October is a pink month – a month where we raise awareness about cancer, specifically breast cancer. Considering that breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women – and that every year, over 8000 women in Sweden solely, receive horrifying information about them suddenly suffering from the disease – we need to raise awareness and continue to take action. We need to continue to contribute and support science, and the most important thing – we need to investigate our own breasts as a weekly routine.
The word cancer has always made me shiver, I feel sick and my whole body feels cold – like I am about to freeze in that exact moment, a feeling of helplessness while incapable of action. Cancer is a disease that takes too many lives away from us and a lot of people are affected by it. Most of us have in some way, unfortunately, been in touch with some form of cancer – maybe by knowing someone who has gotten it or just by reading about it. Regardless, it is not something that anybody wants to go through.
But the fact is that we need to be aware of and constantly raise awareness about cancer in order to reduce the amount of people dying from it. The pink month is one way of doing it while involving the society as a whole. 1 out of 9 women under the age of 75 get breast cancer, but thanks to the science, 8 out of 10 will survive today. Thus, we still need to contribute to science and reduce the amount of people dying from cancer.
So how can you contribute to supporting the science about breast cancer? The most simple answer is for sure – go and buy something pink. During the month of October, various organizations and stores produce pink products in order to donate the profit to research institutes, i.e. the science about breast cancer. Another way of contributing is to donate money directly to funds such as “Cancerfonden”. You can visit their website for more information and learn more about how you can contribute to supporting the science about e.g. breast cancer.
Furthermore, it is extremely important to occasionally feel your breasts and look for symptoms that might indicate early stages of breast cancer – and when you get a notification from the hospital about doing your mammografi, you have to go and do it.
Did you know that:
- The most significant risk factor for getting breast cancer is being a female and aging
- Breast cancer death has been declining steady since 1990 thanks to early detection with better screening, increased awareness, more science and new treatment options
- Every minute, somewhere in the world, a woman dies from breast cancer. That is more than 1400 women every day
Together we can help each other to raise awareness about breast cancer and remind each other about the importance of being a part of contributing to the science in order to develop treatment options further. It is crucial that the information and knowledge about breast cancer reaches the whole society, it is a disease that in some way, can affect everybody. Be a part of defeating cancer, buy something pink and feel your breasts.
