Breast Cancer Screening: A Step Toward Prevention

There is a risk that every woman must deal with in her life and sadly it claims the lives of too many women yearly. It is what robs us of our mothers, sisters, daughters, and our friends. This thief is called breast cancer. Breast cancer can often go without showing signs before it is too late and there are many different kinds of breast cancer that can affect a woman's life. However there is a way to prevent this curse from greatly affecting your life. The first step is breast cancer screening.

Breast cancer starts when cells that are meant to reproduce normally begin growing out of control. The cells are only cancerous when they are not working in the body like the normal cells of their type should. The biggest risk factor is if breast cancer has affected anyone in your family. The women most at risk for breast cancer are those who have it in the upper branches of their family tree.

Getting a breast cancer screening is important, especially as your age increases because with increased age the chances of having breast cancer are heightened. Studies show that after lung cancer, breast cancer kills the most women who have cancer related deaths and that the highest risk group is women between ages 35 and 50.

Also it should be taken into consideration that women who have bigger breasts have more of a chance of getting breast cancer. Although there are certain factors that seem to be pointing to breast cancer there is no specific thing that causes breast cancer and it occurs by random chance in any given person. Breast cancer can even be found sometimes in men, however it is more commonly a female disease. There is no surefire way of keeping it away but the breast cancer screening is a great way to catch it early when it is treatable.

During the screening there are two aspects you should expect. The first part is where your care provider will feel for any abnormalities in different parts of your breast, underarms, chest, and collar bone areas. They will look to see if there are any differences between the two and look for symptoms of the different kinds of breast cancer. This part of the exam is known as the clinical breast exam.

The next part of the screening is the mammogram which is done via x-ray. This is where your breast will be placed between two slabs and an x-ray will be taken of each breast. The last part of the process for early detection of this disease is to screen yourself at home for abnormalities. Performing a self breast exam can be important in early detection and can aid in prevention of getting advanced breast cancer. The steps to early detection all start with you so you can live as a healthy and happy woman.

By: Sandy Rutherforde

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