When Patricia Russell was in her thirties, she felt a lump in her breast. I knew that the texture, the feel of the dough, was not normal.
“I got to a level in my life where I was looking to assess my health. But I didn’t expect it (breast cancer), I don’t look. In fact, I’m one of the women who said, ‘This will never happen to me,'” she said at a news convention Thursday.
But after locating the lump, Russell began reading about himself and discovered what would possibly have looked like a mass.
“‘It’s weird, it’s not normal. ‘ (But) I sought to push him away,” he said. She fought that intuition and went for an exam, being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Since that fateful day, Russell has survived two episodes of the disease. She is now part of a crusade launched this week with Toronto-based underwear company Love.
Russell spoke at the news conference with breast cancer survivors and doctors, who discussed fitness disparities and why black people, who have worse outcomes in breast cancer, are less screened for the disease and are faced with a fitness care formula that, It is said to promote white-focused resources.
Canada does not consistently track race-based data on breast cancer screening rates, but other Western countries have shown that black people have transparent and worse outcomes in breast cancer.
In the United States, black women are 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer, and that number has remained at that level for more than a decade, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
In addition, black women younger than 50 had a death rate twice as high as white women at that age, according to the ACS. The organization says testing rates are higher and racial disparities in testing rates need to be addressed to address the problem.
According to 2021 data from the federal government and the Canadian Cancer Society, cancer detection rates decline among people of color, who face barriers to screening, and delayed diagnosis leads to worse outcomes and decreases survival rates.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a disproportionate impact on other Black people due to structural racism and online neglect, meaning those difficulties in getting tested have likely worsened, the report says.
In addition, the report notes that two out of five Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime and about a quarter of all Canadians will die from it in their lifetime. of the nearly 111,000 cancer cases found in women that year. The Canadian Cancer Society also estimates that about 15 women die of breast cancer every day in Canada.
Love
This symbol provided through love.
For the breast cancer campaign, the company plans to come with an insert, in various skin tones, with short-term purchases that mimic the appearance of a cancerous mass in a user of color. For example, redness that might appear for lighter skin will not be provided for the example intended to reflect blacks, Carter said.
She said many other people in her life have been affected by breast cancer and a close circle of close relatives died of the disease in her forties.
“When I discovered those statistics that black women have a 40 percent higher death rate than white women, it reminded me of my logo and what it means: representation,” she said. “The face of cancer is not ours. “
The collection with the inserts called “Stage Zero” to emphasize that awareness and protection can help prevent other black people from receiving a fatal diagnosis, in the hope that breast cancer can be detected earlier if screening is recommended.
Dr. Mojola Omole, Toronto-based surgical oncologist who participates in the Love campaign
“All women, and especially women of color, should be screened at age 40 and annually. You can’t be afraid of what you might discover, because you don’t need to overshadow your illness,” he said.
The earlier the disease is detected, the more it can be treated, he said.
In all provinces and territories, mammography is used to screen for breast cancer to detect any symptoms or symptoms before the disease develops.
Most provinces and territories begin contacting Americans for testing at age 50, and women are encouraged to get tested every one to two years thereafter, until about age 75, depending on the region.
BEFORE JC. et Nova Scotia are the only jurisdictions that begin contacting other people about breast cancer screening at age 40. In addition to those two provinces, some other provinces and only one territory allow screening starting at age 40, on the advice of a number one care provider. These are Alberta, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories.
Self-referencing, meaning a user can make a decision for themselves if they are fit to get tested, is imaginable in PEI, Yukon, and Nova Scotia. screening calls for medical request. In addition, in Ontario, testing is imaginable before age 50, however, a user will need to be identified as a primary threat through a doctor or genetic counselor.
Within black communities, there can be a stigma around cancer because of fear, Omole said.
“By ignoring it, it doesn’t go away,” he said.
People don’t have access to data on how early detection of cancer can give someone a better chance of returning to a normal life, he said.
There’s a lot of incorrect information online and the fitness formula doesn’t target fast teams or address their concerns, he said.
This symbol shows the inserts that Love
Omole said inserts that show what a Mass looks like and fees, like those distributed through Love.
“Images can be a difficult thing. When you don’t feel included in the conversation, you just exclude yourself, you don’t think it’s an option for you. . . You think, ‘It’s a white person’s disease,'” he said.
“We’re not educating people, that’s what medicine in general wants,” he said.
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