Ways to Support Breast Cancer Awareness in October

Ways to Support Breast Cancer Awareness in October

Every year, the US and other nations commemorate those suffering from, recovering from, and living cured of breast cancer throughout the month of October. Individual people and companies will wear pink to show their support for those with the disease and to raise money for research and treatments for patients. From Yoplait to the National Football League, products and people sport pink for breast cancer awareness and fundraising. If you want to personally support the people suffering from the disease or the families of the patients, here are some ways you can get involved.

Donate directly to a local hospital: A number of exposes have criticized such organizations as Susan G. Komen for spending less than 10% of the money they raise on the patients, victims, and their families. The rest of the money gets tied up in overhead, pink products, and ad campaigns. If you want to ensure that your money goes directly to the people in need, their medications, and their families, talk with your local hospital or oncological clinic and send money to them rather than to a third-party fundraising organization. You can also browse sites like GoFundMe and donate to individuals who are raising money for treatments, travel, and reconstructive surgery.

Talk about detection: Where it’s appropriate and where you’re among trusted friends, have a conversation about self-checks and proper preventative maintenance. In the vast majority of cases, breast cancer is highly treatable when it’s caught early, but catching it early is the trick. People with breasts should be on the lookout the twelve signs of breast cancer, as outlined in this handy infographic from Know Your Lemons.

Help your family live healthfully: For breast tissue in particular, there are some common practices and behaviors of Americans that directly cause breast cells to function improperly and wreak havoc on the human breast. For example, certain soaps and shampoos that include parabens, which are known to disrupt breast cell reproduction. Similarly, evolutionarily, humans didn’t produce their own hormones for a long time, so breasts are to this day very receptive to any chemical that even mimics estrogen. Unluckily for us, though, plastic is similar enough that breasts absorb plastic molecules, which are well known to cause cancer once allowed into the body. Avoid microwaving in plastic or interacting with much heated plastic, including Keurig cups.

from Alan Rasof, Raising Awareness http://ift.tt/2yEFK02