[sunnykerr]

For older women, many tumors that a mammogram would find would actually grow too slowly to harm the woman in her lifetime, Schonberg said. But nearly all women with breast cancer are treated for it, and the risks of treatment increase with age.

That's the bit I was refering to.

Again, I get that, with age, any operation carries increased risk.

It's just odd to read that, essentially, the tumour may very well grow slowly, so why bother?

They don't seem too worried about metatasization, seems to me.

And I think you're right. Obviously, it's a woman's right to choose whatever course she wants to take and I am not at all in favour of medical torture in the name of eeking out a couple more weeks or months.

It's just very odd to see something as personal and life-changing as breast cancer being discussed in a cost-benefit analysis sort of way, that's all.

[quaist]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) It's just odd to read that, essentially, the tumour may very well grow slowly, so why bother?

Plus it may very well not grow as slowly, right?

[sunnykerr]

It may not grow that slowly and, even if it does, it may have time to spread every-freaking-where in that woman's body.

My dad's uncle is fighting bone cancer at the moment. It seems to be made up entirely of ways in which to keep a person in near-constant excruciating pain.

So the tumour in the stomach that may take ten years to kill you, if that spreads to your bones, and even if it's still ten years until you die, it's just not a pleasant way to go.

[quaist]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) My dad's uncle is fighting bone cancer at the moment. It seems to be made up entirely of ways in which to keep a person in near-constant excruciating pain.

My thoughts and prayers to your dad's uncle, Sunny.

If you take all that into account, it certainly must strike one as odd that doctors are advocating to stay away from mammogram screenings at that 'young' an age.

[sunnykerr]

Hence my "this all sounds counter-intuitive" statement, yes.

There must be more to the story than this, of course.

It just felt to me like a bit of a careless attitude towards our seniors.

[sunnykerr]

Afghan 'suicide vest girl' reveals family ordeal An Afghan girl has told the BBC that her family forced her to attack a police checkpoint in Helmand province. The girl, known as Spozhmai, said her brother and father had beaten her, ordering her to put on a suicide vest. She was taken into protective custody in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, after an Afghan soldier spotted her wearing the vest last Monday. Said to be about 10, she has appealed to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to put her in a new home. A presidential spokeswoman said she would only be returned to relatives if tribal elders guaranteed her safety. The girl is thought to be the sister of a prominent Taliban commander, who police say encouraged her to carry out the attack. 'Treated like a slave' She told the BBC's Newsday programme that she had been scared to carry out the attack, but that her brother had promised only her targets would die. She added that her father had ordered her to return home, but she refused to obey. "I said: 'No, I will kill myself rather than go with you'," she said. "The same thing will happen again. They have told me before: 'If you don't do it this time, we will make you do it again.'" The girl said she had not been allowed to learn to read and write. "I did all the things at home, I cooked, I cleaned the whole house, and they would treat me badly as if I was a slave," Spozhmai said. In her appeal to Mr Karzai last week, the child said: "I won't go back there. God didn't make me to become a suicide bomber. I ask the president to put me in a good place." The president has condemned the Taliban over the incident, but the group has denied any involvement in the alleged plot.

Illiterate and uneducated she may be, but this little girl has the courage of people five times her age.

I can't believe the Afghan authorities would contemplate sending her back home.

It tells you a bit about the situation of girls and women in Afghanistan when, faced with a case such as hers, the authorities would still send her home on the promised of tribal elders to look after her. Pft!

They're probably in on it.

[GardenSirens]

a 10 year old girl. oh my god. i know they've been doing this but to hear the story this blunt....actions need to be taken.

[sunnykerr]

Democratically and diplomatically speaking, it's up to the Afghan government, though.

Isn't it?

[GardenSirens]

Of course it is. Which means nothing will happen. They all but condone that (I know they don't). I have hopes for them but it really sounds like they would rather sweep it under the rug than take proper action.

[sunnykerr]

^ I guess we can only hope that the added attention will force them to have concrete action this time.

