Research on ageing men

Star: There was a flurry of activities at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) last Sunday when the first group of almost 200 men turned up for a health study.
They were part of the 1,046 men chosen to take part in the Subang Longitudinal Study on the Ageing Men (SAM).
According to Hospital Universiti Kebang-saan Malaysia urologist and senior lecturer Dr Lee Boon Cheok, 38, the objective of the rese-arch is to identify important reversible risk factors that can potentially affect men’s health and their quality of life.
“This will help in the development of a future health intervention programme in Malaysia to emphasise greater awareness of the importance of men's health,” Lee said.
The study involves men above 40 years old in Subang Jaya and Kelana Jaya and will be conducted over 10 years.
“Participants were invited by post and telephone calls and we've interviewed them before this,” he said.
The first 200 participants were at the SJMC to fill in questionnaires, take a blood test and undergo a physical examination, facilitated by researchers led by chief researcher Datuk Dr Tan Hui Meng, an Universiti Malaya medical faculty adjunct professor.
“We hope that the rest of the respondents will show up over the next few days,” Lee said.