Breast Cancer Awareness Month - on Wednesdays I wear pink

Regardless of whether you did or didn't get my Mean Girls reference here, we have entered the month of October – and October is  Breast Cancer Awareness month.

A while ago I wrote a blog post for World Cancer Day where you could read a bit about the amazing research our own University does on cancer and the new Cancer Immunology Centre that is being built at the Southampton General Hospital.

I might not be wearing pink every Wednesday of this month, but as I want to contribute to raising awareness I thought I’d write a post on how you can help support a good cause.

As one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime there is a good chance you will know someone or know someone who has or is struggling to combat breast cancer. 60,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, which makes it roughly 165 people every day in the UK being diagnosed.

The majority of these people are women, but it also includes around 340 men every year. Breast cancer is most common among women aged 50-70 years old – but this doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect people below 50, above 70 or men.

As with every form of cancer it is crucial to be diagnosed early and thus it is important to know what symptoms and signs you should be looking for. You can read all about symptoms and signs on the Breast Cancer Care website.

Why should you care and raise awareness?

Three reasons you should care;

1. One day it might be you being diagnosed
2. One day it might affect a member of your family, a friend or loved one.
3. “Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at the earliest possible stage have a 9 in 10 chance (90%) of surviving for at least 5 years after diagnosis”  Read more about this statistic.

One of many reasons why I care about being aware of breast cancer and constantly remind my mum to go to her mammography done every two years.

Now, how can you help?

You can help to raise awareness and support the cause by;

• Talking & writing about it. The more information is available and communicated to people the better. If people know what the symptoms are, and if you remind your friends and family to get checked at least every two years after the age of 50, that's a good start. Remember, if you have a history of breast cancer in your family you should go more frequently and before the age of 50.

• Volunteering. You can volunteer with Cancer Research UK or Breast Cancer Care, or any other relevant organisations and charities.

• Get involved with charities. You don’t need to volunteer with a specific charity, you can also get involved with events they have going on like participating in a 5k run, marathon or half marathon.

• Wearing pink! Pink is the colour associated with breast cancer and hence wearing pink will show that you support the cause and it might remind someone that it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Breast Cancer Care are running an event on the 21st October encouraging people to Wear It Pink, so get your coursemates, friends and family involved.

• Buying products from cancer charity shops like a pink ribbon. They range from £1 to £3. Cancer Research UK have charity shops in Portswood, Shirley and East Street here in Southampton. This is a good alternative if you don’t want to wear pink!

I hope some of you are inspired to raise some funds for breast cancer charities after reading this post.

Alexandra