In two days, the first day of "Pinktober" will have arrived. Again.
Rather than rehash my feelings about the pinkification of breast cancer (read that October 1, 2011 post here), let's act with love and make history together by signing up for the HOW (Health of Women) study...
What is HOW? It's an international online research study that will track thousands of people over time in an effort to determine not only what causes breast cancer, but HOW to prevent it.
Who is eligible? EVERYONE! It doesn't matter if you have had breast cancer or not. Doesn't matter if you're a guy or a girl. Doesn't even matter where you live on this great big planet — the study is all done ONLINE! Just be 18 years of age or older.
Speaking of Dr. Susan Love, she also heads up the Army of Women, which enables many of us to participate directly in breast cancer research. Please check out the list of current Army of Women projects HERE. If you don't quality, maybe you know someone who will! Please pass the link (http://www.armyofwomen.org/current) along.
It helps us all. Let's #popthepinkballoon!
oh Renn,
ReplyDeletesuch a brilliant idea! Dr. Susan Love and her research foundation are truly worthy of our attention and if we stay focused on what she and others are contributing to find out as much about breast cancer as possible through us as participants, maybe it will take the bite out of pink-washed October. the Army of Women and HOW studies are so interesting, and wouldn't it be fabulous if THIS October could be the time for a positive breakthough! it's a wonderful thing to do for ourselves, to offer what we can participate in, to actually DO something constructive to help us feel less frustrated and sometimes helpless to stem the tide of the pink tsunami - count me IN! and thank you for this very well written and informative post. Act with Love , indeed!
much Love and thanks,
Karen xoxox
Hi Karen my dear! Always wonderful to see a comment from you, our fabulous KTC [Karen the Commentator]! :-) This October IS the time for a positive breakthrough! As a society we must now focus on how to STOP this disease from spreading, figure out what CAUSES it in the first place, and discover what CURES it. There will be plenty of awareness surrounding breast cancer when we do these three things. That's why $$$ needs to be funneled directly towards reputable research (as Dr. Love is doing) rather than buying pink products which only fatten the wallets of the folks who sell them. Even companies that say all proceeds go to research are still moving product! It's time to #piercethepinkballoon. Thanks for writing, Karen!
DeletePS I changed the hashtag to #popthepinkballoon after I wrote this reply... it's catchier. Let's do it!
DeleteHi Renn, this is a wonderful idea, I have shared it to Twitter and my Google+, I will share it a couple of times this week to get it out there:)
ReplyDeleteThank you, as always, for your support, Launna!
DeleteGood reminder, Renn. I signed up for HOW when it started, and through AOW and elsewhere, have been able to participate in some survey studies and a clinical trial. We all know more research is needed, but often don't go that next step to participate in some.
ReplyDeletexxoo, Kathi
Thanks for sharing, Kathi. HOW is so easy, can be done by anyone, anywhere, and it's the kind of grassroots research that can speed things along!
DeleteRenn, what an excellent idea. I'm signing up!
ReplyDeleteYay! Thanks, Eileen!
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