Pink signs, shirts, shoes and ribbons are crowding magazines, television and most media outlets this month as Americans across the country fight for thousands of women battling breast cancer.
Pink-bedazzled America recognizes October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in an effort to educate the masses about breast cancer, find a cure for the disease and honor women who have lost their battle with breast cancer.
“During National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting breast cancer research, and to educating all Americans about its risk factors, detection, and treatment,” said President Barack Obama during his 2010 proclamation of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “As we display pink ribbons on our lapels, offices, and storefronts, we also support those courageously fighting breast cancer and honor the lives lost to this devastating disease.”
Although scientists have not discovered the leading cause of breast cancer, we do know it can be caused by abnormalities in breast cells’ DNA, or the molecules that make up genes.
Several risk factors make some more susceptible to breast cancer. Women are 100 times more likely to get breast cancer than men, according to the American Cancer Society.
In addition, women over the age of 55 are at a greater risk for getting the disease. Women with a family history of breast cancer, or who inherit certain genetic mutations are more likely to get cancer. If they get a tumor in one breast, women are also more likely to get a tumor in the other breast.
Weight and exercise both have effects on a woman’s likelihood of getting breast cancer. Women who are obese or overweight have a higher risk of getting the disease. Just exercising five days a week for 45 to 60 minutes can reduce this risk.
Caucasian women are more likely to develop the disease. Also, women who began their menstrual cycle before the age of 12, or went through menopause after the age of 55 have a higher risk.
Other risk factors which may make women more susceptible to breast cancer include: birthing children later than the age of 30, taking birth control medication or hormones, consuming more than one alcoholic drink a day, receiving radiation treatment in the chest area and having thick breast tissue.
There are several signs of breast cancer. Some of the signs in the breast area are: lumps or swelling, skin irritation, nipple pain or the nipple turning inward, redness of the nipple or discharge other than breast milk.
If a woman experiences signs, she should contact her doctor to have a magnetic resonance imaging scan, a breast ultrasound, a ductogram or a mammogram to determine if she has breast cancer.
There are hundreds of organizations across the country dedicated to helping breast cancer victims. Here in San Diego, one such group is the Susan G. Koman for the Cure movement, the global leader of the fight against breast cancer. Today the organization has invested more than one billion dollars into research for a cure.
The Susan G. Koman for the Cure movement will put on a three-day walk for breast cancer prevention at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego Nov.19 through 21 this year.
With “pink-craze” everywhere in the streets, perhaps a pink cure will also hit the hospitals as people continue to fight for the lives of women who courageously battle breast cancer.
Visit the American Cancer Society for more information about breast cancer at www.cancer.org.
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