Tuesday, October 13, 2015

TO BLINDSIDE CANCER

Proof that Monkey Puzzle trees are hardy
This was taken in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands
Yes, I still have plenty of Linda pictures, but I want to slip others in from time to time.

Here is a basic primer on the genetics of breast and ovarian cancer.  Most of you won’t need it, but you might want to recommend it to your friends.


Having nothing much to do these days, I find myself watching more and more NFL football.  I feel ashamed of this sometimes; watching all those young millionaires bashing out their brains for the amusement of a bunch of atavistic savages (us) surely must be deplorable.  Two centuries ago we enjoyed watching bears and bulls kill each other; or dogs; or roosters.  Now it’s humans.  Well, at least they (the millionaires - not the dogs or roosters) live it up for a while.

But why I brought this up is this.  It seems as though the NFL has ordered all their gladiatorial bands to wear pink during their battles, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is October.  September is usually Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and NFL games are played then, too.  Do you think that if we all wrote Roger Goodell and asked him for teal* next September, it would work?  Probably not, but I suggest we give it a try.  Maybe somebody can figure out how to contact him electronically,

Breast cancer is far more prevalent than ovarian cancer: in 2012, for instance, about 130 women per 100,000 contracted breast cancer, whereas 12 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  However, in terms of the seriousness of the diagnosis the picture is much less one sided:  21 0f 100,000 died of breast cancer that year, compared to 7.5 of ovarian cancer. 

So let’s put teal on the Pittsburg Steelers defensive line and see if they can blindside both cancers next year.

*You did know that teal is the OVC color, right?

You can contact the NFL this way:
http://www.nfl.com/contact-us


1 comment: