Mammograms, diet & exercise will not end the epidemic

Title: Mammograms, diet & exercise will not end the epidemic

Author: Karuna Jaggar

Publication: Think Before You Pink blog / Breast Cancer Action

Publication Date:  September 13, 2011

In anticipation of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s CEO Nancy Brinker is calling for “less talk, more action” on breast cancer. I am struck by how similar the urged “action” looks to what the organization has been advocating for years. Komen’s “take action” emphasis continues to be on individual women getting annual mammograms.

At Breast Cancer Action, we bring a markedly different understanding of what action we all need to take—for ourselves, each other, our mothers, daughters, and granddaughters—to truly end the breast cancer epidemic. Komen’s faith in mammograms to bring the “end to breast cancer” is misplaced.

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Should Breast Cancer Ads Play Up the Pink?

Title: Should Breast Cancer Ads Play Up the Pink?

Author: Katherine Hobson

Publication: Wall Street Journal blog

Publication Date: July 7, 2011

The vast majority of breast cancer cases occur in women, so it’s only natural that the components of and context for public-health ads about the disease have a connection to that gender.

A study recently published by the Journal of Marketing Research, however, questions whether that’s always the best way to go. A series of six experiments demonstrates, the authors say, that emphasizing gender in those ads might actually lower a woman’s perceived risk for breast cancer, make her give less to gender-specific cancer charities and even make her less likely to remember the ads. (Here’s the executive summary and here’s the abstract.)

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Does “support” include treatment?

Title: Does “support” include treatment?

Author: Cancer Bitch

Publication: Cancer Bitch blog

Publication Date: April 1, 2011

Komen just received a $1 million grant to tell poor ladies in the Rust Belt about breast cancer. Over the next four years, the program will train nearly 500 lay health advisors [first in Ohio, then east and west] to provide education and outreach on breast cancer in 17 communities served by Key Bank and Komen Affiliates nationwide. Lay health advisors will provide information, referrals to health care resources, one-on-one consultations, assistance with scheduling, support during health care visits and more.

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