Overview

No Family History presents compelling evidence of environmental links to breast cancer, ranging from everyday cosmetics to industrial waste. Sabrina McCormick weaves the story of one survivor with no family history into a powerful exploration of the big business of breast cancer. As drugs, pink products, and corporate sponsorships generate enormous revenue to find a cure, a growing number of experts argue that we should instead increase focus on prevention—reducing environmental exposures that have contributed to the sharp increase of breast cancer rates. But the dollars continue to pour into the search for a cure, and the companies that profit, including some pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies, may in fact contribute to the environmental causes of breast cancer. No Family History shows how profits drive our public focus on the cure rather than prevention, and suggests new ways to reduce breast cancer rates in the future.

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9780742564084

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No Family History shows us ordinary people discovering the extraordinary truth of how to prevent most cancer. It forces us to ask the crucial questions: Who profits from causing, detecting, and treating cancer? Why do we hear so much about the search for a cure, and so little about preventing cancer in the first place?--Gloria Steinem

No Family History shows us ordinary people discovering the extraordinary truth of how to prevent most cancer. It forces us to ask the crucial questions: Who profits from causing, detecting, and treating cancer? Why do we hear so much about the search for a cure, and so little about preventing cancer in the first place? Gloria Steinem What sociologists do best is help us understand how society shapes human beliefs. The society of breast cancer is chock full of beliefs-about genes, chemicals, cures, female beauty, and the value of early detection. It's about time that a thoughtful sociologist shined a light on this dark and terrifying landscape and turned over a few rocks. No Family History is an important corrective to pink ribbons and positive thinking. -- Sandra Steingraber, Scholar in Residence, Ithaca College; cancer survivor; author of Living Downstream This eye-opening book from health and sociology scholar McCormick explores numerous environmental causes of breast cancer, but more importantly casts a harsh light on the motivations of industries that donate to cancer research while manufacturing carcinogenic toxins...McCormick's text is full of disturbing details, in the form of statistics and individual obstacles. Publishers Weekly McCormick presents a convincing argument for changing the nature of the breast-cancer-awareness campaign from finding a cure to teaching more about prevention. Plenty of studies are cited to support her claims...The evidence is there, and it's compelling. As much a call to action as an informative thesis, the book provides a wealth of resources for anyone interested in learning more about the issue. Booklist This book details the struggles and achievements of survivors who have forced their way into the scientific discussion and helped bring some accountability to manufacturers. This book is unique in its look at the activists and their demands for a refocus in breast cancer research. Researchers, activists, and politicians, take note. Library Journal The role of economics in determining what we know and what we don't know about breast cancer comes to life in No Family History: The Environmental Links to Breast Cancer. Read this book to get to the root of what we face in ending the breast cancer epidemic. -- Barbara A. Brenner, executive director, Breast Cancer Action New ways of reducing breast cancer rate accompany a powerful survey weaving personal experience with political conflicts and health concerns. Any health or general lending library should have this! The Midwest Book Review

Author Information

Sabrina McCormick is a Science and Technology Policy Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences working in the Environmental Protection Agency. She is also research faculty at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. She was previously a Robert Wood Johnson fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, and she is the director and producer of the award-winning documentary No Family History. Her website is www.nofamilyhistory.org.

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