I trust everyone had an excellent weekend! Mine was pretty laid back. We had lunch at Moe's Southwest Grill on Saturday and just hung out around the house being lazy yesterday. So, since I'm all rested, I'm ready to finish this month with a bang!
I want to cover a lot ground this week. Today, in For Your Health, since it's October, I Think Pink - I'm devoting this edition to breast cancer facts and prevention. I don't know anyone who has not been affected by this terrible disease. Also, today's My Monday is getting postponed because I feel that information about this is way more important than my incessant ramblings about myself.
Below, I've included links to some great informational sites - check them out:
ww5.komen.org - Susan G. Komen (provides lots of info & updates for SGK events)
www.breastcancer.org - Breast Cancer.Org (great site with TONS of information)
www.cancer.gov - National Cancer Institute (government site with lots of resources)
For Your Health: Pink Edition
In 2008, there were 458,503 breast cancer deaths worldwide. One in eight women will be diagnosed in their lifetime**. Out of all cancers in women, breast cancer accounts for 30%, plus, it's 100 times more common for women to develop breast cancer than men, although breast cancer in men is on the rise*.
There are quite a few determining factors. I've gotten a list from an awesome informational site, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and I've typed it out below for you. It's what EVERY WOMAN needs to know:
- AGE - Your chances for developing breast cancer increase the older you get
- FAMILY HISTORY - If you have a history of breast cancer in your family, you have a 20-30% higher chance of getting breast cancer.
- GENES - There are 2 gene defects called BRCA1 and BRCA2. Women who have either one of these gene defects are at an 80% risk of developing breast cancer, and often times, cervical cancer, leading to total hysterectomies and mastectomies.
- MENSTRUAL CYCLE - Women who started their cycles earlier than 12 years old and went through menopause later than 55 years of age were at a higher risk.
Other factors are:
- ALCOHOL - Drinking more than 1-2 glasses of alcohol can up your chances
- CHILDBIRTH - Never having children or having them after 30 increases your chances of getting cancer. Having children young or more than one, decreases your risk. (WOW - I had NO IDEA about that one!)
- DES - Women who took the drug Diethylstilbestrol to prevent miscarriages in the 1940-60's have an increased chance after age 40
- HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY - Receiving estrogen for several years can lead to cancer
- RADIATION - Receiving radiation as a child or adult to treat cancer in the chest area can increase your chances. The higher the dose, length of time you received it and how young you were when you got it plays a determining factor
There are two types of breast cancer. Ductal Carcinoma and Lobular Carcinoma. Ductal starts in the tubes (ducts) and is the most common type. Lobular starts in the lobules, the place where milk is produced. There is currently no cure for either type of cancer. There are great medicines and treatments to conquer this terrible disease and with time, I'm sure we can find a cure. Please check out the websites I've included in this post and do what you can to help the cause. There are always charity walks, 5K runs, events and parties to support your local breast cancer organizations.
* Information was found on Wikipedia
** Information was found on U.S. Nat'l Library of Medicine
| 10-21-12 Making Strides - New York Great Job Ladies!!! |
| Making Strides raised $60K!!! Pic taken from Central Park |
Yesterday, there was the Making Strides walk in New York, NY. Here are some of the pics from that event. The organization raised $60K to aid in the research and testing to help beat this disease.
As a child, my mother's best friend battled breast cancer for over 20 years before it finally beat her in 2000. It was terrible to see her go through it and even worse to see her children go through it. It was a slow, painful death that was drug out through decades. She would have a good year, followed by relapse. This went on forever and when she did pass on, it was (as sad as it was) a relief to everyone who knew her and saw the pain she suffered. She could finally sleep, finally rest, finally be at peace.
My bestest friend battled it too. She won her conquered her cancer, but has many many scars. Her road to recovery has been horrible. She lost her hair, had to undergo a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. She's had major complications during the healing and reconstructive stages and has had multiple infections and issues stemming from the cancer. She remains cancer-free, that's the most important part, but it's still scary for me. She's not even 30 yet, she has a little boy who desperately needs her. I need her too. I hope the worst is behind her, I'm pretty sure it is. I just hope that everyone can have a happy ending story like hers instead of a tragic tale of pain and sorrow and medicines and chemotherapy and finally, death. It's not fair and NO ONE should have to loose anyone they love to something like cancer. We must find a cure!!
| Find out how you can make strides against cancer today!! |
Go to makingstrides.acsevents.org to find a walk in your city/area or sign up to help organize a walk or event today!!!
Look for tomorrow's all new edition of Tasty Tuesday with an all new Food File! See ya then!
Peace, Love and Light,
Katie
No comments:
Post a Comment