cut through the crap

All the junk science and bogus claims¹ about breast cancer are really getting to me these days. What bothers me even more is that some of the denial and outright obfuscation comes from sources we in the mainstream are supposed to trust.²

How do you decide what's real?

With so many conflicting messages about lifestyle changes, what advice are we to follow?

And when are those in a position to do anything going to truly investigate the environmental links to breast cancer? (I know the answer to that one. Probably never.)

It's enough to send a girl back to bed. It's pretty dark under the duvet. Maybe I can hide from the world for a while and pretend all that annoys me doesn't exist.

That's not a terribly constructive solution though, so more and more I'm turning to all the good stuff on the internet. There are lots of smart people advocating for themselves and others. And, thankfully, there is always Breast Cancer Action.

Image courtesy Breast Cancer Action.

I just signed up for a"Webinar" called "Separating Hype from Hope. Breast Cancer Media Literacy." You have to register in advance but it's completely free. There are two sessions, one on Wednesday, May 29 at 10am PST/ 1pm EST and one on Thursday, May 30 at 2pm PST / 5pm EST.

The agenda includes the following:

•  The larger picture of media literacy
• What is right and wrong about health coverage in the media
• The current state of journalism and its impact on consumers 
• How industry and pharmaceuticals influence health news reporting
• How an issue is considered newsworthy
• The 10 criteria for medical stories with specific breast cancer focused examples 
• How to give reporters feedback
• How you can get involved

Sounds like a breath of fresh air. I'm in.

Courtesy xkcd.com and thanks to a friend for this timely alert.

¹ The article that I linked to was at the very top of the page when I Googled "cure for cancer." Ugh.

² For example, this is from an article, "Barbara Brenner, breast cancer iconoclast, dies at 61": 

"Dr. Otis W. Brawley, the chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, called Ms. Brenner “a dear friend,” but added, “I didn’t agree with her, probably 40 or 50 percent of the time.”

One point of difference was over whether environmental factors play a major role in cancer. Ms. Brenner thought they did; Dr. Brawley is skeptical."