In today's Trib

1. Mammograms may not reveal tumors in women under 50 because the tumors and dense breast tissue show up as the same color. Read Trib story here. Here is the study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

2. A federal appeals court in St. Louis reinstated a lawsuit that accuses Costco, Safeway, Target, WalMart, WildOats and Aurora of claiming their milk was organic when it was not. For those of us who had estrogen-positive tumors, this matters, because bovine growth hormone can possibly feed new tumors. However, there's no test to determine if milk contains BGH. So you can put your trust in a label that declares there's no BGH. Or you can opt for organic milk, which means the cows have been grazing naturally and haven't had antibiotics (unless they were sick) or hormones. More here.

3. Hospice patients have a better quality of life than those who die at the hospital. That ain't news. What's somewhat interesting is that caregivers of patients who die in an ICU are at heightened risk for post-traumatic stress disorder. More here, where there's a link to the Dana-Farber study.

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Surprise, surprise

[Smile when you smash that breast!]

OK, I have to admit that I'm late with this news. I found it as I was filing away a page from the Tribune about what your greenest options are re: shopping bags, diapers, coffee holders and the like. So this news is late, and it states the obvious. But it's always nice to have your world view or Weltanschauung validated, as long as you can forget that these are real people involved who are suffering. Oh, but we shouldn't forget.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released stats July 6 on breast and colon cancer screenings among people age 50-75--or middle age, according to my calculations. Among the findings:
-People with health insurance were more likely to get screened than those without.
-Minorities were less likely to have screenings. American Indian and Alaska Native women were least likely to get mammograms.
-Women with less than a high school education and women who were low income were less likely than others to get mammograms.

Interestingly, the Tribune gave the story seven lines and two charts, accentuating the positive: Screenings rise for 2 cancers. It's odd, though: I couldn't find the original story, which was from Reuters, online. I found a longer AP story on the Trib's web site. That one mentioned the variables of education and insurance, but not race. It emphasized that more people are getting tested for colon cancer, but the same percentage of women were getting mammograms in 2008 as they did in 2002. The New York Times ran a piece the next week based on a CDC update, emphasizing the negative: Gaps Found in Breast Cancer Testing, noting that equal rates of black and white women were getting mammograms, though fewer Native Americans. The Times did not mention income disparity .

This all goes along with my theory that if everyone were rich, we'd be much better off. Rich people are thinner and healthier and usually more educated. Our obesity problem would decline and we'd all fit into our airplane seats.

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History of the Pink Ribbon

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This is a short history on the use of ribbons as a symbol of rememberance and awareness.

It starts with 19th century American women who wore a yellow ribbon in their hair as a symbol of their devotion to husbands and sweethearts who were away, serving in the US Calvalry. The Calvalry's official color was yellow. The John Wayne movie "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" is a direct reference to this custom.

There is also the marching song "Round Her Neck, She Wore A Yeller Ribbon," sung in the US military that was copyrighted in 1917. (and no, that's not a typo)

In 1973 "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree," sung by Tony Orlando & Dawn, was a number one hit in the USA, UK and Australia. The message of this yellow ribbon was "You Are Welcome Home."

Six years later, during the Gulf War, Penney Laingen tied yellow ribbons on the trees in her front yard, showing the world her longing for the release and return of her husband who was a hostage held in Iran. Penney's display got into the news and yellow ribbons appeared on trees all over the world, in support of loved ones away at war.

At the 1990 Tony Awards, actor Jeremy Irons wore a red ribbon. This is considered to be the first time an actor wore a red ribbon publicly to bring awareness to the serious problem of AIDS. Soon after, other actors and public figures followed suit.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in the 1991 Race for Breast Cancer in New York City.

Charlotte Hayley, who had breast cancer, handed out peach colored ribbons with cards attached that stated that the National Cancer Institute only spends 5% of their $1.8 billion on prevention. She felt prevention and early detection deserved more attention.

Alexandra Penney (editor-in-chief at Self magazine) and Evelyn Lauder (senior VP at Estee Lauder) approached Hayley about working together but Hayley declined. Penney and Lauder teamed up to create pink ribbons as the international symbol of breast cancer awareness.

Legally, in most places, the symbol of the pink ribbon is considered public domain. In Canada, the pink ribbon is the official trademark of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Arabic: شريط وردي
Spanish: Lazo Rosado
French: Ruban Rose
Italian: Nastro Rosa
Galician: Lazo Vermello
German: Rosa Schleife

Dutch: Roze Lint
Danish: Lyserøde Sløjfe
Croatian: Ružičasta vrpca
Czech: Růžová stužka
Finnish: Roosa Nauha
Hungarian: Rózsaszín szalag
Norwegian: Rosa Sløyfe
Latvian: Rozā lente
Lithuanian: Rožinis kaspinas
Persian: روبان صورتی
Polish: Różowa Wstążka
Romanian: Panglica Roz
Ukrainian: Рожева стрічка
Russian: Pозовая лента
Slovak: Ružová stužka
Swedish: Rosa Bandet
Catalan: Llaç Rosa
Turkish: Pembe Kurdele
Japanese: ピンクリボン
Chinese: 粉红丝带
Serbian: Ružičasta mašna
Slovenian: Rožnati trak

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