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Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for the very many encouraging and supportive comments! It has been wonderful to get such positive feedback towards the new format of the Berita Menopos. With your continued support, we are hopeful in bringing out a newsletter tailor made for the Malaysian man and woman, interested in the menopause either personally or professionally. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our

corporate sponsors for helping us financially with this newsletter, namely those with their products advertised in the following pages.

Many exciting events are coming up! Internationally, World Menopause Day is celebrated on 18th October of every year. Unfortunately, that falls right in the middle of the Ramadan and the fasting month in Malaysia. Thus the Malaysian Menopause Society is celebrating it on 1st October 2005. Please read on and mark your dates for this exciting event. Organised by Dr. Liew Fah Onn, this will definitely be as scintillating as the topics of discussion sound. Remember to register yourself and your friends as soon as you get this newsletter as it is marked to be a “sold out” event. What more, a FREE event (food and door gifts available)!!!

October is also a month for “breast cancer awareness”. In view of this, we have a guest article on “Understanding the risk factors in Breast Cancer” by Dr. Dev Anand who is a general surgeon with a great interest towards breast diseases. It would be covered in 2 parts with a continuation in the next issue. There are also FAQ’s on mammograms available for your general knowledge. Look after your breast, ladies! The Malaysian Cancer Registry has shown that the Malaysian woman in her forties to fifties has the highest risk towards breast cancer.

The second prize winning essay of the World Menopause Day 2004 event is in this issue. There are great tips towards keeping fit with exercise and of course some” short cuts”. Personally I am trying to follow it. Hopefully we will all see results by the time we all get together again.

The Cairo trip deadline has been extended to September 15th 2005, so all of you sitting on the fence get a move on and sign up. Don’t let all the bad political vibes get to you. The male aging page has been extended. We are discussing “depression” in this issue – a major symptom with the menopause whether you are a male or female.

I am still in the midst of collating all the information from the questionnaires you have returned from the last issue. I would have some feedback for you by the next issue. The festive season is coming up. Spend wisely and eat in moderation. Selamat Berpuasa, Selamat Hari Raya and a very advanced Happy Deepavali to all of you.

Till the next issue, keep in the best health and mind, always. Ciao

Dr. Premitha Damodaran
Editor, Berita Menopos