“If you see bleeding from any part of the body and there is no injury, run to your doctor, let him investigate it,” he advised.
According to Igbinoba, though elderly persons suffer cancer more, “ it is not confined to the elderly.’’
He explained that the older a person gets, the more chances of getting cancer due to more interaction with the environment, but stressed that this doesn’t rule out younger people.
Igbinoba advised people to take food in moderation, “I wouldn’t tell them stop eating this, stop eating that; let them take a lot of fruits and vegetables in their meals.’’
He also recommended regular physical exercise and advised women to go for cervical cancer vaccine called “gedecil,” which dispels the human papilloma virus from the body of the woman.
Regrettably, in spite of the prevalence of cancer, many enlightened persons do not care about early detection.
Out of 40 ladies who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and said they were aware of routine breast examination, only seven did the examination.
Out of the seven, three of them said they only carried out the self-examination “whenever they remember.’’
Miss Jemima Adamu, 25, attests to examining her breasts once in a while, usually whenever she remembers it.
“I might stay a whole year and I will not do it, so it is not like a regular thing; it is not always in my subconscious like my hair, but I do it once in a while.’’
The situation is not different with the men, who still indulge in heavy tobacco and alcohol intake, despite the linkage of the two to cancer.
Though a dreaded disease, the high incidence of deaths resulting from cancer could be reduced through advocacy as suggested by experts.
The relevant agencies and stakeholders should upscale public enlightenment on cancer. NANFeatures)