Health problems do not discriminate between age and gender, and those who have been known to lead the healthiest of lifestyles could also fall prey to unexpected, life-threatening diseases.

Even the rich and famous are not exempt from life’s calamities. Take the late Charlie’s Angels actress Farrah Fawcett for example. She didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, she exercised daily and she believed in good health. That didn’t stop her from falling sick.

In 2009, the iconic 62-year-old succumbed to anal cancer after a long, hard battle with the killer disease.

In the United States, about 1.3 million new cancer cases are diagnosed every year; every 29 seconds someone suffers a coronary event; and every 45 minutes, someone suffers a stroke.

In Malaysia, medical costs for cancer treatment can go up to RM300,000 while kidney failure could cost you RM150,000 or more. Meanwhile, major organ transplants could amount up to RM100,000.

According to a former cancer patient, a standard radiotherapy regiment of 35 sessions cost RM2,000 in 1999. Ten years later in 2009, it costs a whopping RM35,000 - although it should be noted that today's treatment is better targeted and more localised than it was before.

Dr Suwinski says there are four levels of therapy classification. In 2008, standard, basic-level breast cancer treatment in private hospitals costs RM20,000 to RM30,000, but this can go well beyond RM100,000 for the maximum level, which uses the latest-available therapeutics.