October is Breast
Cancer Awareness Month
Do Something About It
By Valerie Parker
Office of Recreation and Wellness
Every
woman is concerned about her breast health - it could mean life or death.
Yet many women are not sure what they can do to maintain healthy breasts.
The key to good breast health is recognizing changes in the way your
breasts look or feel. Learning breast self-examination is the easiest
way to notice changes every month in the privacy of your own home. A
woman should start these self-examinations at the age of 20 and continue
every month for the rest of her life. It is recommended that a woman
receive a clinical breast exam every three years from the ages of 20-40
and every year after that. A mammogram should also be performed annually
after the age of 40.
Breast
cancer is the most common type of cancer among women. Seventy-five to
85 percent of women who get breast cancer have no risk factors (Hope
Publications: American Cancer Society). Risk factors include family
history, early menstruation (before age 12), and women who have never
given birth or had their first baby after age 30. Women whose moms or
sisters have had breast cancer before age 50 are likely to develop it
themselves (Hope Publications: American Cancer Society).
There
are several ways you can reduce your risk now, of getting breast cancer
by simply changing some of your lifestyle ways (American Cancer Society).
These include:
If you do get breast
cancer, finding it earlier is the best way to get successful treatment.
Since young women get breast cancer too, it is never too early to take
action.
There will be a
breast cancer walk, "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer", on Saturday,
September 29, 2001. It will begin at the Galleria Mall South Parking
Lot in Ft. Lauderdale. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m., and the event
starts at 9:00 a.m.
Call to sign up:
954-564-0880, ext. 123
