Last Friday on 18th September hundreds of students gathered wearing pink for Breast Cancer awareness week.
Many students expressed how beneficial this day was for them as they learnt a lot about Breast Cancer that they did not know before.
“We are always raising money for different charities in the school and this time I was really excited because it was for a cause that really meant a lot” - Student in Year 10
How common is Breast Cancer?
Globally, 56,000 women are diagnosed with cancer every year which is over 150 women every day.
As for men, 400 new cases are diagnosed annually and breast cancer has raised in men by 38% between 1993 and 2018.
Breast cancer is the 4th most common cancer death but in women it is second most common.
“I didn’t know that breast cancer was so common amongst women and that men can also get Breast Cancer and I think developing research and raising more awareness is extremely important” - Year 11 Student
Due to expertise research and people educating themselves on the matter and taking sensible precautions, breast cancer mortality rates have been declining and are projected to fall by 13% between 2023 and 2040
Is there any way to prevent it?
Many people believe that breast cancer is mostly hereditary and cannot be prevented but according to research, healthy lifestyle changes can prevent Breast Cancer such as; regular sleep, exercise, staying away from endocrine disrupting chemicals (which can be found in everyday cleaning products and certain shampoos).
Some Uncontrollable factors are;
- old age
- gender
- family history
- tall height
- heavier birthweight
these increase the risk of breast cancer because longer or more exposure to oestrogen however trying your best to prevent it will make a difference.
Therefore to raise money for research students gathered in pink whilst donating money to the charity and many hope that you also do the same to help develop research.