Read this handout quickly in class. While reading these headlines and article excerpts, ask yourself how scientists learned/ gathered this information, what information is actually presented, what factors influenced the decisions to print this news, and what factors influence your acceptance of this news.

3 DRINKS MIGHT RAISE RISK OF BREAST CANCER
Published on 05/07/87, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 462 words.)

Women who take three alcoholic drinks a week have an increased chance of breast cancer, according to two studies, and just one drink a day is associated with a 50 percent increase in the risk of the disease.

The findings suggest that alcohol could be responsible for 10 percent to 15 percent of breast cancer, a disease that strikes about one in 10 women.

The studies, published in today`s New England Journal of Medicine, found that women who drink modest amounts of liquor, beer or wine…

NERVE DISEASE GENE ALSO MIGHT HEIGHTEN BREAST CANCER RISK
Published on 05/21/87, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 349 words.)

A gene that causes an extremely rare nerve disease also may be responsible for 7.5 percent of all breast cancer, or perhaps 10,000 cases a year, a study concludes.

Breast cancer runs in families, but the new discovery is the first time a particular gene has been strongly linked with the disease.

If someone inherits two copies of this gene - one from each parent - they get a disease called ataxia-telangiectasia (AT). Only a few hundred Americans have the illness…

BREAST CANCER, ALCOHOL LINK DISMISSED
Published on 03/21/88, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 78 words.)

A federal study has found no suggestion that drinking alcohol increases a woman`s chance of breast cancer, a result that clashes with recent research.

``Conclusive statements or general recommendations concerning the relationship between alcohol consumption and breast cancer seem premature,`` said Susan Chu of the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Nobody has shown any biological reason why alcohol would raise a woman`s breast cancer risk, she said…

DATA INCONCLUSIVE ABOUT ROLE OF FATS IN BREAST CANCER
Published on 04/10/88, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1121 words.)

Early this year, the National Cancer Institute canceled plans for a 10- year, $130 million study among 32,000 women to determine whether the risk of breast cancer could be greatly reduced if women cut in half the amount of fat they eat.

With one in 10 women destined to get the disease, the possibility that a relatively simple dietary change could save lives initially seemed worth investigating.

But, as Bonnie Liebman noted in the consumer newsletter Nutrition Action, the…

CONFLICTING REPORTS ON ALCOHOL POSE DILEMMA
Published on 08/06/88, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 779 words.)

Two new studies published this week suggested drinking alcohol increases a woman`s chances of developing breast cancer but helps protect her from heart attacks and strokes.

Authors of the studies agreed the findings pose a dilemma for women, and that decisions about drinking should be based on personal and family health history and on whether a woman has other risk factors for the diseases.

The conclusion that there is ``compelling`` evidence that the more a woman drinks, the…

CALORIES, FATS, OTHER NEWS
Published on 10/12/88, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 632 words.)

Fat women eat fewer calories than physically active normal-weight women, but they eat more total fat and saturated fatty acids, report researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Fat intake may have more to do with obesity than total calorie intake.

Here`s more from the medical and nutrition journals:

* Low-calorie diet: Reduces breast cancer risk, and so does exercise. Sedentary women develop breast cancer at almost twice the rate of women on college sports teams…

WOMEN STILL SEEK SURE ANSWERS ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL PILLS
Published on 01/11/89, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 817 words.)

Does taking birth control pills increase the risks of breast cancer?

Scientists stirred up a new brew of worries on that old issue last week and then said to women, in effect, what the heck, go ahead and take the pill anyway.

Yeah, there`s some smoke out there, but it doesn`t necessarily prove there`s a fire, explained one expert in reproductive health. Sure, we need more research, but meanwhile don`t give up the pill…

BREAST-CANCER RISK ESTIMATED AT ONE IN 9
Published on 01/25/91, (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 201 words.) Section: MAIN NEWS Page: 1A
By MALCOLM RITTER, Associated Press

The average American woman has a one-in-nine risk of developing breast cancer during her lifetime, an increase over the previous estimate, the American Cancer Society says.

The society had projected a 1-in-10 risk since 1987, based on data from the early 1980s.

The new estimate, released Thursday, is based on federal figures for 1987, the latest available.

The increase reflects rising breast cancer rates and the fact that women are living longer, the society said. The risk of breast cancer rises with age. More women are getting mammograms, so more cancers are caught at early stages. This pushes up reported rates of the disease, said statistician Catherine Boring.

Other possible explanations for the rising rate include changes in diet, which is being investigated as a possible contributor to breast cancer, and the increasing tendency to delay childbearing.

Women who haven`t had children by age 30 face an increased breast cancer risk, Boring said.

About 175,000 American women will get breast cancer this year, and 44,500 will die from the disease, the society said.

``Every American woman should consider herself at risk,`` said Dr. Clark Heath, the society`s vice president for epidemiology and statistics.

All content © 1991 The Charlotte Observer and may not be republished without permission.

Questions:

1. Is this a important health topic? Would you think from reading these articles that breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women in the U.S.?

2. a. Based on the information in the last article, calculate how many females get breast cancer each year (total U.S. population =250 million)?

b. How does your calculation compare with the 1 in 9 estimation? What does 1 in 9 mean, exactly?

c. What is your current risk of developing breast cancer?

3. Based on the excerpts given here, how do you decide which article to believe? Why do you believe any of them? Why do you believe in science? What is science?

4. How do scientists know what to believe? What do scientists in general need to do science?