There are lots of pink "breast cancer awareness" reminders out there, ain'a hey?
Here's something that they're not highlighting:
How often do doctors in America prescribe a Group One carcinogen –
one recognized as a “definite” cause of cancer – to otherwise healthy
patients?
Answer: as often as they prescribe the hormonal birth control pill.
This little-known fact about the pill was presented by Dr. Angela
Lanfranchi, a breast surgical oncologist and co-founder of the Breast
Cancer Prevention Institute, who shared her expertise on the drug at the
“50 Years of the Pill” conference in Washington, DC on Friday.
“When is it ever right to give a group one carcinogen to a healthy
woman?” she asked the audience. “We don’t have to take a group one
carcinogen to be liberated.”
There has been a 660% increase in non-invasive breast cancer since 1973. The World Health Organization identified the hormonal b/c pill as a Group One carcinogen.
That ain't just a co-incidence.
Thanks for bringing up another interesting topic to research.
ReplyDeleteI googled the subject and found a number of articles on it, almost all from religious or anti-choice writers and organizations. After skimming five or six of them I noticed that none actually linked to a WHO source.
I'm guessing there is a reason for that. Such a source would have said that the use of hormonal contraceptive "modifies slightly the risk of cancer, increasing in some sites (cervix, breast, liver), decreasing it in others (endometrium, ovary)...[WHO committees] regularly review the safety of [combined oral contraceptives] and assess the balance of risks and benefits of COC use and they have determined that for most healthy women, the health benefits clearly exceed [emphasis added] the health risks."
I won't bother to argue the conclusion you quoted.
ReplyDeleteHowever, your cite does not dispute the "Class One" nomenclature.
In other words, "So what?" to the "benefits" assertion.
What you propose is that breast cancer is better than having babies--or that unrestricted sexual activity is a "benefit" which "outweighs" breast cancer.
Really?
No, not really.
ReplyDeleteNo, what I propose is that the ability to decide when one has a child and how and when to engage in sexual activity apparently for most women outweighs the very slight increase in breast cancer or decrease in ovarian cancer.
Jim, were you aware that women can decide when to have a child without using the pill?
ReplyDelete...and that men--real men--can also keep their fly zipped?
ReplyDeleteits from 2005, this is old WHO research...... recycled WHO research.... grasping at straws sort of research.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/ageing/cocs_hrt_statement.pdf
cant you cite better sources? a bit lazy when it comes to sound sources?