Thalassaemia is a hereditary blood disorder in which the body makes an abnormal form of haemoglobin, resulting in excessive destruction of red blood cells, which leads to anaemia.
“Among patients over 35 years of age, 50 per cent or more said that they experience pain that affects their quality of life… (while) the younger patients were not as much,” he said.
Noting the tendency of people to “ignore symptoms until cancer has progressed to a late stage,” Shaikh Nahyan said an effective strategy is required to prevent the onset of the disease.
Despite the 54 recorded deaths due to breast cancer last year, mortality rate among the UAE nationals from the disease has significantly decreased from 11 per 100,000 women in 2009 to 5.6 per 100,000 women in 2012.