WJLA Breast Exam Video – the Super Bowl all over again
From Wikimedia Commons
A few days ago, a Washington DC television station, WJLA, aired a series about women’s health, particularly calling into question and to the audience’s attention the need for more women to be aware of how to properly conduct a breast examination on their own. The WJLA breast exam video has been causing a lot of controversy, and of course the usual goofballs are looking for the video for, shall we say, ulterior motives. (In other words, not for educational purposes.) The portion dealing with a self exam, aired without obscuring anything. It was part of a four part series. And no, we won’t be posting it here, no matter if you offer instant cash or not.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Granted, disease awareness causes can make it seem like there’s a foundation for any and every affliction and therefore can start to seem a little maudlin, but breast cancer isn’t trite. It isn’t funny. People are dying, and of BOTH genders as a minority of males get the disease too. (2000 U.S. men per year.)
Prevention is vital
Over 40,000 a year die. That number of people is almost the population of my hometown. That’s a football stadium full of fans. In America, 1 in 35 women will die from it, 1 in 8 will get it, and some people deign to think educating the public on how to self screen is obscene? Why, because someone might have seen a nipple? The stupidity it takes to believe that idea is obscene. According to physicians, the best chance a woman has of beating it is early detection. For women in the United States, it is the most common cause of cancer and second leading cause of death from cancer. (Lung cancer is first, though more men smoke than women.)
From the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website
The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website recommends the following:
- Yearly mammograms and screening by a physician starting at age 40
- Yearly clinical exams
- Monthly self examination
- Consulting with a physician about your risk
It’s one of the most survivable forms of cancer for men or women, as the 10 year survival rate, according to an article on breast cancer on Wikipedia, is between 98% to 10%, depending on the exact type. According to the Center for Disease Control, it’s the 7th leading cause of death in women, and the best method of prevention is to catch it early, by annual screenings.
So there – I’ve done my part
In the end, a small handful of people might get upset about a breast being shown on TV. Oh, they got mighty mad when Janet Jackson had a wardrobe accident, I know, but this was intentional and for a purpose that is in no way unjustifiable – how could anyone get mad? Seriously, folks – do yourself and your health a favor. Get regular screenings. Learn the correct way to self examine. It can save your life. Just anyone who counts themselves among the working poor has joked that we can’t afford to throw money away on a doctor, but it is worth even a short term loan for bad credit to get an annual screening.
thanks, your article is very informative.