Do you wonder if you’re at higher risk of developing breast cancer than your sister, friend or cousin? If you’re like most women, you have friends and/or family who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and you may be wondering, “Why them? What about me? Am I at high risk?
Breast Cancer is still the most common type of cancer in women. Each year approximately 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Early and better detection and research that’s led to advanced treatments are all improving the outlook for women diagnosed with breast cancer, and yet many of us wonder if we’re at high risk. There are lists of risk factors, but making sense of what to do with the information is daunting.
Screening for Breast cancer with mammograms is an area of health care where it seems there’s a continual stream of contradictory guidelines. First we hear that it’s important to have mammograms every year and as women, we dutifully sign up and get ourselves squished like thin Swedish pancakes. Annual mammograms have saved countless lives and detected tiny breast cancers that are too small to feel.
Every year when I have my mammogram, I dread the possibility that this year will be the year that I hear bad news. With a mother who had breast cancer and caring for so many patients who have developed it over the years, I always wonder, “Will I be next?
There are so many things that are out of our control, but as it turns out there is a way to lower your risk of developing Breast Cancer. And I’ll give you a hint, it’s just one word: Exercise. (more…)
