Dwarfism Awareness Month

This month is Dwarfism Awareness Month. In 2009, Little People of America, launched Dwarfism Awareness Month for October. Little People of America, or LPA, is a non-profit dwarfism support organization. The program provides “support and information to people of short stature and their families.”

What is Dwarfism? According to LPA, “Dwarfism is a condition that affects bones and cartilage.” According to Mayo Clinic, people affected by Dwarfism have a height of 4 feet 10 inches, or less, as an adult.

According to LPA, there are about 30,000 people in the United States with dwarfism. In the world, there are about 651,700 people who are affected by Dwarfism. There are multiple types of dwarfism—around400—and each type is different from the other.

Many people with dwarfism have parents or siblings who are of average height. It is possible for people with dwarfism to have children who are average height. Dwarfism is usually caused by a small genetic change. About 1 out of 10,000 children born are born with dwarfism.

According to Shoreline community college, many causes for dwarfism are unknown. Still, some reasons that are known are random genetic mutations, genetic disorders, deficiencies in some hormones, and poor nutrition.

Dwarfism Awareness Month is recognized worldwide,by governors and state legislatures. According to an article in The Mint Hill Times, Dwarfism Awareness Month raises awareness and educates people about dwarfism. The LPA hopes that Dwarfism Awareness Month creates positive awareness, and addresses misconceptions that many people have about those with dwarfism.

From a young age, we were constantly exposed to the iconic pink ribbon. The recognizable pink ribbon is a symbol of a disease that claims over 42,690 lives every year. Breast cancer is a disease where malignant cells and tumors are found inside the breast tissue. It can change the shape of the breast and causes hard lumps to form.

While many people know about this disease, they know very little about the recognition, treatment, and prevention of this horrible life-threatening disease. Every year there are about 1.3 million new cases of breast cancer all over the world. This cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide, both in urbanized and developing third-world countries.

Even today, in an age of rapid medical advancement, we have very little knowledge about what causes breast cancer. Which is why early detection is crucial to make sure that the disease is quickly treated for. When detected early enough, the cancer is more likely to be cured. Recovery rates are far higher for cases that were detected earlier rather than later.

In the unfortunate case where the cancer is not identified early, treatment may not be an option. For late-stage breast cancer, palliative treatment is the only available treatment. While breast cancer cases occur all over the world, the vast majority of deaths occur in low-income countries and nations, due to the lack of awareness and resources for this disease.

The World Health Organization recommends regular comprehensive breast cancer control programs. In many developed countries such as the United States, breast cancer detection programs such as mammograms offer great long term results, can detect the cancer early, and often have a very good long-term prognosis.

This horrible disease claims over a million lives every year. With proper identification and prevention methods, it is easy to detect this disease early and treat it with the wonders of modern medicine. For more information please visit the link below.