India, Aug. 11 -- For many years, the rule has strictly been comfort and complacency. Get yourself checked once you are 50 or older; never before that. Disease age in India outpaces chronological age. We suffer from diabetes, fatty liver disease, and coronary heart disease at least a decade earlier than our counterparts in the West. There is global evidence that colorectal, breast, and stomach cancers have been emerging well before the previous cut-off limits of screening tests.

It is equivalent to aligning your watch with another country's time zone and being puzzled why you are always late. "As a cancer surgeon, I can tell people one thing for sure. This habit is nothing but a silent killer that is quietly taking the lives of many youn...