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Sunday 16 October 2011

Breast cancer mortality rate cut by early detection

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, NASCAR is “going pink” with concentrated efforts during this weekend’s activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway to build awareness and raise funds for breast cancer-aimed charitable organizations.


NASCAR will add pink accents to its NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series vehicles during the upcoming race weekend – which includes Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Bank of America 500 and Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage; and Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Smith’s 350.


Included among the many race weekend initiatives are:


· Race cars and trucks will carry a NASCAR Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon logo on A-posts


· NASCAR officials will wear pink lanyards and gloves in the garage area throughout the weekend


· NASCAR officials’ fire suits will carry NASCAR Breast Cancer Awareness patches


· NASCAR partner Mechanix Wear will provide pink gloves that will later be signed by drivers to auction off on the NASCAR Unites website (NASCAR.COM/Unites)


Coinciding with the at-track elements, the NASCAR Unites website (NASCAR.COM/Unites) will feature a number of opportunities for NASCAR fans to unite in support of kids who have been affected in some way by breast cancer through initiatives like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® College Scholarship program. Each year, Susan G. Komen provides scholarships for up to $100,000 a year for four years to college-bound students who have lost a loved one to breast cancer or have been diagnosed themselves under the age of 25.


In 2008, The NASCAR Foundation funded a Komen college scholarship awarded to Neal Simon, who lost his mother – a single parent – when he was 11. Neal attended the University of Texas where his numerous community service achievements led to him being nominated by Komen for the inaugural Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award.


”Breast Cancer Awareness month is one of those unique opportunities in which the NASCAR industry and NASCAR fans rally together for such a special and important cause,” said Sandy Marshall, executive director of The NASCAR Foundation. “Each year the program gets bigger, which means that awareness is growing across the board.


Industry efforts take center-stage during Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage race, which has a pink theme. Fans attending the race are encouraged to participate in a “pink out” – wearing pink to show their support of breast cancer awareness.


Dollar General 300 event tickets, the frontstretch grass, the start/finish line, and the official Toyota Camry pace car will all incorporate the pink motif for Friday’s race. To celebrate survival in the fight against breast cancer, dignitaries for the race will be Dollar General employees affected by the disease and serving as Honorary Race Director is 101-year-old Nanny Sue Neal, of Waxhaw, N.C., the oldest living survivor in North Carolina. In addition, a group of 300 survivors will be recognized in a special “ring of survivors” as part of pre-race ceremonies.


Ticket packages are also on sale by Charlotte Motor Speedway that include a frontstretch ticket, a pink event t-shirt and a donation to Komen and Speedway Children’s Charities.


The diagnosis rate from breast cancer constitutes the highest in the world – 17 percent of all malignant tumors – among Israeli women, according to the Israel Cancer Association. Every year, some 4,000 new cases are diagnosed.


To help encourage mammograms every two years among women 50 and over (and earlier in women at high risk due to a personal or family history), the ICA is marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October and a special day on Monday, October 31.


Twenty-five percent of cases are diagnosed in women younger than 50, while 6% are found under the age of 40. The ICA holds assemblies every year for younger women who are at risk and organizes support groups both for them and older women. Although an organization to raise awareness about breast cancer was named “One in Nine,” the current risk of breast cancer during women’s lifetime has reached one in eight.


While the rate of diagnosis with breast cancer is high (96.8 per 100,000) and topped only by Holland, France and Denmark in Europe, the mortality rate here from breast cancer is relatively low and below that in Germany, Finland, Spain, Sweden and Luxembourg.


This is partly due to more willingness to undergo mammography scans and early detection, the ICA says.


Much effort is being aimed at reaching sectors of women who are reluctant to undergo mammograms including haredim and Arab women, where the death rates are higher due to later detection. Early detection can lead to survival rates of around 90%, the ICA adds.


Although breast cancer cannot be prevented completely by healthy lifestyles – unlike lung cancer, which can almost totally be wiped out if tobacco use ends – there are steps one can take to lower the risk.


These include ensuring that one’s body weight is in the normal range and performing regular physical activity. Not drinking excessive amounts (over three portions daily) of alcohol significantly reduces the risk.


Having children at a relatively- young age and breastfeeding them also cuts the risk of breast cancer. Women who have used contraceptive pills for 10 years or more have a 15% to 20% higher risk of contracting breast cancer than women who did not.


The One in Nine organization is distributing via Facebook a special application in which women can virtually paint their profiles with pink to symbolize the fight against breast cancer.


GE Healthcare has launched a world campaign encompassing 25 countries, including Israel, for increasing awareness of the disease.


Thousands of its workers, dressed in pink, will create a human chain to mark the month.



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