November 1, 2013

Breast Cancer Awareness

Happy November everyone!!! It's my favourite month of the year.....my birthday is this month!!!! ^_^.

October just ended and it was the Breast Cancer Awareness month. The aim is to raise awareness to reduce the stigma of the disease through education as well as to raise funds in an effort to find a cure and treatments. We can raise awareness not just in October however. So here's my bit.


The recommended age for even starting to do mammograms, etc was 40 but these days there are an increasing amount of women being diagnosed with cancer below age 40.

It's very important to do breast self-exams. Early detection is so important as it increases your chances of successfully beating cancer. You can find many videos online on how to do a self-exam. It's important to just do it so that you are familiar with your breasts so that you can tell when something is different. Here's one link you can try: www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6wpOnf2ORg .


Do your mammograms and breast self-exams if you have a history of the diseases in your family.

Did you know that drinking a lot of alcohol increases your risk of breast cancer? Compared with non-drinkers, women who drink alcoholic beverages are at increased risk. The risk increases with the amount of alcohol consumed. Risk for those who consume 2 to 5 drinks daily is increased by about 1½ times normal.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
Each year it is estimated that over 220,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women.
Breast cancer incidence rates are highest in non-Hispanic white women, followed by African American women and are lowest among Asian/Pacific Islander women. In contrast, breast cancer death rates are highest for African American women, followed by white women. Breast cancer death rates are lowest for Asian/Pacific Islander women.
Exposure to certain environmental substances and conditions may also increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. Currently there is conflicting evidence regarding the risk of environmental exposure to organochlorines (some exert a weak estrogenic effect), tobacco smoke, as well as night shift work. Research is ongoing in these and other areas of our current environment with potential for effecting breast cancer risk.


This is no joke and as women need to take this seriously. Look at Angelina Jolie- her mother died of the disease and she made the brave decision to remove both her breasts. We all aren't big movie stars with lots of money nor have to go to such extremes but there are things that we can do such as breast exams, mammograms, drink less alcohol, etc. For more information please visit:
http://qap.sdsu.edu/screening/breastcancer/facts.html

Xoxo
Ronz

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