The Long Ride 2014

Being a woman and also prone to this killer cancer at any point in my life, I feel the importance to be able to help, reach out to and increase the awareness of Breast Cancer and how we can prevent it.

Breast Cancer in Asia is becoming increasingly concerning as there are currently more women in Asia dying from breast cancer than in the Western countries. This could be due to inherent cultural factors that cause women in Asia to not come forward for treatment or even screening for early detection of breast cancer. Which now explains the reason I'm writing this post.

A woman's probability of getting breast cancer can be attributed to the following risk factors:
- Gender
- Age
- Family history
- Hormones
- Diet
- Lack of Physical Activity
- Alcohol consumption
- Previous history of breast cancer and benign breast disease

However having said that, four in five women diagnosed with breast cancer have no known risk factors. That's the reason why women are then recommended this breast cancer screening schedule. Make sure you do your own self-examination or visit your trusted gynaecologist, any GP clinic or Polyclinic!

So back to The Long Ride, it is a journey by 2 breast surgeons, Dr Mikael Hartman and Dr Philip Lau, from Singapore, riding their motorbikes from Singapore to Stockholm, Sweden for breast cancer awareness and to raise funds for Asia breast cancer research.

The doctors ready to set off in Singapore!

Along the way, there will be conference stops at certain cities. So far, they have stopped by Penang (Malaysia), Chiangmai (Thailand), Kunming, Luzhou (China) and now in Almaty (Kazakhstan). Depending on the local program, the doctors will usually give lectures, participate in panel discussions, or attend symposiums, and almost always with press conferences and coverage.

At the Laos-China border

They have also partnered with a team of anthropologists from University of Copenhagen, headed by Dr Cynthia Chou, to look at this problem from an anthropological perspective. Dr Chou's team has already started on patient interviews in China, particularly in Kunming and Luzhou where she also attended our events there.

Right in the middle of a desert in Xinjiang

So here I am feeling the need to help the doctors with The Long Ride 2014, hoping to be able to reach out to more women (and men) in Asia to bring to light this urgent issue. Do spread the word if you have read my post and also remind one another about going for screenings! I, too will need to go for mine too!