Can Twitter and Facebook Help Fight Breast Cancer?

Twitter and other social media sites are often perceived as the ultimate navel-gazing tools. Seemingly a narcissist’s dream, many think that Facebook status updates and the 140-character Twitter messages (known as “tweets”) are really just boring play-by-plays of daily life—I had granola for breakfast! I’m stuck in traffic!

But Laurie Brosius, 31, isn’t buying it. Brosius, a business analyst in Dallas, used Twitter to raise $6,000 for a walk for breast cancer research in 2008. “Fifty percent of that came from online strangers,” she says. She was able to reach those people in part because her Twitter followers re-tweeted her messages.

In 2004, Brosius started blogging about her upcoming wedding. But after she married, she felt a key person was missing from the happy picture—her husband’s mother, who had died of breast cancer at age 48 when her husband was 20 years old. “I felt like I missed out on having her in my life,” says Brosius. “I felt cheated.”

She wanted to raise money for breast cancer research, so she participated in a three-day walk and fund-raiser, but felt she could do more. She had used Twitter to raise a small sum for that first walk, but for the second walk she relied mainly on tweets to direct people to the donation website.

(Anyone can see breast cancer–related tweets by typing #breastcancer into Twitter’s search field.)

Brosius still blogs and says that breast cancer organizations’ websites are great places to donate. However, Brosius says, they only reach a specific crowd—those already interested in the topic.

“[Social media sites] are reaching people who might not be specifically looking for that kind of information,” she explains. “They’re reaching everyone.”


credit: http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20294300_1,00.html

World Breastfeeding Week

Fast Facts

NOWHERE is “immune” to an emergency. They can happen anywhere in the world. Whatever the emergency – from earthquake to conflict, from flood to flu pandemic – the story is the same: breastfeeding saves lives.

In emergencies, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition, illness and death.

·Total mortality rates for infants aged under one year in emergencies are much higher than at ordinary times, ranging from 12% to 53%.

·In a large-scale therapeutic feeding programme in Niger in 2005, 95% of the 43,529 malnourished cases admitted for therapeutic care were children less than two years of age.

·During the first three months of conflict in Guinea-Bissau in 1998, the death rate amongst 9 to 20-month-old non-breastfed children was six times higher than amongst breastfed children of the same age-group.

Even in non-emergency situations, optimal infant feeding can mean the difference between life and death:

·Sub-optimal breastfeeding practices are responsible for 1.4 million deaths of children under five in low-income situations worldwide.

·For these children, breastfeeding support tops the table of life-saving interventions: 13% of under–5 deaths could be saved through exclusive and continued breastfeeding until age one.

·One-fifth of neonatal deaths could be prevented by early initiation of exclusive breastfeeding (breastfeeding within the first hour).

Myth vs fact

MYTH: “Malnourished mothers cannot breastfeed.”

FACT: They can. Moderate maternal malnutrition has little or no effect on milk production. In fact, the mother will continue to produce milk, at the expense of her own body stores. Extra food and fluids are needed to replenish the mother’s own reserves, and micronutrient supplementation may be needed.

MYTH: “Stress prevents mothers from producing milk.”

FACT: Stress does not prevent production of milk, but may temporarily interfere with its flow. Breastfeeding mothers have lower stress hormone levels than non-breastfeeding mothers.

MYTH: “Once a mother stops breastfeeding, she can’t restart.”

FACT: A mother can restart breastfeeding – there is no time limit. In some contexts, grandmothers have breastfed their grandchildren.

MYTH: “HIV positive mothers should never breastfeed.”

FACT: Exclusive breastfeeding for six months is the safest option and gives the best chance of HIV-free child survival, unless total replacement feeding is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe (AFASS) – unlikely in emergencies. After six months, if replacement feeding is still not AFASS, continued breastfeeding with adequate complementary foods is the safest option.

Information sourced from the World Breastfeeding Week Action Folder, available to download in English and Chinese at www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org (look for it on the navigation bar on the left).

Events

·Breastfeeding in Emergencies

What: Interactive talks on breastfeeding and fun activities, centred on “Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response. Are you Ready?”

Organised by Mothers-to-Mothers Peer Support (MMPS) and supported by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Healthy Campus.

Why: Learn more about how breastfeeding protects baby in vulnerable situations and how to re-establish interrupted breastfeeding as soon as possible. Take part in Q&A and quizzes, and take home thank-you tokens.

Who should attend: Breastfeeding mothers and babies, families, health professionals, relief organisation officers, and any interested party.

When: 9.30am to 1.30pm next Saturday, Aug 1

Where: Dewan Kuliah A, USM, Penang

How: Just turn up. For more information visit pgmmps.wordpress.com, or call Jeya (019 278 2728) / Sabrina (012 415 6446).

·One-Minute Simultaneous Breastfeeding

What: Annual global celebration of mother’s milk.

Why: Break a new world record by joining mums across more than 120 countries in a shared minute of breastfeeding.

Who should participate: Healthy mothers and happy babies

When: 10.30am next Saturday, Aug 1

Where: Throughout Malaysia

How: Get baby to latch on for at least a minute at 10.30am, then register your successful feed by sending an SMS to 016 4211 782 or 019 278 2728. Numbers will be tallied and announced at World Breastfeeding Week celebrations at USM, Penang.

Are you organising a health-related event the general public will benefit from? Email starhealth@thestar.com.my to let us know.