October is host to a lot of different things:
National Dental Hygiene Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, National Book Month, and a whole HEAP of other things. (this link lists them all – http://www.brownielocks.com/october.html) But there are 2 MAIN reasons why AleanElston.com went pink this month and they are:
My Birthday is in October and PINK is my favorite color 😀
and
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
Last year I made it a point to add BCA facts every weekday during the month to get people educated about the facts concerning breast cancer. Being that I feel like I’m doing waaay more lately than I was doing last year, I figure I would display a few facts here and add more facts on my facebook and twitter as my time permits. Check out a few facts below.
Breast Cancer Awareness Facts:
- No causal connection has been found between drinking caffeine and getting breast cancer; in fact, some research suggests that caffeine may
actually lower your risk. So far it’s inconclusive whether breast soreness may be linked to caffeine. - Hair straighteners/relaxers DO NOT cause breast cancer in African-American women. A large 2007 study funded by the National Cancer Institute found no increase in breast cancer risk due to the use of hair straighteners or relaxers. Study participants included African-American women who had used straighteners seven or more times a year for 20 years or longer.
- Myth: Living near power lines can cause breast cancer. Reality: A 2003 study aimed at explaining what appeared to be a high incidence of breast cancer in certain counties on Long Island, N.Y., found no link between the disease and electromagnetic fields emitted by power lines. An earlier study conducted in the Seattle area yielded a similar conclusion. Research into potential environmental risk factors is ongoing.
- MYTH: Breast implants can raise your cancer risk. REALITY: Women with breast implants are at no greater risk of getting breast cancer,
according to research. Standard mammograms don’t always work as well on these women, however, so additional X-rays are sometimes needed to more fully examine breast tissue. - Ladies, Do you do regular self breast exams? Dont know how to, how often, or when to do it? Check out this video:http://www.5min.com/Video/Self-Breast-Exam-119380343
- Excluding cancers of the skin, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women.
- White women have a higher incidence of breast cancer than African American women beginning at age 45. In contrast, African American women have a higher incidence rate before age 45 and are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age.
- The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (being a woman) and age (growing older).
- Weight can increase breast cancer risk. Obesity is a factor considered when determining a breast cancer risk.
- Out of every one hundred cases of breast cancer, one will occur in a man.
- Cigarette smoking is a risk factor with an uncertain, controversial, or unproven effect on breast cancer risk, but, smoking does contribute to saggy boobs. Smoking breaks down your skin’s elastin making you a “saggy smoker”
- Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause
of cancer death in women 55 to 74. - Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam (CBE) as part of a periodic (regular) 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.
- Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years.
- You are never too young to develop breast cancer! Breast Self-Exam should begin by the age of twenty.
So that’s why the site is pink for October. If you have any events going on concerning Breast Cancer Awareness please let me know, if available, i might attend or Blog about it. Leave me a comment with the details or email them to me directly at alean@aleanelston.com
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