Health Corner

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers.

FACTS ABOUT BREAST CANCER

In 2020, an estimated 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the U.S.
64% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at a localized stage for which the 5-year survival rate is 99%.
This year, an estimated 42,170 women will die from breast cancer in the U.S.
Although rare, men get breast cancer too. In 2020, an estimated 2,620 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year in the U.S. and approximately 520 will die.
1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers.
There are over 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States.(National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc., 2020)

HOW TO REDUCE THE BREAST CANCER RISK?

Keep a healthy weight.
Exercise regularly.
Don’t drink alcohol, or limit alcoholic drinks.
If you are on hormone replacement therapy external icon or oral contraceptives external icon (birth control pills), ask your doctor about the risks and find out if it is right for you.
Breastfeed your children, if possible.
If you have a family history of breast cancer or inherited changes in your BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, talk to your doctor about other ways to lower your risk (CDC,2020)

BREAST CANCER SCREENING TESTS

Mammogram
Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Clinical Breast Exam
Breast Self-Exam (CDC,2020)

GUIDELINES FOR THE EARLY DETECTION OF BREAST CANCER

Women ages 40 to 44 should have the choice to start annual breast cancer screening with mammograms (x-rays of the breast) if they wish to do so.
Women age 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year.
Women 55 and older should switch to mammograms every 2 years, or can continue yearly screening.
Screening should continue as long as a woman is in good health and is expected to live 10 more years or longer. (American Cancer Society, 2020)

PRIYA MATHEW<BR> Family Nurse <BR> Dallas, USA

PRIYA MATHEW
Family Nurse
Dallas, USA

Priya Mathew is a Family Nurse Practitioner (MS from UT, Tyler) and working in the Department of Endocrinology at a US Government Hospital in Dallas. She also completed a 2nd Masters (Nursing Education, University of Phoenix) and did her BSc from India (Nursing, CMC Ludhiana). She has served as Editor-in-charge of Monthly Publications and the Chief Editor of the Biennial Souvenir of IANANT (Indian American Nurses Association of North Texas). She also has written Malayalam Christian devotional songs. She is married to Wesly Mathew and resides in Dallas with their two children.