But Pink is One Color...

Back to the differences of white and African American women...

[http://jco.ascopubs.org]

"Overall, breast cancer is more common among white than African American women, except for women diagnosed at younger ages, although mortality rates are higher among African American women. These statistics highlight the importance of providing race-specific risk information to women at increased risk for breast cancer (Simon)."

This is one powerful statement and it took me a minute to soak in. 

The article also states that breast cancer behavior between white women and African American women is very similar until around age 49. As age increases, white women are more prone to develop the disease. Does this mean that African American women are more likely to show signs of this cancer at an earlier age? That is exactly what it means. African American women are at more of a risk than white women at an earlier age. The articles touches on a little bit on why this is. One reason is because women of color have a history of producing children at an earlier age than white women do. There may be more reasons involving cultural differences that lead to slight health variances.

As stated in the previous post; women that have had more than one immediate relative experience breast cancer, the chances of a white women also developing it are 25.2% while this percentage is only 16.5% for African American women. If there is only one immediate relative with breast cancer, the chances are 16.5% for white women and 11.6% for women of color (Simon). 

It's interesting to see the breakdown of statistics and how different they can be for just one disease. Pink is only one color. Even though there are many shades, it only has one meaning. During the month of October and all year long, awareness needs to be spread to all. Even though white women are more susceptible to breast cancer, women of all color are reached and affected. 

[columbiachronicle.com]