Prevention - Kicking Treatment's Butt for a Gazillion Years!

Anyone reading this blog knows that I am a big believer in the need to push prevention if we are going to make any headway in stopping breast cancer. One of the best sources of prevention information I have found is the Breast Cancer Fund. The focus of their work is making connections between breast cancer and exposure to chemicals and radiation in our daily lives. They look at current research and try to increase awareness of it through public education campaigns. And, they provide lots of good information if you are trying to educate yourself on what you can do to prevent cancer.

They offer tips for prevention and information with which to educate friends and family. If you are interested in helping to bring about change, and you should be, they also provide easy ways to lend your name and voice to the cause. For example, if you visit their site today, you have the opportunity to send President Obama a request to prioritize breast cancer prevention by:

1. creating a national cancer prevention plan,
2. issuing a federal mandate to eliminate BPAs from food and beverage containers,
3. expanding the FDA's authority to ensure that cosmetics are safe, and
4. supporting reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act so that it more adequately helps the public, industry and government assess and control chemical hazards.

Take a look at their site. And come back to visit for updates on new research and education campaigns.

Finally, their report The State of the Evidence 2010: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment should be considered required reading. From a press release for the report:

The report’s lead author, Janet Gray, Ph.D., professor at Vassar College, said that widely understood risk factors for breast cancer such as primary genetic mutations, reproductive history and lifestyle factors do not address a considerable portion of the risk for the disease. “A substantial body of scientific evidence indicates that exposures to common chemicals and radiation also contribute to the unacceptably high incidence of breast cancer,” Gray said. “This report focuses on these environmental issues.”
The report states that a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is 1 in 8—representing a dramatic increase since the 1930s, when the first reliable cancer incidence data were established. Between 1973 and 1998 alone, breast cancer incidence rates in the United States increased by more than 40 percent. Strikingly, the increasing incidence of breast cancer since the 1930s parallels the proliferation of synthetic chemicals. Today, approximately 85,000 synthetic chemicals are registered for use in the United States, more than 90 percent of which have never been tested for their effects on human health.

Go on - make a pot of tea and at least give it a scan. Your breasts (or those of someone you love) will thank you. :-)