Monday's...um Tuesday's health links

Sorry - I've got kids home sick this week...clearly somebody didn't read last week's post about washing their hands.

1. Breast cancer death rates declining more slowly for lower income women. Bloomberg.
2. It wasn't until I learned that the guy whose life inspired 50/50 lived that I decided I'd be able to see this film. Wimp! Calgary Herald.
3. It's a bird...it's a plane...no...it's SUPER BROCCOLI! British scientists have developed a version of the much-maligned veg that contains three-times the normal levels of glucoraphanin, a compound thought to protect the body against heart disease and some types of cancer. Look for it first at Marks and Spencers in the UK (no joke) before it is rolled out to other grocery stores. No word on when it may hop the pond. Fodors.
4. A Quebec cancer coalition calls for changes in the way many chemotherapy drugs are funded, saying the province's treatment of the disease is second-rate. CTV.
5. Another reminder on ways to reduce your risk of getting breast cancer. Vancouver Province.
6. A good, succinct article about sex after cancer. Livewell Nebraska.
7. The challenges of facing breast cancer as a young woman. USA Today.
8. While the US federal government recommends eating more fruits and vegetables through their MyPlate nutritional guidelines, it continues to focus most food production subsidies on meat. From this article, "By one estimate, if Americans followed the new USDA diet guidelines, an additional 13 million acres of fruit and vegetable crops would have to be planted each year to provide the food."  Are we on the cusp of big change for food production and consumption norms? Washington Post.
9. Finally, it's day 4 of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I am already sick to death of the "cute" side of this ridiculous disease.  For example, apparently hot men want me to touch my boobs this month. Seriously - there's an app for that. In my world - breast cancer has been a terrifying, body scarring, life changing, bloated f'ing BASTARD. There isn't a bloody thing about it that is sweet. But every October, the bachelorette-party-game themes persist - boobies, titties, lingerie and cupcakes. Women aren't idiots. Stop treating us like we learn better when the message is wrapped in cotton candy.