Wellness Wednesday Tip #14: Have a Plan to Prevent Breast Cancer!
/Happy Wellfie Wednesday Folks!
This week’s Wellness Wednesday Tip: Have a Plan to Prevent Breast Cancer!
As many of us may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so we wanted to do our part and help spread the message about breast cancer. Here are some of the latest 2016 stats from the American Cancer Society: (1)
- “About 1 in 8 (12%) women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime.”
- “About 61,000 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be diagnosed (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).”
- “About 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.”
- “About 40,450 women will die from breast cancer” this year.
- “The chance that a woman will die from breast cancer is about 1 in 36 (about 3%).”
Click here to check out the risk factors for developing breast cancer.
They include such factors as age, ethnicity, family history, early onset menstruation, late onset menopause, birth control use, being overweight/obese, and the main factor of being a woman. But don’t forget! Men are also at risk for the development of breast cancer.
Early detection is key to preventing breast cancer. “Regular mammograms can often help find breast cancer at an early stage, when treatment is most likely to be successful. A mammogram can find breast changes that could be cancer years before physical symptoms develop.” (2)
“All women should be familiar with the known benefits, limitations, and potential harms associated with breast cancer screening. They should also be familiar with how their breasts normally look and feel and report any changes to a health care provider right away.” (2)
“Women ages 40 to 44 should have the choice to start annual breast cancer screening with mammograms if they wish to do so. The risks of screening as well as the potential benefits should be considered.
Women age 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year.
Women age 55 and older should switch to mammograms every 2 years, or have the choice to continue yearly screening.” (2)
Aside from early screens, living a preventative lifestyle may also help reduce the risk of breast cancer. This can be done by: (3)
- Limiting alcohol consumption
- Not smoking
- Controlling your weight
- Increasing physical activity
- Consuming a healthy diet
- Limiting hormone therapies
Here are some additional resources:
- http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/
- http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/
- http://www.breastcancer.org
We hope you’ve learned some beneficial information for the prevention of breast cancer; please spread the word! And as always, thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures again this week and tag Eric (@Eric_in_AmERICa) or myself (@PBernerSPT) and keep the wave of healthy change going!
- Dr. Patrick Berner, PT, DPT
- Dr. Eric Uveges, PT, DPT
References
1. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-key-statistics