All Pink - Breast Cancer Awareness

SMS from the sectoral boss' Personal Assisstant last night read as:

"Dear Sir/Madam,
We in the sector have agreed to wear pink tomorrow to raise awareness of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Join us?"

Pink for the ladies is no big deal, yet for the guys could be quite a problem. Oh well, at least chances are, none of them would be suspended for wearing pink at work.

In the sectoral esprit de corp, I put on a pair of pink baju kurung. Not a big deal for me - I have two pairs of pink baju kurung. Although I'm not a fan of pink, I've been told that I look better in pink compared to more earthy tones which I preferred. Ehcheh.

Anyway - the main point is to raise awareness for Breast Cancer, and I think that's a noble cause worthy of support especially among the ladies. Turned out - four male officers wear pink today, with one wearing red striped shirt and yet another puts on a red tie since they have neither pink shirts nor pink ties. Well, I supposed that could still be considered as in support of the "let's wear pink" campaign. An elder officer joked that the nearest-to-pink piece of garment he owns is a pair of brief, but surely no one cares to see him wearing his brief in Superman style (urghhhh, nooooo...)

Anyway, why bother asking everyone's support? Well, according to the American Cancer Society, roughly 1,720 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. It might not affect the men as much as women but still, Breast Cancer affects everyone.

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* Risk factors of Breast Cancer

• Personal history: A woman who had breast cancer in one breast has an increased risk of getting cancer in her other breast.
• Family history: A woman's risk of breast cancer is higher if her mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer. The risk is higher if her family member got breast cancer before age 40. Having other relatives with breast cancer (in either her mother's or father's family) may also increase a woman's risk.
• Certain changes: Some women have cells in the breast that look abnormal under a microscope. Having certain types of abnormal cells (atypical hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ [LCIS]) increases the risk of breast cancer.
• Race: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in Caucasian women than others
• Inactivity: Women who are physically inactive throughout life may have an increased risk of breast cancer. Being active may help decrease risk.

Easy steps to help curtail one's chances of getting breast cancer:

1. Stay at ideal weight
2. Exercise. As little as 30 minutes a day will help.
3. Follow a healthy diet, eat right.
4. No smoking.
5. Go for timely health check-ups; early detection is the best defense.

* (Source: Wikipedia)

P/S: While it's quite late in the month, I'll keep this pink template until the end of this month, insya Allah