Do You Really Know About Breast Cancer? By Alexis Davis

When it comes to breast cancer, African-American women are at risk more than any other group of women even after October is over and people are done wearing their pink. Furthermore, to ensure we are taking care of ourselves, we are going to look at some common beauty hacks and how we can best protect ourselves from this fatal disease.

Out of all the cancers that exist, breast cancer is the number one cancer in the women’s community that leads to death. Hearing this may not scare some people, but seeing the information in numerical form sometimes makes it click. The typical woman has a one in eight chance of having breast cancer. Additionally, 31% of African-American women suffering from breast cancer will unfortunately not be able to beat it. One way African-American women can stay ahead of the breast cancer curve is by getting our Vitamin D level tested. Health Central explains that when African-American women have enough Vitamin D in their body, they have a 50% higher chance of not contracting the disease.

The beauty industry also does not make it easy for African-American women to dodge breast cancer. Even though, there are large amounts of African-American women that grew up in homes where relaxers are used and promotes, some of them contain mercury. Using mercury in your beauty regime can lead to various issues for your body’s reproductive and immune system. For those of us that still go to the salon, the CDC suggests to bring your own neutralizing shampoo to avoid being exposed to formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde also shows during a variety of nail treatments. Acrylic names, the popular nail treatments leaves the person doing the treatment and the person receiving it at risk. This is also important because lately there has been an emergence in African-American nail technicians. This emergence has added 6% to the possible exposure African-American women may contract. In addition to mercury, some chemicals to avoid while keeping up with yourself are coal tar, toluene, parabens, and phthalates.

We all want to look flawless, but we can not put our inner health at risk for our outer appearance. As WOL Bosses, it is important to know just as much about what is going on with the innerworkings of our body as it is to keep up with handling business. We are excited to see how your daily lifestyles benefit by taking these precautions.