I always giggle when I hear that tag line, a fun way to remind women to do self breast exams in between their annual *girly* doctor visits.  It’s easy to do, but easy to forget about.  Seriously Chicas, 5 minutes once a month, feel your boobies!  The main thing you’re looking for is change.  Some bumps and lumps are normal, but anything that feels like a pebble, or any noticeable changes warrant a call to the doctor.

My mom taught me that when I was a teenager.  My gynecologist reminds me every year to do it.  During the entire month of October (breast cancer awareness month), I’m bombarded with reminders to feel my boobies!

Breast cancer is fairly common (about 12% of women will develop it at some point in their lives), and extremely treatable if found early (the five year survival rate exceeds 96% for cancer found early).  Which is why it’s important that all women pay attention to their breasts!

It’s hard to imagine anyone with half a brain in their head saying otherwise. Yet somehow, a bunch of someones are saying just that:

The new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, state that routine mammograms aren’t necessary for women of average cancer risk in their 40s, and that women between 50 and 74 years old don’t need to undergo mammograms more often than every other year. They also recommend that physicians abstain from teaching women how to examine their breasts for signs of cancer because of a lack of evidence that it is of any benefit.

What is the U.S. Preventative Task Force, anyway?  As it turns out, it’s a government funded panel of doctors that makes recommendations to medical community on how best to prevent illness and disease.  Government funded?  Sounds like someone’s not wanting to pay for all those unnecessary mammograms if that health care bill passes the Senate.  Yeah, much better for that money to fund elective abortions.

What will the Preventative Task Force panel come up with next?  Denying that using condoms help prevent the spread of STDs and protects against pregnancy?  Maybe hand-washing isn’t really effective in stopping the spread of viruses or infections.  Do pregnant women really need to see doctors or give birth in a hospital?  Maybe they’ll ban in home thermometers, because they cause too many false alarms with parents rushing their child to the doctor when there’s nothing wrong with them other than a fever.

Gosh, people on a panel that will be able to make recommendations to the government on what treatments should or should not be offered on the government health care plan… What was that term again?

Oh yeah.

Death panels.