BREAST CANCER

Alpha Sigma Sorority raises money each year for women with breast cancer. All of our proceeds from bake sales, charity walks and other events go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

"The Foundation was founded in 1982 by Nancy Brinker and since then they have raised along with their Affiliates more than $240 million dollars for breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment. It is credited as the nation's leading catalyst in the fight against breast cancer.
The Komen Foundation continues to work as "one voice" in the fight against breast cancer, a fight that is supported by a strong and broadbased income that comes from individual gifts, events, foundations, and corporate owners." -information taken from Komen.org

Click here to read about Susan G. Komen's story.

FACTORS THAT RAISE YOUR RISK * Age. A woman's chance of getting breast cancer increases with age. For a woman born today, her risk by the age of 30 is 1 out of 2,525. * Having more than one drink of alcohol per day. * Taking birth control pills for 5 years or longer can slightly increase your risk for breast cancer. * Not receiving regular exercise. * Currently or recently using some forms of hormone replacement therapy for 10 years or longer. * Being overweight or gaining weight as an adult. * Being exposed to large amounts of radiation. * Having a mother, sister or daughter that has had breast cancer. * Having had breast cancer before. * Being young at the time of your first period (<12 years), starting menopause later (>55 years), never being pregnant, or having your first child after the age of 30 years. All these factors were taken from BreastCancerInfo.com webpage.

Please visit this website on more information about breast cancer and how you can prevent it and visit the Susan G. Komen Foundation website for more information about our philanthropy.

LIVER DISEASE

Recently, Alpha Sigma is thinking about making the American Liver Foundation another one of their main philanthropies. A sister's father died of liver cancer due to his unawarness of Hemochromatosis, an iron overload disease that directly effects the liver and the body's other organs. Liver disease is something that widespread but unknown and Alpha Sigma wants to raise awarness on campus and in the community. It is something that affects infants, adolescents, and adults of all gender and race regardless of lifestyle.

JUST THE FACTS One in ten Americans are afflicted with some form of 100 liver-related diseases. * Some of those liver-related diseases are: Hepatitis A, B, & C, Biliary Atresia, Chronic Hepatitis, Cancer of the Liver, Cirrhosis, Galactosemia, Gallstones, Gilbert's Syndrome, Hemochromatosis, and many more. * Currently, more than 16 thousand people are awaiting a life-saving liver transplant. Many will die due to a shortage of donor livers. Be a donor, save a life. * Hepatitis C is four times more prevalent than HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Many liver diseases such as hepatitis C, primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and biliary atresia have no cure. * The burden to the U.S. in terms of medical costs and lost work time from liver diseases exceeds $15 billion a year.

The sisters of Alpha Sigma encourage you to visit The American Liver Foundation's website or ask your health care professional about the different types of liver disease and what you can do to prevent them. What you can find out TODAY, can save your life tomorrow.