Save yourself, save our health care system

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Last year I ran with my daughter in the Run for the Cure. Each year I donate funds to breast cancer research.  But this year I also wanted to take the time to talk about the role that breastfeeding plays in fighting the battle against breast cancer.

The Canadian Cancer Society reports that in 2008, an estimated 22,400 women in Canada will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,300 will die of it (source: Breast Cancer Stats). It has been well documented through research that breastfeeding lowers a woman’s chance of contracting breast cancer (for other ways of lowering your risk see It’s Your Health – Breast Cancer). In fact, studies have shown that if women breastfed for at least 16 months over their lifetime, the incidence of breast cancer might drop from 6% of women to 3% of women (source: CBC article “Breastfeeding protects against breast cancer, study confirms”).

Imagine what that could mean?

• It could mean that more than 10,000 Canadian families each year could be spared the grief and anxiety that a breast cancer diagnosis brings
• It could mean that more than 10,000 Canadian women each year could be spared the physical and mental trauma of dealing with cancer and going through harsh treatments
• It could mean that more than 2,500 families each year would not lose their mother, wife, sister, daughter
• It could save our health care system more than $225 million dollars each year (in 2000, Canada spent $454 million on breast cancer treatment) that could be reinvested in trying to find a cure to breast cancer, in decreasing wait times for treatment, in introducing newer and more effective treatments, or invested in other areas of our health care system that are in such dire straits (and those are just the savings resulting from less breast cancer treatments being required and doesn’t include the other health care costs that are saved by having healthier children as a result of them breastfeeding).

Breastfeeding of course isn’t a guarantee that you won’t contract breast cancer and not breastfeeding isn’t a guarantee that you will. But if more women chose to breastfeed and if more of them breastfed for longer periods of time, research shows that we would see positive results. Not everyone can breastfeed, but almost all women can. Most that try and fail, do so as a result of bad advice, incorrect myths, and insufficient support.

What can you do to help? If you have a baby, breastfeed. If you know someone with a baby, support their choice to breastfeed and don’t pressure them to wean or tell them that “just one bottle” won’t hurt, because it can be a slippery slope. If you know someone that is struggling to breastfeed, point them to resources that can help like a local La Leche League meeting, the research-based kellymom Web site, or an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.

As for me, in addition to the dollars that I’ve donated and raised for the cause, I’ve donated 48 months of breastfeeding so far. How many have you donated?

Tagged as: breast cancer, lactivism