It is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Beginning at age 40, women are advised to begin receiving a yearly mammogram. Director of Diagnostic Imaging at Cottage Hospital Sherrie Brock shares some statistics from the American Cancer Society and the importance of scheduling a yearly mammogram:
“Many women with breast cancer have no symptoms at all. This is why screening mammograms are so very important. You want to find it before is causes symptoms. Being that breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancer, the risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer is about one in eight, which is about thirteen percent. Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. Only lung cancer kills more women each year. About 85% of breast cancers occur in women that have no family history. Just because no one in your family has ever had it, does not mean that you will not get it or that you should skip having your mammogram every year. Lastly, the biggest two factors of getting breast cancer are number one being a woman and second of all growing older. As we age, we have a higher risk of developing breast cancer,” Brock informs.
Early detection is the key and Brock says monthly at home self-breast exams are very important in discovering early signs of breast cancer.
