Maybe it's because no one would buy a brown ribbon?

[niss]

This is something that has bothered me for some time. You would honesetly think prostate cancer didnt exist if it werent for old timers telling the younger guys that when they hit 40 the doctor will have to stick some fingers up his pooper yet even M&M candies have a breast cancer package.

Apparantly some guy dies from prostate cancer and he is only worth $16,700 but a lady who dies from breast cancer is worth more than $21,800 in research.

I guess its just not in vogue to have prostate cancer.

The politicization of disease: Prostate cancer versus breast cancer
I am saddened the politicization of disease. Sickness should be un-trendy and apolitical. The reality is otherwise.

Breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men are quite similar afflictions. Consider these projections from the American Cancer Society:
Breast cancer (females) Prostate cancer (males)
New cases (2004) 215,990 230,110
Deaths (2004) 40,580 29,900

Yet in the media and our culture, prostate cancer and breast cancer are far from similar. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the disease is receiving significant national attention, just as it does every year. Many celebrities have taken up the cause of raising money to fight breast cancer. The Arch in St. Louis is lit pink this month, the first-ever case of supporting for a “cause” by decorating the Arch. This precedent concerns the National Park Service, but they were overruled.

In stark contrast to the “popular” cause of fighting breast cancer is the short shrift given prostate cancer. I’m aware of no groundswell of support from Hollywood to raise awareness about this cancer. I can’t remember the last time I heard about a musician giving a benefit concert to raise money to fight it. And by the way, were you aware that September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month? Something tells me you weren’t.

Unfortunately, the disparity between breast cancer and prostate cancer is not merely a matter of media attention. The funding disparity is significant as well, as laid bare here by the National Prostate Cancer Coalition (NPCC):

The United States invests approximately $16,700 to find a cure for each life lost to prostate cancer; more than $21,800 for each life lost to breast cancer, and about $160,000 for each life lost to AIDS.

Furthermore, the NPCC’s “Funding to Find a Cure” PDF shows that in 2003, prostate cancer accounted for 16.6% of cancer cases and 5.2% of its deaths but received just 7.1% of the funding allotted for cancer research.

Of course, the politicization of breast cancer pales in comparison to the attention given AIDS. Awareness and fundraising campaigns for the disease have been taken up enthusiastically by Hollywood and the media elite. In my view, this is truly a misallocation of resources. AIDS is extremely preventable; in fact, prevention is the cure. Attempting to treat the disease, which is a virus, has proven extraordinarily difficult. Breast cancer and prostate cancer, by contrast, are not preventable, and the biggest risk factor of these diseases is not behavior but heredity.

Absolutely AIDS and breast cancer research shoult be funded, and well-funded at that. I simply wish that the funding were not so political.

http://underscorebleach.net/jotsheet/20 ... er-funding

[Dust Devil]

That's why I only donate to the Canadian Cancer Society. They are the only cancer charity that I'm convinced is actually doing anything for cancer in general.

[JakeYYZ]

An ounce of prevention……

Men could reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer through regular masturbation, researchers suggest.
They say cancer-causing chemicals could build up in the prostate if men do not ejaculate regularly.

<snip>

Australian researchers questioned over 1,000 men who had developed prostate cancer and 1,250 who had not about their sexual habits. They found those who had ejaculated the most between the ages of 20 and 50 were the least likely to develop the cancer.
The protective effect was greatest while the men were in their 20s.
Men who ejaculated more than five times a week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer later in life.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3072021.stm
All those times you told the ladies that if you don't *get off* you could die… wasn't a lie.

[ottawa,kan]

You could say the same thing about AIDS research. More people die of the flu in the US each year than die of HIV/AIDS. But the flu kills the very old and the very very young, and they don't vote. Or protest either.

[Dust Devil]

All those lobby groups who campaign to stop global warming to breast cancer to AIDS have but one agenda and that is to remove money from your pocket. All of it is simply about redistributing wealth and that is why you will never see a cure for any of it just small little tidbits of information to keep people hooked on the cause.

[Widow]

Jake's ounce of prevention made me remember this ...

Chilean town handing out free Viagra pills to senior citizens
Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 | 3:21 PM ET
Canadian Press: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTIAGO, Chile - A town in Chile is handing out free Viagra pills to senior citizens.

The mayor of Lo Prado - a suburb of the capital Santiago - says he launched the program because "an active sexuality improves the overall quality of life." About 1,500 residents of the working-class area are eligible to receive as many as four pills of the erectile dysfunction drug each month, the mayor says.

They have to be at least 60 and be registered with the municipality's health service.

"A doctor will have to certify that they suffer from erectile dysfunction and that their condition would not put them in danger of suffering cardio-respiratory side effects," Mayor Gonzalo Navarrete says.

He said he has assured about $10,000 in financing for the program through the end of the year.

Some government insurance plans in the United States and elsewhere provide Viagra, but Lo Prado hands the 50 mg pills out free, with no membership in any public or private insurance plan required.

Navarrete said some other mayors in the Santiago area, which includes 34 municipalities, have told him they plan similar programs.

Navarrete said he did not know how many pills had been distributed so far.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/080430/K043008AU.html