|
The Source...
Below,
you'll find extensive information on leading breast cancer ribbons
articles and products to help you on your way to success.
Early Detection Saves Lives
Early Detection Saves Lives
Every two minutes a woman in the U.S. is diagnosed with breast cancer. Those who find a lump at stage one have a better than 95% chance of a full recovery. Some women do their monthly self exam but most don’t. That includes women doctors!
Breast Awareness, a U.K. National Health Service encourages women to become more aware of their bodies generally and get to know their own breasts. With the age of cancer patients becoming increasingly younger, it’s vital to know what is normal for them and to recognize any irregular changes. We need to get our daughters trained to do this and ask our Moms and Grandmothers if they do their monthly BSE (breast self exam). Some women may feel somewhat shy about this so it’s important that they recognize that the BSE may very well save their lives. The life of any woman will be missed so let’s let our dear ones know about this. It’s a matter of life and death and our breasts are just an extension of our body and nothing to be embarrassed about. Thankfully, now there’s an easy way for all of us to do the BSE more effectively.
Introducing Breast CheckTM: A short history
It all began in late 1984 when inventor Don Perry of Decatur, Illinois, USA, came up with the idea of a simple device that enhances the sense of touch. Quite simply, it consists of two sheets of sealed polyurethane with a special nontoxic lubricant in between. Its effect, however, is quite dramatic: it greatly reduces the friction that occurs when fingers are moved over the skin. The result: greatly increased tactile sensitivity, making it possible for women to conduct breast self-exams more effectively.
In one study at Millikin University, Decatur, 13 women perform exams on foam squares using both their bare hands first and then with the device. The women are behind a curtain so they can’t see the squares. When using their bare hands they find large lumps in the foam 40 percent of the time. When they use the device the success rate jumps to 70 to 90 percent. For smaller lumps the percentages are 30 percent with their bare hands and 40 to 50 percent with the device. D. Rene Verry, Ph.D., reports, “Specifically, subjects were more accurate and took less time to find the lump when (Breast Chek) was used.”
Another study, conducted jointly by Springfield Memorial Hospital Cancer Center and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, involves 200 women. Half are taught to do breast self-exams the “normal” way, half with the device. Nine months later a follow up study shows that 75 percent of the women using the device are continuing to do their self-exams in comparison to only 55 percent of the “normal” group.
In April 1989, the creation of the “Touch Enhancing Device” wins Don Perry the award as “Outstanding American Inventor of 1989” and finalist in the inventor of the year contest staged by the Intellectual Property Owners Foundation. The IPOF winner that year is MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
Interestingly, the fact that Breast Chek is a finalist for this prestigious award amongst such high-tech competitors as MRI (now a staple among diagnostic tools) speaks volumes as to the effectiveness of this simple device.
A long battle with the FDA fails to have the product approved. In 1995 Nevada congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich, a survivor, takes up the fight at Congress and writes to the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health and Environment requesting hearings on “Sensor Pad (original name) legislation…specifically on the importance of the over-the-counter availability” of the product. Vucanovich, introduces a bill, The Awareness Act, to the House of Representatives, United States Congress, to exempt the Sensor Pad from FDA approval.
Good Housekeeping magazine later quotes her as saying, “It’s ridiculous that the FDA is keeping this valuable device out of the hands of American women.” During hearings a number of women and doctors testify on behalf of the Sensor Pad.
Vucanovich writes: “The Sensor Pad was invented for use as an aid to breast lump detection during self-examination. Unfortunately, the FDA has delayed approval of this device for ten years. In that time, millions of women throughout the United States have died from breast cancer. Deaths which might have been prevented, had the cancer been detected early.
In November 2002 the product finally receives FDA clearance to market the product as a Class II Medical Device. Various marketing methods failed. In October 2006, the product was renamed Breast Chek and in January began to be successfully marketed by person to person contact via the agents of the newly formed company Plexus Pink. Since March of 2007 this device has been available in Canada through Independent Agents.
Over 99% of over 3,000 oncologists, gynecologists and nurses surveyed said they would recommend it to their patients.
Some comments from medical professionals:
Mammograms miss 10-15 percent of all cancers. "That’s why it’s important that women have every tool possible,"Dr. Redmond says. Dr. Patricia Redmond, M.D. director of radiology at Staten Island University Hospital, New York City.
