Pink and Blue: The New Colors of Fall Asking You to Screen for Breast and Colon Cancer The October days are getting a bit chillier; the jackets are coming out and the scarves are being wrapped. The homes smell of pumpkin delight as they’re being dressed in fall leaves, wreathes and little pumpkins. The children are refining their ideas on which cartoon or movie characters to dress-up as to trick-or-treat in and the fall festivities are bouncing around the community: pumpkin patches, hayrides, and haunted houses. There might be a few October characteristics for this fall that you may not be aware of. This month a couple of colors make their way into the oranges, browns, and blacks of fall – pink and blue. Pink As many know, pink is a significant color for women. A significant color informing the public that breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women as one in eight women will be diagnosed in their lifetime. Early detection can impact the prevalence and can save lives. Screening is highly recommended as the 5-year survival rate is 98% when breast cancer is detected early at the localized stage. Breast Examinations and Screenings:

• Age 40 is the recommended age to start regular screening
• Risk factors pertaining to you: age, race (breast cancer is diagnosed more often in Caucasian women), genetic factors and family history, poor diet and being overweight are a few risk factors encouraging women to consider screening prior to the age of 40.
• Mammograms can show lumps in the breast that cannot be felt yet.

Now, when walking into your doctor’s office with pink on the mind, don’t forget to consider the blue… Blue If you’ve been reading the past PoppyPocket blog posts, you know that blue is an important color to me as it recognizes the importance of colon cancer awareness. Just as breast exams and mammograms can save lives, colon cancer screenings do the same! Colon cancer is one of the top three cancer killers, but is also one of the most detectable and when it’s found early enough it’s also one of the most treatable forms of cancer. Colon Cancer Screenings:

• Age 50 is the recommended age to start regular screening.
• Risk factors pertaining to you: age, genetic factors and family history, a poor diet and even other diseases such as diabetes and breast cancer might encourage a person to screen their colon prior to the age of 50.
• Screenings can locate polyps that can eventually turn into cancer overtime and when they’re detected via screening they can be removed.
• Screenings discover cancer at early stages, increasing the chances of being cured.

Thus, screening is crucial to both of these cancers. The Colon Cancer Alliance’s campaign this month encourages everyone to think pink and go blue! When screening for breast cancer, remember to tell your doctor to screen this, too! Will you be thinking of these new colors as you plan for your fall activities this October? Live boldly, Julie