Friday, March 2, 2012

Preventing Breast Cancer


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