Women who use the Breast Chek kit are 22% more likely to perform monthly
breast self-exams. Study conducted by J. Gale Katterhagen, M.D., formerly medical director of the cancer center at St. Joseph Medical Center, Burbank, CA.
Robert Hironimus-Wendt, Ph.D. assistant professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Milliken University, Decatur, Illinois: “The impact of having a product on the market like this is huge in that women are going to be more likely to perform self-exams, which can be life saving in a number of cases.” Dr. Wendt conducted a study of 68 women which discovered that they were more likely to go for follow-up exams after using the Breast Chek device.
Darla Klokeid, M.D.: “I have been really impressed with how it makes the breast exam much easier and less intimidating.”
Daria Davidson, D.O.: “As a survivor I have to tell you that finding it earlier is better. Period. One in eight women are going to be diagnosed with breast cancer. If you can find it when it is small…stage 1 breast cancer…the five year survival rate is 97 percent. What woman wouldn’t want to have the best chance of survival? I do strongly believe that (the Breast Chek Kit) is a phenomenal aid to help us do a better job.”
Richard M. James, M.D., FACS, surgeon, Florida: “It is a life-saving product. It will do what we are looking for—help in early detection. In my opinion as a surgeon for over 18 years, the Plexus Pink product helps feel lumps earlier (than with bare hands) so you find them when they’re smaller and it will increase survival and hopefully help eliminate as one of the major causes of death in women. It is very important for physicians to get this into the hands of patients to save their lives.”
Joshua Kreithen, M.D., Board Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Florida: "The Breast Chek device is an amazing physical exam aid that is easy to use and is designed specifically for early detection of an enlarging breast cancer.”
A Japanese study of 832 women showed that those properly instructed in the use of the Breast Chek kit detected their own breast lumps almost as frequently as they were found by trained nurses using the kit. Nurses were able to detect lumps in each of 72 women in the study identified with breast cancer; 71 of the 72 women did the same. “From our studies of the Breast Chek, we can conclude that it is a highly effective instrument for early detection.” H. Sonoo, T. Sai, S. Maesaki.
From: Women’s Health Specialists, Dorcas McLennan, MD, OB/GYN: "I understand the need for this type of device on the market for both physicians and consumers alike. I can already see how the Breast Chek Aid will help me when I demonstrate to my patients how to perform a breast examination. When I hand the aid to them after the checkup to take home, I am confident that the increased sensitivity provided by the Breast Chek Aid will result in more frequent and thorough self-exams...I look forward to helping spread the word about the Breast Chek Aid and its importance in the breast self-examination process...I will share this with my patients, friends and loved ones alike."
A comment from one woman who used the Breast Chek aid:
Mark Haas bought the (Breast Chek) pad for his wife, and she used it the same day ¬ even though her annual mammogram, taken only six weeks earlier, had been normal. Haas was stunned when she found a pea-sized lump in her right breast. "I couldn’t believe it", she says. "My husband thought I was imagining things." When she prodded her breast using her fingers alone, she, too, thought maybe she was imagining things since she could barely feel the lump. But when she used the (Breast Chek) pad, there it was. "It felt like a pebble,” she recalls. Haas made an appointment with her doctor, who was able to find the lump with her fingers after she pointed it out. A biopsy confirmed that the lump was malignant. Fortunately, Haas had detected the cancer so early that it hadn’t had a chance to spread..."I’m sure I’m alive today because of the (Breast Chek) pad," Haas says. As seen in Good Housekeeping Magazine.
When use the Breast Chek Kit for the BSE, it acts like a magnifying glass for your fingertips. It's inexpensive, durable, washable, and reusable for both home and clinical use. The Breast Chek is just two very thin layers of polyurethane filled with a non-toxic, environmentally safe gel. The fingers now glide over the skin eliminating friction, and enabling you or your doctor to do a better breast exam.
We all know that early detection is the key to saving lives which is most important. has the best prognosis and less invasive treatments the earlier it's detected. starts smaller then .25 CM, about the size of a grain of barley! Sooner and smaller is always better than later and larger. It takes 6 to 10 years to grow to 1 cm, but once at 1 cm it only takes 1 to 3 years to grow to 3 or 4 cm! At just 1 cm the tumor begins to spread to other areas of the body. If you found at .25 cm your survival rate would be 99%! Do you think your could detect a tumor the size of a grain of barley? Watch the 3 ½ minute video on www.tumoralert.com to see how it works. Questions? Phone the author at 250-245-9240 or send an email to detoxqueen@gmail.com.
|
