skip to Main Content
UAB Medical West Blogs & News
Birmingham’s Premier Medical System

Breast Cancer Awareness – Early Detection!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Facts about Breast Cancer:

  • Each year in the United States, more than 200,000 women get breast cancer and more than 40,000 women die from the disease.
  • Most breast cancers are found in women who are 50 years old or older, but breast cancer also affects younger women. About 11% of all new cases of breast cancer in the United States are found in women younger than 45 years of age.
  • Studies show that women with disabilities are less likely than women without disabilities to have received a mammogram during the past two years.
  • Black women have the highest breast cancer rates of all racial and ethnic groups, and are 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women.

One in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. When breast cancer is found and treated early, the five- year survival rate is 98 percent. Here are three ways to promote early detection!

1. Know the Risk Factors. These include: 

  • Being a woman. 
  • Being older than 50 – the risk of breast cancer increases with age. 
  • Having a personal and/or family history of breast cancer. 
  • Having dense breasts 
  • Genetic mutation of the genes BRCA 1 and 2. 
  • Taking hormone replacement therapy for more than five years. 

2. Know the Symptoms of Breast Cancer. These include: 

  • Changes in skin color and/or texture such as redness, rash or orange peel appearance. 
  • Changes in size or shape of breast including swelling, dimpling or puckering. 
  • Change in the appearance of nipple including nipple that is turning inward that normally has pointed outward or is scaly or cracked. 
  • Spontaneous nipple discharge. • 
  • Lump or thickening in or near breast or in the underarm area.

3. Take Charge of Your Breast Health. 

  • Every woman needs to talk to her health-care provider about her risk factors
  • for breast cancer to determine when to begin and how often to have clinical
  • breast exams and mammograms. It is also important for women to be aware
  • of what is normal for them and to see their health-care provider if they notice
  • any breast changes. Take control of your breast health by following the
  • American Cancer Society’s breast cancer screening guidelines:
  • Age 40 & Over – Mammogram and clinical breast exam yearly, monthly self breast exam
    • A clinical breast-exam is when a health-care provider looks for and feels for any changes in your breasts. 
    • A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast. It can detect breast cancer two to three years before a lump can be felt.
    • Age 20s & 30s – Clinical breast exam yearly and monthly breast self exam
    • Starting in 20s – Monthly self breast exam and clinical breast exam yearly

Remember, early detection is the best prevention! Do it for yourself and do it for your family!

 

Back To Top
Close mobile menu