October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Did You Know That only five per cent of breast cancer is directly linked to inherited faults in our genes? The majority of cases are linked to a number of risk factors, such as putting on weight, diet, lack of exercise, whether or not we have children and the use of hormone pills. We don't have to wait around, wondering if some genetic bomb will go off. We can make changes to our lifestyle, get yearly exams, become more informed and take a active role in our overall health and well being. Pass it on.
Meet: Dr. Susan Love, Scientist & Breast Cancer Activist
What You Can Do Today: The American Cancer Society recommendations include the following:
• Women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year and should continue to do so for as long as they are in good health.
• Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam as part of a periodic health exam by a health professional preferably every 3 years. After age 40, women should have a breast exam by a health professional every year.
• Breast self exam is an option for women starting in their 20s. Women should be told about the benefits and limitations of BSE. Women should report any breast changes to their health professional right away.
Please take time to do your monthly breast examination and remind a friend.
The Personal Is Political:
The Breast Cancer Caucus is asking all presidential candidates to outline their plans for universal health care and their specific approaches to breast cancer research, prevention and care. Visit their website and click on the candidate's picture to see their plan.
You might also wish to read The Politics of Breast Cancer
Just the Facts, M'ame
Also, visit Dr. Susan Love's website to read clear, factual information on breast cancer prevention and treatment from one of the pioneers in the field.
Download: Breast Self Exam Cards in Several Languages
As part of the three-step breast health approach, Susan G. Komen for the Cure recommends that beginning by age 20, women become familiar with the look and feel of their breasts through monthly breast self-examination (BSE). View the variety of Breast Self-Examination (BSE) cards we have available in several different languages. Learn how to perform a breast self-exam. Help others learn that monthly BSE is an important part of the three-step breast health approach. You can download and print these cards for quick reference.
PDF file: Questions to Ask Your DoctorBecome More Aware: Visit the Susan G. Komen Site For the Cure to read:
* ABC's of Breast Cancer Guide
* Treatment & lots moreUpdate 10/3: Not everyone is a fan of the K group. Read the article titled "Compromised?" and decide for yourself:
Excerpt: In the past couple of years...dissenting voices have begun to be heard about Komen....various feminist breast cancer organizations, say that Komen's many corporate ties have led to a focus that is heavily weighted toward finding a medical cure for breast cancer, and away from environmental conditions causing it. The following story examines Komen's corporate and political ties and their influence on the Komen Foundation's direction......
"What's missing is the truth," says Judy Brady of the Toxic Links Coalition in San Francisco. She wants to see a cure for breast cancer as much as anyone, but she and her group, along with several other activist breast cancer groups, have something to point out about the Susan G. Komen Foundation's activities: "There's no talk about prevention except, in terms of lifestyle, your diet for instance. No talk about ways to grow food more safely. No talk about how to curb industrial carcinogens. No talk about contaminated water.".....So most people would be shocked to find that the Komen Foundation helped block a meaningful Patients' Bill of Rights for the women it has purported to serve since the group began in 1982.
Update 10/5 : This just in from Rowan Fairgrove:Fresh Air from WHYY, October 4, 2007 · In The Secret History of the War on Cancer, environmental-health expert Devra Davis warns that we're ignoring dozens of cancer-causing chemicals, like asbestos, benzene, vinyl chloride, and dioxin.
She writes that, like the tobacco companies, the chemical industry has managed to obfuscate the carcinogenic dangers of chemical and other toxic waste.
Davis directs the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and teaches epidemiology in the university's public-health graduate program.
Her earlier book When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deceptionand the Battle Against Pollution was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Their website is very much under construction unfortunately, but do take a look.
My thanks to Rowan Fairgrove, Librarian Bard, for the two articles in the updates.
Go well, stay well,
Reposted from 10/2/08
Image: by JFury of deviantART, courtesy of the Sexy Witch Blog
JFury (aka Joe Pekar) has more images here.
(Note: Adult Content - Do Not view these sites at work)
No comments:
Post a Comment