When is a mastectomy really required to prevent breast cancer? (Thinkstock photo)

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie announced she has had both her breasts removed in February to reduce her high genetic risk of breast cancer. The surgery, called double mastectomy, brought down her risk from 87 per cent to about 5 per cent.

The announcement took her fans by surprise and has become headline news around the world, including Singapore. Fans are wondering if the preventive procedure was really necessary and how common is it.

In Singapore, preventive mastectomy is performed for rare patients who, like Angelina, carry specific mutated genes.

“Carriers of mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have more than a 50 per cent risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime. When that mutation is detected, our recommendation would be to perform a preventive double mastectomy, usually when the woman is in her 30s,” says Dr Hong Ga Sze, Head and Senior Consultant, KK Breast Department, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).

“Before such a surgery is performed, a patient will

Just by looking at the physical differences of people around you, it's pretty clear that we are all different. That's why there can be few fixed "rules" for what the best kind of nutrition plan is for each person.

That's why some people at Genesis Gym are getting great results on very low carbohydrate diets. While others are eating more than or almost TWO kilograms of starch each day.

(You can find out more about different kinds of diets in my other article here)

But no matter who you are, or which nutrition expert you ask, there is ONE thing that 99.99% of them are likely to agree on. If people did this, we would get a lot less chronic disease, a lot less obesity, and a lot more positive effects like glowing skin, better sleep, and less constipation.

Here it is:

We need to eat more veggies than we currently do.

So, how much is enough?

I like to ask for 6-8 servings a day for ladies, and 10-12 for men. One serving is about the size of your fist when uncooked.

Every year we do almost a thousand

Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed only in advanced stages. (Thinkstock photo)

Ovarian cancer, often referred to as a “silent killer” because of its lack of specific symptoms, is striking more women in Singapore, with its incidence doubling in the past 30 years.

The age-standardised rate of ovarian cancer in Singapore has increased from six per 100,000 women per year in 1975 to 12 per 100,000 women per year in 2005.

However, the treatment options for this deadly cancer have also increased. Now a new post-surgery method, known as targeted therapy, can be used in combination with conventional chemotherapy to block the growth of cancer cells.

“On average, more than 250 cases are diagnosed annually and there are about 90 deaths per year. The high mortality is attributed to the fact that ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed in advanced stages,” says Dr Timothy Lim Yong Kuei, Consultant and Head, Pre-invasive Disease and Screening Unit, Department of Gynaecological Oncology, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital sees about 100 to 150

Eating a balanced diet and getting sufficient exercise are crucial to maintain a healthy weight. (Thinkstock photo)

Weight gain is common as we age. As you move through your 20s on to your 30s, you may notice subtle changes in your waistline, and an increasing tendency to gain weight.

Many attribute age-related weight gain to a slowing metabolism. Slow metabolism however is rare, and it’s usually not what’s behind being overweight or obese. Rather than slow metabolism, factors more likely to contribute to weight gain with ageing include:

1. Overconsumption of calories
2. Physical inactivity
3. Genetics and family history
4. Certain medications
5. Unhealthy lifestyle habits such as skipping breakfast or not getting enough sleep

We should however be mindful that metabolic rate does change as we get older because of the decline in our muscle mass. This reduction in muscle mass begins relatively early at the age 35, becomes more profound with time and continues until the end of our life.

Since our resting metabolic rate is dependent on our body composition – muscle being more metabolically active and burning more

Have you ever wanted to have the body of your favorite actress/actor, model or athlete? That's not a bad thing, and looking like actress A or sportsman B is quite a common "request" that we get during our initial consultations at Genesis Gym.

However, we need to know what we are wishing for! Here are some reasons that may not be the best idea.

Reason 1: We are looking for the fake version of the person

In case you didn't know, photoshop and make-up are pretty magical. So we need to be aware of what the real person actually looks like. Here are some examples of this.

Miss Korea Contestants. Mostly attractive ladies, but quite normal without makeup.

Bodybuilders on stage (a few days a year) vs the rest of the time. That is the nature of the sport at the professional level, but that's just not the look most guys are going for. And we want to look great all year round!

So we need to understand that for most of us, we need a long term, sustainable goal, not an ideal that is manipulated, or only

During a medical emergency, always make a quick assessment of the situation first. (Thinkstock photo)

The A&E (Accident and Emergency) departments of public hospitals have been seeing a continuous rise in the number of patients for the past five years – going up by approximately 5.4 percentage or an additional 36,000 visits per annum.

However, the main cause for this increase isn’t a rise in the number of actual emergency cases in Singapore.

On the contrary, based on recent studies conducted at public hospitals including Singapore General Hospital (SGH), more than half of the cases that the A&E sees are for non-emergencies or what hospitals classify as P3 (Priority 3) cases.

Hence, if you require medical attention, before you head straight for the nearest emergency department, quickly assess the situation and see if it warrants emergency treatment.

“Doing this simple initial step can help save lives as it frees up A&Es of non-emergency cases. Plus, if you have a non-emergency condition and visit a GP instead, you’ll probably get treated sooner,” says Dr Jeremy Wee, Consultant,

Different diets suit different folks. (Getty Images)

Whenever a person comes in for a consultation with us at Genesis Gym, one of the key questions my team and I ask is, "What kind of food do you eat every day?" About half of all the people we consult with say that they have been on some kind of diet in the past. Some had good results, and some had terrible results with the same diet.

How can this be?

Because everyone is different!

Here is a summary of some of the popular methods of dieting, and their pros and cons. This information is collected from what my team and I have seen from more than 3,000 data points i.e. clients we train for at least 3 months, tracking their nutrition, training and results.

While our gym locations are not "universities" with big budgets for research, we are very particular about tracking data, and we have no motive other than helping clients get results!

• Atkins Diet - very low carbohydrates, eat protein and fat in an unlimited way

Pros: Most people eat too many carbs to begin with, leading to excess fat gain

Before going overseas, make visiting a travel clinic your first stop and get the necessary vaccines you need to stay protected. (Thinkstock photo)

Cases of rabies may be unheard of in Singapore, but you may want to take precautions if you are travelling overseas. Left untreated, this viral infection of the nervous system is nearly always fatal.

Annually, there are about 50,000 deaths from rabies in Asia and Africa. In a majority of these cases, infection is transmitted by dog bites and scratches. Besides dog bites, rabies can also be spread by infected bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes.

“An animal infected with rabies carries the virus in its saliva. When it bites, it can transmit the infection to a human,” explains Dr Limin Wijaya, Consultant, Travel Clinic, Singapore General Hospital (SGH). “The virus can also spread if you come into contact with the animal’s saliva through broken skin like cuts and scratches.”

One of the most recognisable signs of a rabies infection is a tingling or twitching sensation around the bite area. This is often accompanied by a fever, headache, muscle aches, loss of appetite, nausea and fatigue.

But