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!