Amie Stuart ~ On the Back Porch

Beth is over at Sasha’s talking about food allergies. And I”m going to come back here and talk about some health issues. But first a few words from our sponsors.

This month is Lupus Awareness Month.
Here’s a few facts for you.

# The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that approximate 1.5-million Americans have a form of lupus.
# Although lupus can strike men and women of all ages, 90% of individuals diagnosed with the disease are women, and 80% of those afflicted with systemic lupus develop it between the ages of 15 and 45.
# Approximately 70% of lupus cases are systemic. In about 50% of these cases, a major organ will be affected.
# In approximately 10% of all lupus cases, individuals will have symptoms and signs of more than one connective tissue disease, including lupus. A physician may use the term “overlap syndrome” or “mixed connective tissue disease” to describe the illness.
# 20% of people with lupus will have a parent or sibling who already has lupus or may develop lupus.
# Lupus is two to three times more prevalent among people of color, including African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans.

This month is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

# Every three minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2006, an estimated 212,920 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed, along with 61,980 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. And 40,970 women are expected to die in 2006 from this disease.i
# Breast cancer is the leading cancer among white and African American women. African American women are more likely to die from this disease.
# Breast cancer incidence in women has increased from one in 20 in 1960 to one in eight today.