Comments on: Why are breast cancer rates so high among US troops?

By: Mister

Mister — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:30:00 +0000

my guess is the slew of shots and vaccines they give the soldiers. It wouldnt be the first time we experiment on our military men and women.

By: toyg

toyg — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:39:00 +0000

It’s not just “having healthcare” — military personnel obviously spend more *time* going through healthcare for all sorts of “employment hazards”. If you have to take a scan to make sure the bullet was fully removed, there’s a fair chance you’ll spot any other abnormality in the area; and so on.

By: stringmonkey

stringmonkey — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:23:00 +0000

Drinking water at Camp LeJeune is a likely culprit. They’ve had some of the worst drinking water in the country for many years, largely due to chemicals from stored ordnance and other things leaching into the water table. President Obama recently signed legislation to compensate folks living there between 1957 and 1987 for health problems, but the water quality problems persisted for at least a decade after that.

By: TheMadLibrarian

TheMadLibrarian — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:19:00 +0000

Breast cancer awareness and treatment is good. Using the marketing campaign associated with it to shill unrelated cruft, not so good. For example, a pink anodized pistol? O RLY?

By: blueprairie

blueprairie — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:46:00 +0000

If you look at the statistics, mining and farming are still more dangerous.

Hell, driving is more dangerous, in terms of # Americans killed and maimed each year.

(and while my sisters and I were REMFs, my father/husband/BILs were all grunts).

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:16:00 +0000

Currently streaming on Netflix, ‘Pink Ribbons, Inc.’ Equally informative is a book by Barbara Ehrenreich, titled ‘Brightsided’. Barbara is also featured promenently in the aformentioned documentary.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2035599/plotsummary

By: graou

graou — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:52:00 +0000

I recently read an article explaining that mothers of boys could keep some of their son’s DNA in their brain, and that it could help them against beast cancer http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/250786.php
It is not proved yet, but if it’s true, i guess we could say that women soldiers have less kids than others, and so they have more breast cancer…
That, and uranium in weapons.

By: bklynchris

bklynchris — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:35:00 +0000

and sad….

By: keithg

keithg — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:58:00 +0000

Xeni, are you anti pink-ribbony breast cancer awareness month? If you are, why?

By: SomeGuyNamedMark

SomeGuyNamedMark — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:40:00 +0000

I think it has to do with all the shooting and stuff blowing up that tends to be a part of it. At least for combat units, maybe not for admin staff.

By: Daemonworks

Daemonworks — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Interesting that men and women with comparable jobs get radically different explanations, no?

By: Bartek Bialy

Bartek Bialy — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:01:00 +0000

What about stress? http://youtu.be/rYbeyU3pQvI?t=12m13s (start from 12:13)

By: Tribune

Tribune — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:27:00 +0000

I wonder if they are going to look at wanting to join the military as a factor – be it socio economic or studies of biological baseline it would be a fascinating study yet likely to raise a huge shitstorm overshadowing any actual outcome (ie imagine the reporting if someone tested estrogen/testoterone levels in women recruits vs non recruits).

Anyway with the male breast cancer spikes one would imagine environmental studies would be the best avenue of research.

By: shay simmons

shay simmons — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:25:00 +0000

I fail to see why. In my immediate family we have dad, myself, two sisters, two brothers in law, and one husband all veterans, all over fifty, all in reasonably good health (Dad has Alzheimer’s but there’s no post hoc ergo propter hoc there that I know of).

Mining and farming are far more lethal occupations than the military.

(Edited to add another brother in law).

By: technobach

technobach — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:53:00 +0000

This just in: Breast cancer causes people to join the army.

By: SomeGuyNamedMark

SomeGuyNamedMark — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:35:00 +0000

Sorry but if you are seeking a long healthy life then the service is generally not a good idea.

By: dnebdal

dnebdal — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:21:00 +0000

Well. If it’s near-enough pure U-238, it’s got a long halflife and comparably low activity. I’d still not wear a DU bracelet, but as radioactive metals go it’s rather low-key.

By: ashypete

ashypete — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:19:00 +0000

I wonder if the cause could be something along these lines - Night Shift Work, Light at Night, and Risk of Breast Cancer. Rather than the more obvious environmental contaminants as some commenters have suggested?

By: peterkvt80

peterkvt80 — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:18:00 +0000

I wonder if the higher rate of cancer is due to better detection? Because there is health care for all the military maybe they are finding more problems that sometimes stay hidden in the rest of the population?

By: bklynchris

bklynchris — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:05:00 +0000

per the Marine Corps Times article, oral contraceptives are singled out as the risk factor for women, and for the men? Well, for them the suggested risk factor is exposure to environmental carcinogens. Why does this really bother me to no end?

btw-my family would like to thank the bb powers that be for the truncated feed, it appears I am now spending more quality time with them ; )

By: Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:52:00 +0000

please replace “may be quite” with “is very”

By: The Life Of Bryan

The Life Of Bryan — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Uranium is a heavy metal, and an extremely toxic one at that. The radiation is just icing on the cake.

By: billstreeter

billstreeter — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Spent uranium might be one cause but really US Military bases are well known to be contaminated with all kinds of stuff. Camp Lejeune (mentioned above) had a long known and unaddressed issue with the ground water being contaminated with Trichloroethylene which is a cancer causing chemical.

By: Ashen Victor

Ashen Victor — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:10:00 +0000

Depleted uranium rounds maybe?

I have being told that that shit may be quite radioactive.