Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is upon us and we are in the midst of breast cancer awareness month. This means I had to, naturally, do some research as to why I am forced to have this “pinkwashing” shoved down my throat and be asked to donate to every cause possible. I am very proud to be a woman and know many survivors/warriors of this awful disease. I believe it is truly amazing how much awareness is raised, but there are other cancers out there. Lung cancer - kills more people than any other cancer in the country and is second only to heart disease among all causes of death. Why are they not as popular? Well they are pretty hard to make look sexy. So, while I appreciate the month of October raising awareness to a cause, let us not forget the less attractive cancers and diseases. Yes, 1 in 8 women ever will get diagnosed with breast cancer, but let us not forget the 1 in 1,000 men that will go through this same battle and have a lower survival rate than women. While I appreciate the efforts tied to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month they seem like they are often misguided. Below is some information I found to help educate myself. Don’t get lost in the pink noise of the month, about 1,500 people die a day of all different types of cancer.

Is it true that one in eight women will get breast cancer?

Not exactly. The one-in-eight statistic doesn't accurately reflect the average woman's breast cancer risk. Age is the most important risk factor for breast cancer. That means the older a woman is, the greater her risk of developing the disease. Statistics from the U.S. National Cancer Institute show that a woman's chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer by age is:

• From age 20 to age 30 . . . 1 in 2,000
• From age 30 to age 39 . . . 1 in 229
• From age 40 to age 49 . . . 1 in 68
• From age 50 to age 59 . . . 1 in 37
• From age 60 to age 69 . . . 1 in 26
• Ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 in 8

"Ever" is lifetime risk. This means a woman has a one-in-eight chance of getting breast cancer after the age of 70. 

SOURCE:  Susan Love, M.D., president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation 

Experts say focusing on pink ribbon purchases during the month of October poses another problem: More often than not, these products fail to provide any real education or effect changes in women’s health behaviors.

4 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Buying a Pink Ribbon Product

1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? How much?

The pink ribbon on a product doesn't necessarily mean that your money goes to breast cancer programs. In fact, anyone can put this on any product. If you don't know what dollar amount or portion of your proceeds is being donated, you may want to just give directly to the organization of your choice instead.

2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic?

Unless you know which programs will be receiving a percentage of your proceeds, there's no way to know what kind of work would be funded by your donation. If you know what organization the company in question has teamed up with, check that organization's Web site to see if you agree with their mission and activities.

3. Is there a “cap” on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell?

There's a chance that a company has an arbitrary cap on how much money they will donate from their pink ribbon profits—and if this limit has already been reached, then your purchase won't make the difference you want it to.

4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breast cancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?

Here's the real kicker—some companies put pink ribbons on products that are linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. Check out these environmental factors linked to breast cancer to ensure that the item you're buying won't up anyone's odds of getting the disease.

Get more information at Think Before You Pink. As a general rule, if a company is not transparent about the answers to these questions, it's a good idea to donate directly to an organization you trust.

Know your body, and when you turn a certain age to get checked regularly. 

Breast self-exam (BSE) has been widely hailed as a technique that can help women find breast cancer early— BSE does not reduce breast cancer deaths, but many women do find their cancers themselves. More typically, the woman just rolled over in bed, or felt a lump while soaping up in the shower, or had it pointed out by a lover. This is why it's important for women to become acquainted with their breasts, to know what they look like, and to know what lumps and bumps are normal for them. But there's a crucial difference between getting acquainted with your breasts and BSE. BSE is like a search-and-destroy mission. It often makes women tense. And it's all about trying to find cancer. In contrast, getting acquainted with your breasts gives you a good, integrated sense of your body, which will help you know when something doesn't feel right. Some women like to do BSE, and that's fine. But no one should be made to feel guilty for not doing it—especially if they are well acquainted with their breasts.

Women age 50 and older should have mammograms. With menopause, which typically begins around then, the dense tissue in women's breasts is replaced with fatty tissue, which looks gray on a mammogram. It is much easier to see the white cancer against this gray background, which is why mammography works better on women aged 50 and older.

To date, eight randomized controlled trials have found that mammography screening for women between 40 and 49 has no effect on mortality. Even so, some health organizations continue to recommend annual mammography for women between the ages of 40 and 49. At first glance, there would seem to be little harm in this recommendation. But there is a downside. Many abnormalities seen on mammograms may not be cancer (these are called false positives), but they will prompt additional testing and anxiety. In fact, as many as three out of 10 women who begin annual screening at age 40 will have an abnormal mammogram during the next decade, and the majority of these will end up having biopsies—only to learn that the test was a false positive.

SOURCE:  Susan Love, M.D., president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation