Are Pink Ribbons Killing Men?
Sebastian, FL (PRWEB) October 5, 2005 -- It's breast cancer
awareness month, and the John W. Nick Foundation wants to
know: Why all the pink ribbons?
Pink ribbons are the widely-recognized symbol of breast cancer,
used to raise awareness of the disease and to show support
for finding a cause. Approximately 211,000 women per year
are expected to contract breast cancer in the U.S. alone.
But as far as the Nick Foundation is concerned, those ribbons
are a mixed blessing.
"It's important that people become united under the cause
of fighting breast cancer," says Nancy Nick, founder
and CEO of the Nick Foundation. "The problem is that
pink ribbons have led to a fatal misunderstanding -- the idea
that only women get breast cancer. In fact, nearly 1% of all
breast cancer cases in the U.S. occur in men, and the numbers
are higher in many places around the world. The misunderstanding
causes people to ignore or misdiagnose male breast cancer
symptoms, and as a result, the U.S. mortality rate is 42%
higher among men with breast cancer than it is among women."
The Nick Foundation was founded in 1995 to promote awareness
of male breast cancer and to provide support for those with
the disease after Nick’s father, John W. Nick, died
of breast cancer at the age of 58 because of symptoms that
were ignored by two different doctors visited two years apart.
By the time he was properly diagnosed, it was too late to
save him from the disease.
"Using ribbons to raise awareness of breast cancer is
a wonderful technique," says Nancy Nick, "but it's
important that we raise an educated awareness. That's why
we developed a pink and blue ribbon back in 1996 for a message
that tells the whole story. We'd like to see every cancer
organization adopt this ribbon when touting the cause of breast
cancer."
Today, the Nick Foundation continues raising awareness of
male breast cancer while supporting those with the disease,
but it also provides education to both men and women about
breast cancer prevention and treatment options.
Pink and blue ribbons are available for online use and for
print applications from the foundation's website so that everyone
can help to raise awareness. To learn more, please visit the
John W. Nick Foundation website at http://www.MaleBreastCancer.org.
Company Name: John W. Nick Foundation
Website: http://www.malebreastcancer.org
