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Emails
about breast cancer circulate continuously on the Internet. Some are
true; some are not. The information below will help you separate the
myths from the facts.
Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill—Important legislation for all women.
This email typically begins:
Please
read and respond for the sake of friends with breast cancer. It goes on
to describe a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act,
which would require insurance companiesto cover a minimum 48-hour
hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. And it notes that
this bill would eliminate the "drive-through mastectomy," where women
are forced to go home just hours after surgery, against the wishes of
their doctor. It notes that Lifetime Television is part of the petition
drive in support of this bill, and provides a link to the Lifetime TV
site where you can add your name to a petition that will be sent to
congress.
Myth or Fact?
All Women Should Have an Annual CA 125 Test to Detect Ovarian Cancer
This
email message tells the story of a woman named Kathy who was diagnosed
with primary peritoneal cancer, a type of ovarian cancer. It notes that
because the most common symptoms of ovarian cancer are gastrointestinal
—an enlarged abdomen, constipation, and/or diarrhea—it is all too
common for doctors to initially misdiagnose women with ovarian cancer
as having gastrointestinal problems. It goes on to describe how Kathy
was finally properly diagnosed with ovarian cancer after she had a
CA-125 blood test, which looks for a tumor marker associated with
ovarian cancer.The e-mail then emphasizes that all women should have a
CA 125 blood test every year as part of their annual physical exam as a
means of catching ovarian cancer early, and to not take "no" as an
answer fromany doctor who tries to talk them out of it. The message
also notes that men receive an annual PSA test for prostate cancer, and
that it is wrong for insurance companies to cover that test and not an
annual CA 125 test for women.
Myth or Fact?
Don't Wear a Bra—It Causes Breast Cancer
This email typically begins:
Breast
cancer was not a problem when women did not wear bras, especially
underwire bras, and goes on to explain that the real reason women are
getting breast cancer is because society makes us wear bras, which
allow toxins in the lymph fluid to accumulate in the breast.
Myth or Fact?
Antiperspirants Cause Breast Cancer
This email typically begins:
I just got information from a health seminar that I would like to
share. The leading cause of breast cancer is the use of
antiperspirants. Here's why: The human body has a few areas that it
uses to purge toxins: behind the knees, behind the ears, groin area,
and armpits.The toxins are purged in the form of perspiration.
Antiperspirants prevent you from perspiring, thereby inhibiting the
body from purging toxins from below the armpits. These toxins do not
just magically disappear. Instead, the body deposits them in the lymph
nodes below the arms since it cannot sweat them out. This causes a high
concentration of toxins and leads to cell mutations: a.k.a. CANCER.
The
email then goes on to state that women who apply antiperspirants right
after shaving increase the risk further because shaving causes almost
imperceptible nicks in the skin which give the chemicals entrance into
the body from the armpit area. The email concludes: If you are
skeptical about these findings, I urge you to do some research for
yourself. You will arrive at the same conclusions, I assure you."
Myth or Fact?
Paget's Disease: New Kind of Breast Cancer—(This is Serious)—DO NOT DELETE
This email typically begins:
Please
forward to all of the women in your lives. Mothers, daughters, sisters,
aunts, friends, etc. In November, a rare kind of breast cancer was
found. A lady developed a rash on her breast, similar to that of young
mothers who are nursing.The email then goes on to describe her
mammograms and cancer treatments, and,ultimately, her death from breast
cancer and the message about Paget's disease she wanted other women to
get after she died.
Myth or Fact?
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