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October Contest

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month I thought an awareness contest would fit.

Here is how this will work. Every qualifing post will be entered into a drawing after month end, November 1st or 2nd. You may enter more than once. To enter all you have to do is post a fact about Breast Cancer but there is a twist to this. I do not want your fact to be the same as a prior post. Therefor you must read through the prior posts to make sure it is not duplicate or it will not count. I figured this would at least get you to learn some facts you may not already know.

My entire family was oblivious to the risks and seriousness of breast cancer, we learned the hard way. The more knowledge people have will help many more people survive.

As for prizes. I will draw two numbers. The winners will receive an EDT, Aftershave and Shave soap of their choice. The winners will choose an EDT (excluding Bulgarian Rose and Sandalwood from wood) an aftershave (milk, splash or balm) and a shave soap. They can be all different fragrances or all the same.

Thank you for participation.

Wendy
 
Don't count me in, I just wanted to say this is an excellent and thoughtful contest!

Here is one fact to kick it off:

The most effective way to detect a lump is to perform a monthly self-exam. An annual mammogram, performed at a doctor's office, can detect lumps in their earliest stages, increasing the odds for a complete recovery.
 
Thank you for starting this contest, Wendy. As for a fact, I've read that when breast cancer has not spread anywhere else, the five-year survival rate is near one hundred percent.
 
Did you know that Men can also get breast cancer? A breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts from cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that may grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. Breast cancer occurs mainly in women, but men can get it, too. Many people do not realize that men have breast tissue and that they can develop breast cancer.

The most recent American Cancer Society estimates for male breast cancer in the United States are for 2011:

•About 2,140 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men
•About 450 men will die from breast cancer
Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women. For men, the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000. The number of breast cancer cases in men relative to the population has been fairly stable over the last 30 years.

The prognosis (outlook) for men with breast cancer was once thought to be worse than that for women, but recent studies have not found this to be true. In fact, men and women with the same stage of breast cancer have a fairly similar outlook for survival.

excerpt from - www.cancer.org
 
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The National Cancer Institute released an estimate, based on current rates, that 12.2% of American women will develop breast cancer.
 
While breast cancer may not cause any symptoms ay all, some changes may be symptoms such as swelling of all or part of the breast, skin irritation or dimpling, breast pain, nipple pain or the nipple turning inward, redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin, a nipple discharge other than breast milk or a lump in the underarm area.
 
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.

The second leading cause of death among women (lung cancer is first), breast cancer is also the most common cancer, excluding skin cancers. Fortunately, breast cancer deaths have been decreasing since 1990 as detection and treatment improve, reducing the mortality rate to 3 in 100.

Breast cancer is less common but more aggressive in women under age 50. Approximately 77% of cases occur in women past that age, particularly in white, Hawaiian and African-American women. African-American women, more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease, also have the highest death rate.


Thanks Wendy, but I'm not in.
 
Only 5% to 10% of breast cancers occur in women with a clearly defined genetic predisposition for the disease. The majority of breast cancer cases are "sporadic," meaning there is no direct family history of the disease. The risk for developing breast cancer increases as a woman ages.
 
The type of tissue where your breast cancer arises determines how the cancer behaves and what treatments are most effective. Parts of the breast where cancer begins include:

1. Milk ducts. Ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer. This type of cancer forms in the lining of a milk duct within your breast. The ducts carry breast milk from the lobules, where it's made, to the nipple.

2. Milk-producing lobules. Lobular carcinoma starts in the lobules of the breast, where breast milk is produced. The lobules are connected to the ducts, which carry breast milk to the nipple.

3. Connective tissues. Rarely breast cancer can begin in the connective tissue that's made up of muscles, fat and blood vessels. Cancer that begins in the connective tissue is called sarcoma. Examples of sarcomas that can occur in the breast include phyllodes tumor and angiosarcoma.



Thanks for starting this thread. My wife was diagnosed 15 months ago. . .yesterday. What a roller coaster ride - surgeries, chemo, radiation, meds, as well as all the physical and emotional elephants. Spread the word. . . .have the tatas checked!
 
Ancient Egyptians first noted and recorded the disease as tumors, or ulcers, of the breasts, concluded that there was no real cure and that the only form of treatment was cauterization with a tool called the "fire drill". Since then, there have been many similar cases described by doctors throughout history that concluded that there was no cure; or really effective treatment.
 
Ancient Egyptians first noted and recorded the disease as tumors, or ulcers, of the breasts, concluded that there was no real cure and that the only form of treatment was cauterization with a tool called the "fire drill". Since then, there have been many similar cases described by doctors throughout history that concluded that there was no cure; or really effective treatment.

That is a bit depressing, but no reason to stop trying. Iodized salt alone has significant preventative benefits, and surgery does help in many cases.
 
on a more positive note, breast cancer SURVIVAL rates are very good when it is caught early..... the 5 year survival rate for stage 0 or stage 1 breast cancer is nearly 90%!
 
on a more positive note, breast cancer SURVIVAL rates are very good when it is caught early..... the 5 year survival rate for stage 0 or stage 1 breast cancer is nearly 90%!
This is exactly why we have to spread awareness. I have a dear friend who just had a double mastectomy at age 37. Caught a very rage but aggressive breast cancer within a year of developing and they say her survival rate is about 97%.
 
Estimated new cases and deaths from breast cancer in 2011 in the US (from the National Cancer Institute):
Women new cases: 230,480
Men new cases: 2,140
Women deaths: 39,520
Men deaths: 450

There are certain risk factors that will increase the risk of getting cancer. As well, there are certain protective factors that may decrease the risk of getting cancer. Increased estrogen levels for a woman is one such risk factor. Exercise is thought to decrease hormone levels and may help prevent cancer. Decreasing the length of time that breast cancer is exposed to estrogen may also help reduce the risk. This can be done in several ways:
1. estrogen levels are lower during pregnancy. Risk of breast cancer may be lower if a woman has her first full-term pregnancy prior to age 20.
2. breast feeding - estrogen levels are lower when a woman is breast feeding
3. Early menopause or late menstruation - the longer a woman menstruates, the longer the breast tissue is exposed to estrogen
 
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