Empathy

According to Simon Baron-Cohen's sixty question Empathy Quotient instrument, I am on the lower end of having an above average ability to be empathetic. I do believe that these findings are very close if not correct for my empathy. I tend to think that I am slightly more empathetic than most which I feel like has developed throughout my life experiences. I do believe that empathy can be taught because a baby is not born with all of their attributes. Occurrences and things they are taught are what structures them into the person that they become. I feel like someone in my life who exemplifies empathy is my mom. She is very caring and compassionate and will try to see everyone’s point of view even if she doesn’t agree with them. She listens to others and can tell how they feel. She is also able to work cohesively with many different types of other people. On the other end of the spectrum, one of my friends is not very empathetic. She does not connect with many others or try to see things from others’ points of view. She is rather judgmental and does not work well with others. I feel like we are really close friends and balance each other out because she isn’t empathetic, but I am overly empathetic. Opposites attract don’t they?

Male Breast Cancer vs. Female Breast Cancer

Contrary to some people's beliefs, men can and some do actually get breast cancer. Out of the different types of breast cancers, men with breast cancer only make up one percent of breast cancer cases. However, through a 32 year study, there have been many comparisons between breast cancer in each sex found. In comparison to female breast cancer, male breast cancer occurs later in life at a higher stage with a lower grade but containing more estrogen receptor-positive tumors. Through out the years, breast cancer incidences and mortality rates have declined over time with a greater decline for women than men. Comparing patients diagnosed from 1996 through 2005 versus 1976 through 1985 with an adjustment considering the age, stage, and grade, hazard rates for breast cancer death had declined by 42% among women and only by 28% among men. Based off of age-specific incidence patterns, it was demonstrated that the biology of men's breast cancer is the same as that of late-onset female breast cancer. Another result of this study was that there are common breast cancer risk factors that affect both sexes. One risk that greatly related among both sexes was estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. The final result of this study was that breast cancer mortality and survival rates have improved significantly over time for both male and female breast cancer. However, breast cancer improvement in men is still lagging behind breast cancer improvements in women. Overall, there are many comparisons between male and female breast cancer, but male breast cancer is behind female breast cancer in the progression concerning improvements.

Works Cited:
Anderson, W. F., I. Jatoi, J. Tse, and P. S. Rosenberg. Male Breast Cancer: A Population Based Comparison with Female Breast Cancer. PubMed.gov. PubMed U.S. National Library of Medicine-National Institutes of Health, 10 Jan. 2010. Web. 23 Jan. 2011. .

Extra Websites:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/male-breast-cancer/DS00661/DSECTION=causes
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer-prevention/WO00091