dr Hoo advises breast cancer patients to have an open mind about their future and even consider having children.

After all, breast cancer patients under the age of 45 have an 80% survival rate after treatment!

“With the rapid advances in medical technology today, there is hope for breast cancer patients and survivors to plan their future. Technologies like egg and embryo freezing gives them the opportunity to have children in the future,” she says.

When it comes to cancer diagnosis, the focus is often about treating it, making fertility an afterthought. However, with the advancement in medical technology, surviving a cancer diagnosis is becoming increasingly successful hence, it is important to speak to your doctor as there are ways to help preserve fertility.