community


By Paul Bridgewater October is National Breast


Cancer Awareness Month, and I want to share a few facts from the African American Breast Cancer Alliance:


• Breast cancer is a leading cause of death among African American women.


• All women are at risk for breast cancer. However, Afri- can American women under the age of 40 are more likely to develop breast cancer than White women in the same age bracket. They tend to be diag- nosed at a younger age, have a more advanced stage of dis- ease at diagnosis, and have a higher risk for recurrence. Their tumors are more aggres- sive and tend to be especially deadly.


• Elderly Black women may be less aware of breast cancer risk factors or delay medical attention, which results in more advanced disease.


• Because of the biological and racial differences in breast cancer mortality, research studies have concluded that early and more frequent breast cancer screenings are essen- tial to increasing the survival advantages for African Ameri- can women.


• While the nationally recom- mended age for mammograms and breast exams is age 40, the African American Breast Cancer Alliance and other Af- rican American health officials recommend earlier breast cancer detection screenings and mammograms to help reduce the numbers of deaths within the African American population.


Early detection is critical,


especially since the type of cancer a person has helps de- termine the best approach to treatment.


Here’s the medical science


African Americans should know: Several recent studies have found that African ances- try is linked to triple-negative breast cancer, and women with this cancer are more likely to be estrogen receptor-negative, which makes them ineligible for hormone therapy.


Researchers from the Uni-


versity of Michigan Compre- hensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor reported in July that in their study, 82 percent of Af- rican women and 26 percent of American women of Afri- can ancestry had triple-nega-


BBB warns against certain


online ads The Better Business


Bureau is warning consumers to be wary of free trial offers online for diet pills, work at home jobs and teeth whiten- ers among other products and services. In this year alone, BBB has received thousands of complaints from consum- ers across the country who thought they were getting a free trial, but ended up losing often hundreds of dollars in recurring credit or debit card charges.


Ubiquitous deceptive


online ads for “free trials” of various products and services can be found on popular sites like MSN.com, ESPN.com, and Weather.com. Often the ads link to websites of phony news outlets which, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, commonly feature the photo of a well-known French journal- ist — without her permission — under various names.


“Fighting deceptive free trial


offers online continues to be a game of whack-a-mole,” said Melanie Duquesnel, president and CEO of BBB Serving East- ern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. “Just as soon as one company is put out of business it’s replaced by an- other with the same model of ripping consumers off under the guise of a no-risk free trial offer.”


One company behind these


not-so-free trials is XM Brands which has an F rating with BBB. According to the nearly 2,000 complaints to the West Palm Beach BBB, the compa- ny sells roughly 40 teeth whit- eners, acai diet pills and colon cleansers online.


Complainants say they


agreed to pay anywhere from $1.49 to $3.87 to cover ship- ping for the product trial but were charged as much as $87 a month, sometimes before they even received their trial in the mail. Complainants report get- ting the runaround from the company when they request refunds or ask to stop being billed; one consumer claims to have lost more than $860 as a result of recurring charges.


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tive disease. This was com- pared with 16 percent of White American patients with breast cancer.


ported that


Another recent study re- triple-negative


disease is threefold more common in African American women compared with other races, regardless of age or body mass index.


The bottom line: We need to


be advocates for our own health and well-being. All breast problems must be checked, and biopsies must be done for any strange breast change or condition. Both women and


Bridgewater


THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE men can


get breast cancer, and the symp- toms


are


the same for both:


• A lump in the pecto- rals, chest, collarbone, n i p p l e s , torso, or un- derarms


or fluid from the nipples that is bloody, clear, pus-like, or smells bad


• Discharge


• Skin changes that are bumpy, dark, a different color, itchy, painful, rash-like, puck- ered, redness, sore, shrunken, swollen, or tender


I hope all of you who read


this column will take charge of your breast health with a plan of action:


• Do a monthly breast self- exam. If you don’t know how, ask a health practitioner.


• Ask your health care provid- er for a clinical breast exam, something few men would know to request.


• Get a screening mammogram


October 13-19, 2010


every year, starting at age 35 in the African American com- munity.


• Learn about your family’s cancer history. Cancer of the breast, colon, ovaries and prostate are related, and either side of the family can carry the gene.


• Reduce your alcohol and fat intake, reduce your weight, and increase your exercise.


• Save your breasts, save your life.


The Michigan Department


of Public Health distributes a helpful booklet, “What You


Page D-3 Breast cancer tumors more aggressive in African American women


Need to Know Before Treat- ment About: Breast Cancer.” For a free copy, call (517)


373-1737 or write: Michigan Department of Community Health, Bureau of Health Pro- fessions, PO Box 30454, Lan- sing, MI 48909.


Tune in to “The Senior Solu-


tion” on WGPR 107.5 FM every Saturday morning at 10 a.m., hosted by Paul Bridgewater, president and CEO, Detroit Area Agency on Aging. It is located at 1333 Brewery Park Blvd., Suite 200, Detroit, MI 48207 (313); 446-4444; www. daaa1a.org.


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