Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer will affect about 12-13% of women/people with breasts (1 out of 8 women will have it)
Only about 10% of those diagnosed will be due to an INHERITED gene – however having a mother or sister who’s had breast cancer, increases one’s risk of breast cancer EVEN if there is NO GENE detected
While breast cancer is VERY common, EARLY diagnosis is key and the overall 5-year survival rate is OVER 90%!
As well, there are NEW treatments ALL the time so even women diagnosed at staged 3-4 are living LONGER.
Self-breast exam (now usually called “breast self-awareness”) is controversial in that the “data” does NOT show better survival rates with earlier detection. However, anecdotally many doctors still advocate for it as we have seen it work for our own patient's in finding their cancer's in BETWEEN their screening tests.
If you are 40 years old (OR possibly 35, discuss with your doctor) you should start getting a SCREENING MAMMOGRAM each year.
If your breasts are considered “dense” on the mammogram, OR if you have a strong family history, you MAY be directed to add a SCREENING ULTRASOUND and occasionally even an MRI.
REMEMBER—being “proactive NOT paranoid” is key here—while NONE of us WANT any kind of cancer, WE CAN DO HARD THINGS and knowing the HIGH likelihood of survival with EARLIER diagnosis can help!
CLICK HERE for an article on “How to check for sign of Breast Cancer”