In most cases, breast cancer is a catchable cancer, meaning
that it can be detected in an early stage which makes treatment and recovery
fairly painless. How can you prevent breast cancer? Get a mammogram! Although
mammograms are uncomfortable for most women,
this X-ray of the breast can catch cancer up to three years before you can even
feel something wrong in your breast. This means that breast cancer can be
caught early, if you get a mammogram that is. The CDC recommends that you
recieve 2 mammograms per year if you are between the ages of 50 and 74. The CDC
also has been monitoring the different ages and demographics of women getting
their mammograms. The percentage of women who get mammograms with no highschool
diploma or GED is significantly less than the percentage of women who get
mammograms with a college degree or higher level educational degree. The
percentage of white females recieving mammograms is steadly decreasing. For
more mammogram statistics, go here. Although the CDC has not yet classified
this lack-of-mammograming as an epidemic, measures need to be taken before it
can become an epidemic. Get your biannual mammogram because it can save your
life.
Mammogram
When you hear the word “overdose,” one most likely thinks
about deaths caused by alcohol, cocaine, meth, or heroin. But today, prescription
painkiller drugs are becoming a much more serious problem than meth or cocaine.
In 1999, 4,000 people died annually from prescription overdoses. Today, prescription
drug overdoses kill 15,000 people annually. That’s more people than the annual
overdose deaths caused by meth or cocaine combined. The Centers of Disease
Control and Prevention has now classified prescription painkiller overdoses as
an epidemic. The map below clearly shows this increase in drug overdoses between the year 2008 (the top map) and 2010 (the bottom map). Risk factors for death caused by a prescription drugs include
being male, middle-aged, White or American Indian, Alaskan Native, and living
in a rural community. How can the federal government make a difference? The
federal government is “promoting programs and policies shown to prevent
prescription drug overdose” (cdc.gov). How can you make a difference? Only use prescription
drugs as directed by your physician, and do not share your prescription drugs
with anyone else for any reason. For more information on this subject, please
visit http://www.cdc.gov/Features/VitalSigns/PainkillerOverdoses/ and
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