I just came across this from the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Take a look and see how much you know… and leave a comment so that we can be in a dialog about this! I was surprised about Myth #1 ~ I’ve been taught for many years that doing a monthly breast self-exam was something very important for me to do, especially with my history of breast cancer…
- Myth #1: Monthly breast self-exams save lives
- Myth #2: Mammograms can only help and not harm you
- Myth #3: MRI is better than mammography because it finds more cancer
- Truth #4: When breast cancer shows up on a mammogram, it may have been in your body for 6-10 years
- Truth #5: Breast cancer mortality rates are declining
- Myth #6: Mammograms prevent breast cancer
- Truth #7: We don’t know how to prevent breast cancer
- Myth #8: Most women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease
- Myth #9: Men don’t get breast cancer
- Truth #10: Risk of breast cancer increases with age; 50% of breast cancer occurs among women aged 62 years or older
- Truth #11: Most people think they have a higher risk of breast cancer than they actually do
- Myth #12: Everyone’s breast cancer is the same
- Myth #13: Everyone who has a positive BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 test result will get breast cancer
- Truth #14: The mortality rate from breast cancer is higher for African American women than for Caucasian women
- Myth #15: In terms of survival, removing the entire breast is better than just cutting the cancer out and getting radiation
- Myth #16: There are drugs that can prevent breast cancer
- Myth #17: Once diagnosed with breast cancer, it’s very important to make treatment decisions immediately
- Myth #18: Second opinions are only for treatment options. Once I know I have breast cancer, I can get a second opinion on how to treat the disease
- Truth #19: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases your risk of breast cancer
- Myth #20: With new treatments we can now cure breast cancer
- Truth #21: You should question your doctor
- Myth #22: If I am not a scientist, then I won’t be able to understand breast cancer research
- Truth #23: Your tax dollars fund a significant amount of breast cancer research
- Myth #24: My Senators and Members of Congress have no role in what happens in breast cancer
- Myth #25: The media accurately reports breast cancer science
- Myth #26: All breast cancer research is good because it moves us toward prevention and a cure
- Myth #27: Breast cancer survivors are too close to the issue to participate in how research money is spent
- Truth #28: Less than 3% of adult cancer patients participate in clinical trials
- Truth #29: I can educate myself
- Truth #30: I can influence what happens in Washington D.C. about breast cancer
· Truth #31: I can make a difference
