Breast Cancer Detection

Did you guys heard the news (TV3's Buletin Utama; 18/12/06) last night? A breakthrough in detecting breast cancer apart from using mammograph - checking using your hair cells. It catched my attention (and alarmed it) so much because I am having this problem with my hair that I couldn't find any solution (nor the name for the hair problem) for it. The usual "rambut berbuah".

You might say "Alaaaa... tu sebab you suka pakai tudung masa rambut you basah2..." Bear in mind ladies... this rambut of mine started to 'bear fruits' during the looong hiatus of unemployment (where I rarely went out & thus rarely wear tudung). I've done a lot of things, cut it, change treatment, etc. Not working AT ALL. Scary... I did look up on it over the internet, no scientific name to the problem, no remedies.

So, when I heard about that news, I was pulled to do some research on it. Wonder if the problem actually lies elsewhere... And I found this;

Breast cancer screening made easy
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. A team of Australian, American, and Japanese researchers report the development of a new, highly-accurate test for breast cancer. The test uses a single scalp or pubic hair and was found to be 100 per cent accurate in predicting the presence of breast cancer. The hair sample is examined by X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. Hair samples from breast cancer patients exhibit a characteristic change in their X-ray scattering patterns. In one trial, 23 out of 23 hair samples from breast cancer patients showed the characteristic pattern while only four out of 28 samples from healthy women had an abnormal scattering pattern. The test was also found to be useful in identifying women who were at greater risk of developing breast cancer either because of the presence of a genetic mutation or because of a family history of breast cancer. The researchers recommend further research into the sensitivity and specificity of the new test and conclude that this may lead to a simple and reliable screening method for breast cancer using a single hair.
James, Veronica, et al. Using hair to screen for breast cancer. Nature, Vol. 398, March 4, 1999, pp. 33-4 (scientific correspondence)

From: http://www.yourhealthbase.com/breast_cancer_detection.html

This is probably the 1st research regarding the usage of hair to detect breast cancer. But on the other hand, after further research by several others, it was claimed that the link between hair cells & cancer cells is dubious because hair cells growth themselves are not fully studied. So?? I was left with nothing else but more things to worry... heheheh...