In 2013, 232,000 women in the US will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 39,000 will die as a result of the disease. Risk factors for breast cancer include advancing age, family history of breast cancer, and not having children or having the first child after the age of 30. Mammograms are probably the most important tool doctors have not only to screen for breast cancer, but also to diagnose, evaluate, and follow people who’ve had breast cancer. Safe and reasonably accurate, a mammogram is an x-ray photograph of the breast. The technique has been in use for about 40 years. Screening mammograms should be performed annually beginning at age 40 to check the breasts for any early signs of breast cancer. Mammograms don’t prevent breast cancer, but they can save lives by finding breast cancer as early as possible. For example, mammograms have been shown to lower the risk of dying from breast cancer by 35% in women over the age of 50. Mammography is our most powerful breast cancer detection tool. However, mammograms can still miss 20% of breast cancers that are simply not visible using this technique. Other important tools — such as breast self-exam, clinical breast examination, and possibly ultrasound or MRI — can and should be used as complementary tools, but there are no substitutes or replacements for a mammogram. The Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program (BCCSP) is a program available to uninsured or underinsured women in WV. The program can provide pap tests and mammograms to women at little or no cost depending on eligibility. Ritchie Regional Health Center offers the BCCSP program at our sites in Ritchie, Wood and Doddridge counties. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Talk with your health care provider today about scheduling your mammogram.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:01:27 +0000