Let's talk boobies

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, aside from skin cancer. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year. An estimated 40,170 women are expected to die from the disease in 2009 alone. Today, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.

If you're worried about developing breast cancer, or if you know someone who has been diagnosed with the disease, one way to deal with your concerns is to get as much information as possible. In this section you'll find important background information about what breast cancer is and how it develops.

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in one or both of the breasts. Breast cancer usually develops in the ducts or lobules, also known as the milk-producing areas of the breast.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer). Although African-American women have a slightly lower incidence of breast cancer after age 40 than Caucasian women, they have a slightly higher incidence rate of breast cancer before age 40. However, African-American women are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age. Breast cancer is much less common in males; by comparison, the disease is about 100 times more common among women. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 1,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among men in the United States in 2009.

Types of breast cancer

There are several different types of breast cancer that can be divided into two main categories - noninvasive cancers and invasive cancers. Noninvasive cancer may also be called "carcinoma in situ." Noninvasive breast cancers are confined to the ducts or lobules and they do not spread to surrounding tissues. The two types of noninvasive breast cancers are ductal carcinoma in situ (referred to as DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (referred to as LCIS).

It is known that hormones in a woman's body, such as estrogen and progesterone, can play a role in the development of breast cancer. In breast cancer, estrogen causes a doubling of cancer cells every 36 hours. The growing tumor needs to increase its blood supply to provide food and oxygen. Progesterone seems to cause stromal cells (the woman's own cells to send out signals for more blood supply to feed the tumor. (Source: Dr. V. Craig Jordan, vice president and scientific director for the medical science division at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia as quoted in NY Times, Hormones And Cancer: By Gina Kolata, Published: December 26, 2006)

• Non-invasive breast cancer. The majority of non-invasive breast cancers are DCIS. In DCIS, the cancer cells are found only in the milk duct of the breast. If DCIS is not treated, it may progress to invasive cancer.
  
  In LCIS, the abnormal cells are found only in the lobules of the breast. Unlike DCIS, LCIS is not considered to be a cancer. It is more like a warning sign of increased risk of developing an invasive breast cancer in the same or opposite breast. While LCIS is a risk factor for invasive cancer, it doesn't actually develop into invasive breast cancer in many women.
• Invasive breast cancer. Invasive or infiltrating breast cancers penetrate through normal breast tissue (such as the ducts and lobules) and invade surrounding areas. They are more serious than noninvasive cancers because they can spread to other parts of the body, such as the bones, liver, lungs, and brain.

There are several kinds of invasive breast cancers. The most common type is invasive ductal carcinoma, which appears in the ducts and accounts for about 80 percent of all breast cancer cases. There are differences in the various types of invasive breast cancer, but the treatment options are similar for all of them.

Not all breast cancers are alike
Not all breast cancers are alike - there are different stages of breast cancer based on the size of the tumor and whether the cancer has spread. For doctor and patient, knowing the stage of breast cancer is the most important factor in choosing among treatment options. Doctors use a physical exam, biopsy, and other tests to determine breast cancer stage.

Stages of Breast Cancer
The most common system used to describe the stages of breast cancer is the AJCC/TNM (American Joint Committee on Cancer/Tumor-Nodes-Metastases) system. This system takes into account the tumor size and spread, whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes, and whether it has spread to distant organs (metastasis).

All of this information is then combined in a process called stage grouping. The stage is expressed as a Roman numeral. After stage 0 (carcinoma in situ), the other stages are I through IV (1-4). Some of the stages are further sub-divided using the letters A, B, and C. In general, the lower the number, the less the cancer has spread. A higher number, such as stage IV (4), means a more advanced cancer.

These are the stages of breast cancer:

Stage 0 - Stage 0 is carcinoma in situ, early stage cancer that is confined to the ducts or the lobules, depending on where it started. It has not gone into the tissues in the breast nor spread to other organs in the body.

• Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): This is the most common type of noninvasive breast cancer, when abnormal cells are in the lining of a duct. DCIS is also called intraductal carcinoma. DCIS sometimes becomes invasive cancer if not treated.
• Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): This condition begins in the milk-making glands but does not go through the wall of the lobules. LCIS seldom becomes invasive cancer; however, having LCIS in one breast increases the risk of cancer for both breasts.

Stage I - Stage I is an early stage of invasive breast cancer. In Stage I, cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast and the tumor is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across.
Stage II - Stage II is one of the following:

• The tumor in the breast is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across. The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
• The tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches). The cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
• The tumor is larger than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

Stage III - Stage III may be a large tumor, but the cancer has not spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes. It is locally advanced cancer.

• Stage IIIA - Stage IIIA is one of the following:
  • The tumor in the breast is smaller than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has spread to underarm lymph nodes that are attached to each other or to other structures.
  • The tumor is more than 5 centimeters across. The cancer has spread to the underarm lymph nodes.
• Stage IIIB - Stage IIIB is one of the following:
  • The tumor has grown into the chest wall or the skin of the breast.
  • The cancer has spread to lymph nodes behind the breastbone.
  • Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type of Stage IIIB breast cancer. The breast looks red and swollen because cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast.
• Stage IIIC - Stage IIIC is a tumor of any size. It has spread in one of the following ways:
  • The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes behind the breastbone and under the arm.
  • The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under or above the collarbone.

