Home » Health & Wellness » Breast Cancer Research » The Media and Breast Cancer

The Media and Breast Cancer

© Linda Bily

This week I saw 4 TV promos for the latest breakthroughs in breast cancer. Like a fool, I sat through the entire news broadcasts to see what these newest discoveries were. As usual, it was a lot of hype about either nothing, or a minor improvement, or something that is still 5 years down the road before getting to the patients.

Breast cancer sells stories. It makes a lot of money for the advertisers. But, please, be forewarned - a lot of what you hear on TV is not total fact. Oh, the basic premise may be solid, but the research is far from over.

Always check out the source. Look up the references. Most of the information to back up and prove the story can be found online.

This week's media blitz included the benefit of aspirin as part of your daily regimen. Aspirin has been proven beneficial to lowering the risk for many types of cancer in several studies. It has not become the cure for cancer, however. Too many people see a story like this and run out to take an aspirin a day. I am worried that they will feel like this is all they need to do and forget the "moderation" rule for life - eat, drink and exercise - do everything within moderation. Too much of even a good thing can be bad for you.

Aspirin has been shown to be a chemopreventive for several types of cancer, but further study is warranted. The original study was published in the respected JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). If you read the article, you will find that aspirin was of the most benefit, while ibuprofen fared less well and acetaminophen had no apparent effect on cancer growth.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/ful...

I am not saying that the media should not report stories of breast cancer research; I would just like the hype to be less - give women hope, but not false hope. Also, it is important that all media sources give you the information needed to further research the subjects they present.

Know the source. Check the facts. Discuss any new protocols you want to follow with your doctor. Decide for yourself. Make informed decisions. Be your own best advocate!

The copyright of the article The Media and Breast Cancer in Breast Cancer Research is owned by Linda Bily. Permission to republish The Media and Breast Cancer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.