From: bergman@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: Army News Svc 08/28/92
Date: 31 Aug 92 23:03:27 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC


  <<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>>
  <<>>   U.S. Army Public Affairs                                        <<>>
  <<>>                                           August 1992             <<>>
  <<>>      ARMY NEWS SERVICE           Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat      <<>>
  <<>>                                                           1       <<>>
  <<>>       - - - - - - -               2   3   4   5   6   7   8       <<>>
  <<>>                                   9  10  11  12  13  14  15       <<>>
  <<>>  FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, A992         16  17  18  19  20  21  22       <<>>
  <<>>                                  23  24  25  26  27  28  29       <<>>
  <<>>                                  30  31                           <<>>
  <<>>        * * * * * * * *                                            <<>> 
  <<>> Comments or suggestions pertaining to the Army News Service       <<>>
  <<>> should be directed to SFC Rob Williams, SFC Darrell Cochran or    <<>>
  <<>> Mary Whipple at A/V 225-3101 (202) 695-3101.                      <<>>
  <<>>                   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -                   <<>>
  <<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>>



Revised ethics rules on the way for federal work force

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Streamlining ethics rules governing 
federal personnel took a step forward recently.
      "The U.S. Office of Government Ethics here in Washington has 
published its final version of `Standards of Ethical Conduct for 
Employees of the Executive Branch,'" explained Al Novotne, an attorney 
at the Pentagon.
      The new rules, which take effect Feb. 3, 1993, are scheduled to 
be spelled out in a forthcoming Defense Department regulation. This 
"Joint Ethics Regulation" will replace the current standards-of-
conduct regulations used by defense agencies.
      Novotne and other officials in the judge advocate general's 
standards-of-conduct office are working with other defense activities 
to develop materials for training Army personnel on how the new rules 
apply to them.
      Not every issue related to standards of conduct is resolved by 
the new rules. For example, the issue of military officers' and 
federal employees' receiving honoraria for speaking and writing on 
non-duty-related matters remains unaddressed by the new rules. "The 
next action on that issue will be taken either in Congress or in the 
courts," Novotne said.


Breast cancer -- no longer death sentence, by Staff Sgt. Saralynne 
Standley

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- "Procrastination will eventually lead to 
your death."
      So said Col. (Dr.) Ariel Rodriguez as he explained the 
importance of detecting breast cancer early. The chief surgical 
consultant in the Army's Office of the Surgeon General said many women 
"will avoid having a mammogram, because they are afraid that it will 
show something."
      That's a natural enough fear, he acknowledged, but ignorance 
won't make the reality go away.
      One out of every nine American women over age 35 will develop 
breast cancer. Though no one knows what causes cancer, Rodriguez said 
physicians have found some things to be related to the disease. One is 
heredity. Another is smoking.
      "We suspect that women who smoke have a higher tendency to 
develop cancer of the breast," he said. "Smoking is not good for 
anybody. And if you smoke, then you should try to stop."
      The diagnosis of cancer is often seen as a death sentence, but 
that's far from true. If a lump is found when it's still small and the 
cancer is confined to the breast, the cure rate is around 90 percent, 
Rodriguez said.
      One way to detect cancer early is through monthly self-
examination, ideally 10 days after menstruation. If a woman discovers 
a lump, she should see a physician for further examination, possible 
biopsy and treatment, he said.
      "The majority of breast lumps are benign," he pointed out, with 
only about 15 or 20 percent turning out to be cancer. But a woman 
can't assume her lump is "safe" or put off seeing a physician.
      "If you have a benign lump, it doesn't make any difference," he 
said. "But procrastination doesn't help the individual who has the bad 
lump."
      By the time a cancer lump is big enough to be felt, it may 





already be five or six years old. That's still considered "early 
detection," Rodriguez said, but cancer can be found even earlier with 
mammograms.
      "The true value of mammography is to detect the early stages of 
cancer before it becomes a true lump," he said.
      The Army's policy on testing goes along with the American Cancer 
Society and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: 
      "Every woman should have a baseline mammogram at age 40," 
Rodriguez said. "If the woman happens to be in a high-risk category -- 
say if her mother, sisters or aunts had breast cancer -- then she 
should have a mammogram every year.
      "If she's not in a high-risk category and her baseline mammogram 
is normal, then she ought to have a mammogram every two or three years 
until age 50. After that, we recommend she get a mammogram every 
year."
      In the past, when cancer was diagnosed, the only treatment was 
mastectomy -- removal of the breast and lymph nodes.
      "Consequently, many women avoided treatment, because they felt 
they were being mutilated," he said.
      But times have changed. Though there are still some cases where 
mastectomy is the only option, many tumors require less severe action, 
the physician said. "You can remove a portion of the breast, 
reconstruct it to a normal contour, then add treatment either with 
radiation or chemotherapy, or both."
      Even with a radical mastectomy, "the plastic surgeons have got 
to the point where they can make that new breast look pretty much like 
the old breast."
      Again, Rodriguez stresses self examination and mammograms -- and 
beyond that, seeking treatment as soon as possible.
      "Early detection is really the only good method that we have of 
preventing death from cancer," he said. "Fear of mutilation or losing 
femininity should not be a factor in avoiding treatment of a breast 
lump, because many things are available now that were not available 
many years ago."

-- 
         
      // \\
    //     \\                    Air Force News Agency 
   |         |               Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA
   \\  {*}  //                   bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil  
   \  CMSgt  /      ___________________ /____________________________________
   \  Mike   /   
   \ Bergman /
     \     /