Beskrivelse
Breast Cancer Risk-Discourse - The Problematic Alliance of Epidemiological Studies and Public Perception of Breast Cancer RiskKeywords: risk-discourse, breast cancer, epidemiology, public
Abstract: In this paper we will analyse and discuss the intertwinements of epidemiological studies on breast cancer risk factors with a public discourse about breast cancer risk. As a result of our analysis we will highlight the problematic alliance between medical expertise and the public that produces the rhetoric of an "at-risk health" status that puts the majority of women in the Western World under risk. In a first step we will use a meta-analysis of two accepted and often cited epidemiological studies in order to question the validity of their claims. Our analysis will show that one of the widely accepted risk factors for breast cancer, that is the modern reproduction pattern of late birth, is not supported by the epidemiological studies in question. In a second step the institution of a breast cancer risk group, that merely pretends to be a successful instrument for preventing the disease, will be discussed regarding the consequences on individual level as well as regarding the broader discursive field of risk discourse in the realm of health. Individually the risk of breast cancer is neither calculable nor deliberately avoidable and socially the recommended reproduction pattern for women opposes the life patterns Western societies.
| Periode | 5 sep. 2007 |
|---|---|
| Begivenhedstitel | Breast Cancer Risk Factors |
| Begivenhedstype | Konference |
| Arrangør | European Sociological Association (ESA) |
| Placering | Glasgow, StorbritannienVis på kort |