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There
is so much in the media that scares the living life out of us.
Assess Your risk
 Breast
cancer is one topic that manages to catch all of our attention. The media
report all the bad news and statistics but neglect to tell us what they really mean.
This has created the impression that breast cancer is far more prevalent than it
actually is.
Jane Brody the long standing, outstanding New York Times health writer has worked hard to
get the facts about breast cancer in order. As a breast cancer survivor she has dedicated
one of her column to the real breast cancer facts.
Here are a few:
- The vast majority of women never get breast cancer.
The one in eight statistic is accurate, but only if you live to 85. And as you
get older and remain free of cancer, the one in eight figure starts dropping because
you have already lived out many of the at-risk years. If for example, you are now 70 years
old and still cancer free, your chances have dropped to 1 in 20.
- Seventy percent of women who get breast cancer do not die
from it. And the death rate has been dropping steadily throughout this decade.
- Lung cancer, not breast cancer is the leading cause of
cancer deaths in American women. This year, 68,000 women will die of lung
cancer, 57 percent more than will die of breast cancer.
- While breast cancer is the leading cause of death among
American women in their 40s, only one woman in 50 contracts breast cancer by age 50.
These women are unusual and their cases poignant; they are sick in the prime of
life. Yet with modern treatments, even these younger women are more likely to
survive.
The often
paralyzing sound bites from the newspapers and newsprograms give a a huge sense of doom.
We start to believe that we all will die from
breast cancer. The fear is overwhelming and at times clouds over the reality. The
media should take the same amount of time to announce the thousands of SUCCESSES
involved with breast cancer. We should hear more from the women winning the battle
and there are many, as opposed to drifting into an inevitable sense of hell.
- Be proactive take the lead.
- Perform monthly breast self exams
- Get your mammograms
- Eat right, and above all...
- Stay positive!
What
is YOUR risk
for breast cancer
Take our Risk Quiz
Breast Cancer Statistics
& what they REALLY mean
What does the 1 in 9 statistic for getting
breast cancer really mean for me? This statistic is always seen when anyone talks about
breast cancer risk. A woman's risk for developing breast cancer depends on many factors.
Find out more.
Estrogen Therapy & Breast Cancer
Is there a link?
by Sue Spataro, RN, BSN
In June 1999, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the
results of a study supporting that taking hormones after menopause does not increase the
risk of breast cancer, except for some uncommon forms of the disease that are slow growing
and highly treatable Find out more.
Be A Survivor:
Your Guide to Breast Cancer Treatment
by Vladimir Lange
 
This impressive new book is unlike anything currently available at your local bookstore.
It combines the latest medical knowledge from experts in the field with words of wisdom
from survivors, and uses photographs and exceptional color graphics to make the most
difficult concepts easy to understand. Developed by a physician whose wife, also a
physician, was diagnosed with breast cancer |
 
 Susan
Love interview
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Cancer Books
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