October: Breast cancer awareness month, shop pink-support pink

October is a special month for all those who care about health. It is celebrated worldwide as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month. From October 1 to October 31, Breast Cancer Awareness activists work to increase awareness and knowledge about the disease.

The list of Breast Cancer Awareness activists taking part in the month-long campaigning includes names of a number of celebrities. For instance, this year, British beauty Elizabeth Hurley kick started Estee Lauder’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month at an event held atop the Empire State Building.

Why breast cancer awareness is such an important cause to so many people around the globe? Checking the staggering breast cancer statistics will help you to find a perfect answer to this question.

Numbers presented by the American Cancer Society suggest that at least one woman in the US gets diagnosed with this form of cancer every two minutes. This includes patients in every stage of the disease, from stage 0 breast cancer (according to some doctors, at this stage the disease shouldn’t be categorized as cancer) to invasive breast cancer, the disease’s deadliest form.

The cancer society has also estimated that the year 2015 will see 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer getting diagnosed among women in the US. That’s not all; according to their estimates, the year will also witness 2,350 fresh cases getting diagnosed about American men.

Another prominent cancer research body, the International Agency of Research on Cancer, which is a wing of WHO (World Health Organization), has estimated that the year 2012 saw nearly 1.7 million fresh diagnoses of breast cancer among women globally.

These stats have forced people to comprehend the importance of regular screenings and early detection. A recent survey conducted by the US Food & Drug Administration revealed that every year sees over 39 million getting performed in the US.

The increase in the number of mammograms performed every year has had a strong impact on the breast cancer scenario in the country. According to the American Cancer Society, since 1990 the rate of breast cancer death has decreased by as much as 34%.

Numbers collected till January 1, 2014, show that the US is currently home to over 3.1 million breast cancer survivors. The number of breast cancer survivors worldwide, on the other hand, is 6 million.