Breast Cancer Awareness

About two weeks ago, the Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union offered pink cupcakes, pink “duckies” and handed out breast examination information to women in our building, encouraging regular examination to reduce breast cancer.  Is it that important?  YES!

According to www.breastcancer.org, statistics on breast cancer include:

• incidence in women in the United States is 1 in 8 (about 13%).
•  in 2008, an estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 67,770 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
• for women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer besides lung cancer.
•  besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among U.S. women. More than 1 in 4 cancers are breast cancer.

Ladies, all of the news is not bad.  We can be proactive in many ways.  Here are some  things that can lower risks:

• screening tests (such as yearly mammograms) are given routinely to people who appear to be healthy and are not suspected of having breast cancer. Their purpose is to find breast cancer early, before any symptoms can develop and the cancer usually is easier to treat. Other methods of breast imaging, such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are not regularly used for screening purposes. However, they may be helpful for evaluating women at a higher risk for breast cancer, including women with a BRCA mutation and women who received radiation therapy for Hodgkin lymphoma.
• breast self-exam should be part of your monthly health care routine, and you should visit your doctor if you experience breast changes.
• exercise lowers hormone levels, alters metabolism, and boosts the immune system. Increased physical activity is associated with a decreased risk of developing breast cancer. 
• diet is also important. Some doctors state that items such as cabbage, broccoli, beans, fatty fish, oat bran and Vitamin D can help prevent breast cancer and cancer in general. 

For more information on breast cancer awareness, prevention, risk factors, etc., get started with www.cancer.net or www.nbcam.org.   Let’s do our best to take care of what God has entrusted to us, which includes our bodies.

There are no fool-proof plans, but we can be found faithful in being good stewards.  Here’s to our health!