Stage IV - Stage IV is distant metastatic cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Recurrent cancer - Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back (recurred) after a period of time when it could not be detected. It may recur locally in the breast or chest wall as another primary cancer, or it may recur in any other part of the body, such as the bone, liver, or lungs, which is generally referred to as metastatic cancer.

Living together no longer 'playing house'... Cohabitation Or Marriage???

Living together no longer 'playing house'

Cohabitation, once considered “shacking up”, is now the norm for many couple in many contemporary societies.  There are many reasons couples decide to move in together, the number one reason being that people want to test the waters before marriage to see if they can make a marriage work.  It sounds logical, but studies and statistics show that this is actually false and that it often leads to a higher rate of divorce.
Now, I’m not here to discourage any of you from making the move.  Heck, I’m living with my boyfriend so I can’t say much!  However, I do want to bring up some pros, cons, and some general things to consider before making the move so you don’t get yourself in a situation that leads to unnecessary unhappiness and break-ups.
The Benefits of Living together
Moving in together may be the next logical step in a committed relationship, especially if you both are seriously considering marriage.  You get to learn the habits of one another, which can be helpful since many people have specific preferences for cleanliness, eating, sleeping, and hygiene.  You get a better look at a person’s lifestyle and are able to determine if you can deal with their habits.

Living together also provides much more opportunity to spend time together.  If you both have busy schedules, it may often prove difficult to find the time for a date night or a romantic getaway.  When living together, you know that when you come home, you can have time to unwind and spend a quiet evening with your loved one.  You won’t have to miss them as much, which is very nice.
Another benefit of living together is you can see how responsible your significant other is.  This includes both financial and household responsibilities.  Do they pay their bills on time?  Are they good with money?  Are they willing to cook dinner if you do the dishes?  Money is often a factor in divorce, so knowing that you are on the same page with your partner about finances can save a relationship.
The Cons of Living together
Fights are an inevitable part of living with anyone, unless you tip-toe around the other person (which, in a relationship, probably means you aren’t being very honest with them or yourself).  Just think about when you were a child living with you parents and siblings, or that huge blow-out with your college roommate.  I believe a large part of this is sometimes you don’t get the alone time that everyone needs.  You may start to get sick of your partner being around every second of the day after you get home from work.  If you decide to live with someone, discuss and set apart time to be alone and when to be together.
An increase in infidelity is a common trend among those who choose to cohabitate without the commitment of marriage.  People feel less committed toward each other in these situations as opposed to a marriage, which can lead to cheating or the desire to be with other people.
If you choose to get married and have been living together, the joy of marriage often is not experienced.  You are already living together, you share the same bed, you have sex, you share responsibility; life goes back to the same old routine when the wedding is over.  The excitement of marriage is often missing, which may be a contributing factor on why many cohabitation situations do not lead down that path.
The point
Knowing the habits of your significant other can be helpful, but if you are in a healthy relationship with honesty, trust, understanding, compromise, and sacrifice, a towel on the floor isn’t going to break a marriage.  If you end up deciding you want to make the move, one thing that is necessary to discuss with your loved one is the reason of why you are moving in.  If the two of you aren’t on the same page on why you want to move in together (one seeing it as saving money while the other sees it as the step leading to marriage), heartache and unhappiness could result in a failed relationship.  Know what your partner wants out of your cohabitation arrangement so that there are no disappointing surprises in the future.

Census reports more unmarried couples living together.....

"We're not saying that suddenly since last year there's another million couples out there" living together, says Rose Kreider,. a family demographer with Census. "We're asking the direct question and it's making some people respond. It's a clearer question."

The 2007 data show that in almost half (48.5%) of cohabiting couples, neither partner had ever been married; in 28% both partners had been married previously. Almost half of cohabiting women (46.8%) were under age 30, vs. 39.6% of cohabiting men. More than half (56.9%) of cohabiting couples were both white; 11.7% were both Hispanic; 8.6% were both black. In 10% of couples, one partner was Hispanic and one non-Hispanic, and in 8.2% neither was Hispanic, but were different races.

LIVING TOGETHER

Unmarried cohabitors as percent of all couples: Country 1995 2000s Canada 13.9% 18.4% (2006) Denmark 24.7% 24.4% (2006) France 13.6% 17.2% (2001) Germany 8.2% 11.2% (2005) Italy 3.1% 3.8% (2003) Netherlands 13.1% 13.3% (2004) Sweden 23% 28.4% (2005) United Kingdom 10.1% 15.4% (2004) USA 5.1% 7.6% (2005) Source: The National Marriage Project at Rutgers University What Do you Think????? Post your comment.....