Meanwhile, it looks like India's gang rape problem hasn't been solved at all, despite new legislation:

Indian police closing in on 'vagabond' suspects in New Delhi gang rape NEW DELHI -- Indian police said Thursday that they were closing in on five homeless men in the gang rape of a 51-year-old Danish tourist in New Delhi, a case that highlights the plague of sexual violence in the country and threatens to tarnish its tourism industry. Three other suspects were earlier picked up and accused of taking part in Tuesday's attack, which lasted nearly three hours and happened near Connaught Place, a popular shopping area in the heart of New Delhi, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. "We have identified the culprits. All of them are vagabonds," a police official said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. Violence against women in India has caused increasing alarm since the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old Indian physiotherapy student in New Delhi in December 2012. Several foreign tourists also have been targeted in attacks that have received international attention, although Indian women are assaulted far more frequently. Tourism figures fell significantly in the three months following the 2012 gang rape, with visits by women dropping 35 per cent, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India. Although the industry appears to have bounced back, recent attacks on foreign women could have another chilling effect. Tourism accounted for 6.6 per cent of India's GDP in 2012, the latest year for which figures are available. Two Danish travel agencies said Thursday that they had not seen a decline in bookings to India since this week's gang rape. Niels Amstrup, manager of the Jysk Rejsebureau travel agency in Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city, said his company was monitoring the Danish Foreign Ministry's website for advisories on travel to India, but that so far none had been issued. Last week, an 18-year-old German charity worker said she was assaulted on a train in southern India by a fellow passenger. In March, a Swiss woman reported being gang-raped in central India as she and her husband camped out in a forest after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha. And in June, a 30-year-old American woman was gang-raped in the northern resort town of Manali as she was hitchhiking to her guest house after visiting a friend. Police said the Danish tourist was raped at knifepoint Tuesday after she approached a group of men for directions back to her hotel. Instead of helping her, the men lured her to a secluded spot and raped her repeatedly, according to police. One of the suspects in custody was found with the victim's glasses case and 1,000 rupees ($16) in cash, a police statement said. Last year, India's Tourism Ministry launched an "I Respect Women" campaign to reassure travellers. Some hotels also have introduced new programs focused on safety. Anasuya Basu, director of marketing at Le Meridien Hotel in New Delhi, said the hotel has designated rooms for single women and recommends that women only take hotel taxis. Public fury over the 2012 rape case has led to more stringent laws that doubled prison terms for rape to 20 years and criminalized voyeurism and stalking. But many women say daily indignities and abuse continue unabated and that the new laws have not made the streets any safer. Still, there has been a surge in the number of rapes being reported recently, suggesting women are emboldened to speak up. Between January and October last year, 1,330 rapes were reported in Delhi and its suburbs, compared with 706 for all of 2012, according to government figures.

What's chilling is the notion that this is happening more often to Indian women than it is to tourists.

So, when you consider how many separate incidents we've heard, that tells you how significant the problem remains.

The other thing that's interesting, in a creepy sort of way, is how they almost always blame homeless people for these attacks.

I mean, for all I know, that's what happened.

But it smacks of a cover-up, to tell you the truth.

I'm not someone who travels a lot, but if I ever do, you can bet I'm putting India on the list of places I'd never go.

[GardenSirens]

They need a better police presence. LIke you said, this happens far too much and just a police presence can help deter rapists...potentially. Depends on the situation, but I'm sure it can't hurt.

[sunnykerr]

Well, sure, stronger police presence.

But if it's always blamed on homeless people, are we sure the police aren't part of the problem?

[GardenSirens]

We see corrupt police officers everywhere. It could be a bribe in exchange for other information or services...who knows. I know you nor I will ever know the full truth on that as somewhere like India, so easy to be anonymous with how populated it is. Truly sad.

[sunnykerr]

Heck, there may not even be need for the exchange of bribe.

Part of police corruption can sometimes be how police act to maintain the status quo for no good reason.

They allow good suspects to get away because they can't imagine young men from good families, good neighbourhoods, wealthy appearance, etc. could possibly gang-rape a woman.

[quaist]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) They allow good suspects to get away because they can't imagine young men from good families, good neighbourhoods, wealthy appearance, etc. could possibly gang-rape a woman.

Or they don't want to to imagine it.

We've got to keep in mind that the overall Indian society's still much more rooted in a misogynistic worldview.