October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This topic usually hits home with many people, male or female, due to breast cancer being so common. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers. The average risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about 13%. This means there is a 1 in 8 chance she will develop breast cancer². Men also are susceptible to being diagnosed with breast cancer. Each year it is estimated that approximately 2,190 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer¹.

So what can we do??

According to the American Cancer Society, when breast cancer is detected early, and is in the localized stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is 99%. Early detection includes doing monthly breast self-exams, and scheduling regular clinical breast exams and mammograms.¹

Self-examinations

Adults of all ages, especially women, are encouraged to complete a self-exam once a month. To learn more about how to perform a breast self-exam, click the link below:

https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-self-exam

Mammograms

A mammogram can often find or detect breast cancer early, when it’s small and even before a lump can be felt. This is when it’s easiest to treat.² Learn more about mammograms here: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/screening-tests-and-early-detection/mammograms/mammogram-basics.html

Healthy Habits

Maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, eating fruits and veggies, not smoking, and limiting alcohol consumption are all ways to keep your body healthy.

At this time there are more than 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. This includes women still being treated and those who have completed treatment². While this is a major success, we continue to rise and fight until a cure for breast cancer.