Vitamin D and Reduced Risk of Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Case-Control Study
I just spent this past weekend volunteering at the Breast Cancer 3-day in the medical tent providing injury care to the walkers. Invariably, in conversation with patients, the question of why they were walking came up. I will always remember the response of an 18 yr old girl who’s mom died of breast cancer 5 yrs ago. I asked her what SHE was doing to prevent breast cancer for herself. She replied with some degree of frustration that “they” won’t do anything because she was too young. Of course she was referring to mammography. But how twisted has our society become that we, at it’s most important moment, confuse prevention with early detection?
This study is a perfect example of how much can be done to intervene in the process. But given our aversion to preventing cancer, and that this study found that early exposure (10-19 years of age) to the sun cut risk by 35%, how many generations will it be before we pass knowledge of prevention from the adults that “get it” to the youth that “need it??”