Archive - February 2019

As you know, Essentially Women has been working for the past year to have custom breast prosthesis covered by Medicare. Custom Breast Prosthesis legislation is about making sure women have ALL of the choices available to them, whether it be reconstruction, off the shelf breast prosthesis, custom breast prosthesis or to go flat. The beginning of 2019 has been busy already. I spent the first week of the year with Tom Powers, a key part of our Government Relations team, in Washington, D.C. drumming

A new study found that Asian women who had immigrated to the United States and spent more than half their lives in the U.S. were three times as likely to have breast cancer as compared to Asian-American women who were born in the U.S. This is a shift from historical norms of U.S. women historically having higher rates of breast cancer as compared to the rest of the world. The shift could be due to globalization and economic development including access to breast cancer screenings, later childbirth,

A team of German doctors has potentially found a blood test that could help with early detection of breast cancer. This test referred to as "liquid biopsy" is a noninvasive way to detect breast cancer in the bloodstream. This study is new and continuing to determine it's viability with other types of cancer. It is expected to be marketed later this year. Read more from Fox 5. 

A University of Oklahoma researcher may have identified a new treatment for breast cancer that targets a specific molecule to keep the disease from spreading. This research was funded through a grant from the National Cancer Institute to determine why the DNPH1 is overproduced in breast cancer cases and if eliminating it would prevent cancer from spreading. If a drug could be developed to stop the molecule from spreading, it could help prevent cancer from metastasizing in other parts of the body. Read

When it comes to social media success, personalized posts can make all the difference. Today, we examine a mastectomy company in Texas and how staying active on their social media and utilizing personal photos contributed to an increase in engagement, impressions and page likes! The following will detail four different ways that Women’s Health Boutique dominated healthcare social media through VGM Forbin’s Social 2.0 program. Read the full case study from VGM Forbin.  

Does your business have a presence on Google, Facebook or Yelp? How are you managing that presence, making sure the customer reviews or comments are positive or beneift your business? VGM Forbin's Christina Throndson says 70% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust a family member's opinion.  Read the full story from HMENews Essentially Women members have access to two reputation management programs, VGM Forbin's Reputation Management Solutions

One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. New technology allows for those who have had a mastectomy to be fit with a custom breast prosthesis must more easily. Essentially Women member, Elisa Lawson, was recently featured by an NBC affiliate showing how an iPad can be easily used to scan a person's chest wall to fit the prosthesis instead of using a mold. This type of news coverage helps shed light on how much of a difference a custom breast

This past Sunday, hundreds of people packed into an old building for a lingerie show not typically seen during New York Fashion Week. Over two dozen models with metastatic breast cancer stepped onto the runway to express their feelings about living with breast cancer. This third annual event was put on by METAvivor and AnaOno to raise funds for research to improve treatment for metastatic disease while changing public perception of the condition. Read more about this annual event from NPR. 

All women exposed to high levels of DDT are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer through age 54. However, the timing of the breast cancer risk depends on when they were first exposed to DDT. Women who were exposed to DDT before age 14, specifically in infancy or early childhood, were most likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer. Those who were exposed to DDT after infancy were at risk for developing breast cancer between 50-54 years old. Read more about the study recently

The medi protect partnership is not just about soft supports, products designed to address foot, ankle, knee, back, elbow or wrist conditions.  It's more than that. Much more.  Here's one aspect of the protect partnership we would like to have with you: Product Training medi University is set up to educate valued partners such as you. Plus, you will be provided information face-to-face throughout the year focused on increasing your close rate. Have a product question?