Blog

VIDEO: Oral Health & Breast Cancer

VBCF’s Education Manager, Erin Steigleder, chats with two oral health professionals about the importance of looking after your oral health before, during, and after breast cancer treatment. Dr. Sarah Glass is an oral and maxillofacial pathologist and an assistant professor at the VCU School of Dentistry. Dr. Nazy Zahedi is a hospital dentist with VCU.

Advocates Make An Impact

VBCF is grateful to our inspiring advocates who helped make a significant impact during the 2022 National Breast Cancer Coalition’s (NBCC) annual breast cancer Lobby Day on May 3, 2022.

Read This, Not That: Response to a Recent Article

Last week, the website “Eat This, Not That” shared an article on breast cancer that VBCF finds misleading and, frankly, insulting to women. Their article “8 Bad Habits Leading to Breast Cancer” sets a disappointing tone from the beginning. This title suggests that women are to blame for their breast cancer diagnosis, that their illness is their fault, and that their fate could have been avoided if they had “followed the rules.”

Scrabble tiles spelling Mental Health Matters

Breast Cancer and Mental Health

May is Mental Health Month and National Cancer Research Month. Recently, the two have coincided as researchers continue to learn more about the mental health of those dealing with breast cancer, not just cancer’s effect on physical health.

False Positives and Overdiagnoses

When you read about “false positive” rates in mammograms, what comes to mind? Or about breast cancer “overdiagnoses”? There have been a few articles on those topics lately, so below is a brief explanation of what false positives and overdiagnoses are and what the latest findings mean to mammography screening.  In “research speak,” a false…
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Obesity, the BMI, and Breast Cancer

BMI is being used as an “easy” but murky indicator of health and how the relationship between overweight, obesity, and breast cancer is not as clear-cut as it is often made out to be. 

A Quick Guide for Busy Caregivers

When caring for someone with breast cancer, “busy” can be an understatement. Each caregiver’s situation is unique to them, but it’s more common than not to feel stressed, scared, and generally overwhelmed with balancing the unique challenges of it all. Know that you are not alone in this!  We’ve put together a guide for our top four most requested resources from caregivers throughout Virginia.

2022 General Assembly Update

The VBCF-led diagnostic breast imaging coverage bill, HR 1243, was “tabled” by the House Commerce and Energy Committee, thus ending consideration for this General Assembly Session. While the details are complicated (dealing with prohibiting additions to Virginia’s essential health benefits package), our bill and a group of similar insurance benefits-related bills were found to be…
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We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby? Alcohol Trends and Women’s Health in the US

Women and alcohol have a complicated relationship, so we’re going to take some time to try and review that relationship in the U.S. for Dry January.

How Patient Navigators Can Help You on Your Journey

For patients and loved ones dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis, it can suddenly feel like your world has been turned upside down. We know that cancer doesn’t just affect the patient, but their whole community. From choosing a treatment plan to the everyday struggles of recovery, it’s common to feel scared, overwhelmed, or alone – no matter what your support system looks like. Sometimes we all need a little extra help as we navigate the difficulties in life – that is where Patient Navigators come in. We recently reached out to Navigators across the state for some great expert advice.