A large-scale survey on the health conditions of women in Chinese cities was released on Sunday. The study shows over 90 percent of women have health problems, especially office workers.

 

The survey was conducted in 2006 by Ciming Checkup, an authorized large-scale chain organization that examined around 300,000 women in its 22 branches across the country, including in Beijing, Shanghai and Jinhua, in eastern Zhejiang province. According to the report, 44.5 percent of the women surveyed had been diagnosed with breast diseases, 46.9 percent with cervical diseases, 4.4 percent with ovary cysts and 8.8 percent with uterine fibroids, the most common non-cancerous tumors in women of childbearing age.

 

President of Ciming Checkup, Han Xiaohong, emphasized that health checkups help detect breast cancer and cervical cancer at an earlier stage and warned that the death rate for those who don't take regular health checkups is about 30 percent higher.

 

Statistics from a large clinical survey also show that women who breast-feed long term are less likely to develop breast cancer. The study also shows that, women with higher education are also at higher risk of the disease, with the possibility of women with college degrees getting diseases 3.6 times higher than those without them. The fact that this highly educated group are usually highly paid, well nurtured, prone to late marriage, late child birth, and habitually take oral contraceptives, increases a woman's risk of breast cancer during her mature years.

 

Doctor Han Xiaohong also pointed out that breast diseases are obtained as a result of many factors, such as genetics, breast-feeding, eating habits, and also psychological reasons. These factors all increase the risk of breast cancer in women. She advised women to carry out regular breast checks and monitor their daily intake of fat and protein.

 

(CRI.cn May 28, 2007)