Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among women. The aim of the current study was to assess the factors affecting awareness and beliefs regarding breast cancer, among women living in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among women living in Selangor aged 18 to 65 years old, with a total of 483 participants. A validated questionnaire regarding awareness and belief was used. The questionnaires consist of 25 questions comprising of socio-demographic, history of other diseases, awareness and belief. The prevalence of poor awareness among women was 63.4%. while the poor level of belief was 84.7%. There was a significant association between awareness and educational background, family history of breast cancer (P=0.001, P=0.032) respectively. The association between awareness and belief was significant (P=0.02). As a conclusion: There is a high level of poor belief and poor awareness among women in Selangor, Malaysia regarding breast cancer. Source of information such as the internet plays a major role in breast cancer prevention, and the majority of them do not know the technique of breast self-examination. More health promotion is needed to target general population through big campaign of awareness.

Background: The Diabetes Mellitus in the OffspringQuestionnaire (DMOQ) assesses the perceptions of Type 2diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients on the risk of theiroffspring developing T2DM and the possibility ofintervention to reduce this risk. It has 34 items framed withinseven domains. This study aimed to adapt, translate andvalidate the DMOQ from English into the Malay language.Methods: This was a cross-sectional validation study among159 T2DM patients attending a public primary care clinic inSelangor. The DMOQ English version underwent adaptation,translation, face validation and field testing to produce theMalay version. Psychometric analysis was performed usingExploratory Factor Analysis, internal consistency and testretestreliability.Results: The DMOQ domains were conceptually equivalentbetween English and Malay language. A total of 13 items andtwo domains were removed during the validation process(three items during the content validation, three items due topoor factor loadings, five items as they loaded onto twodomains which were not interpretable, one item as it did notfit conceptually into the factor it loaded onto and one openendedquestion as it did not fit into the retained domains).Therefore, the final DMOQ Malay version consisted of 21-items within five domains. The Cronbach alpha was 0.714and the intraclass-correlation coefficient was 0.868.Conclusion: The DMOQ Malay version is a valid and reliabletool which is consistent over time. It can be used to examinethe perception of T2DM patients towards the risk of theiroffspring developing diabetes and possibility of interventionin Malay-speaking patients.

This study was designed to examine the effects of histamine on gastric motility and its specific receptor in the circular smooth muscle of the human gastric corpus. Histamine mainly produced tonic relaxation in a concentration-dependent and reversible manner, although histamine enhanced contractility in a minor portion of tissues tested. Histamine-induced tonic relaxation was nerve-insensitive because pretreatment with nerve blockers cocktail (NBC) did not inhibit relaxation. Additionally, K+ channel blockers, such as tetraethylammonium (TEA), apamin (APA), and glibenclamide (Glib), had no effect. However, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and 1H-(1,2,4)oxadiazolo (4,3-A) quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), an inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), did inhibit histamine-induced tonic relaxation. In particular, histamine-induced tonic relaxation was converted to tonic contraction by pretreatment with L-NAME. Ranitidine, the H2 receptor blocker, inhibited histamine-induced tonic relaxation. These findings suggest that histamine produced relaxation in circular smooth muscle of human gastric smooth muscle through H2 receptor and NO/sGC pathways.
Apamin ; Glyburide ; Guanylate Cyclase ; Histamine ; Humans ; Muscle, Smooth* ; Nerve Block ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Nitric Oxide* ; Ranitidine ; Receptors, Histamine H2 ; Relaxation* ; Tetraethylammonium

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is an increasingly common liver disease worldwide. MAFLD is diagnosed based on the presence of steatosis on images, histological findings, or serum marker levels as well as the presence of at least one of the three metabolic features: overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic risk factors. MAFLD is not only a liver disease but also a factor contributing to or related to cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which is the major etiology responsible for morbidity and mortality in patients with MAFLD. Hence, understanding the association between MAFLD and CVD, surveillance and risk stratification of MAFLD in patients with CVD, and assessment of the current status of MAFLD management are urgent requirements for both hepatologists and cardiologists. This Taiwan position statement reviews the literature and provides suggestions regarding the epidemiology, etiology, risk factors, risk stratification, nonpharmacological interventions, and potential drug treatments of MAFLD, focusing on its association with CVD.