Getting checked at an earlier age?
It isn’t a huge secret that breast cancer is one of the leading health concerns for women and that it affects a large amount of men, as well. So why is it that girls are waiting until they are already in their thirties to have a mammogram done?
Recent studies have found that there have been a total of 14 thousand 207 women under the age of 40 that have been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. Out of that, one thousand 160 women under the age of 40 have died from breast cancer.
Breast cancer has slowly become one of the deadliest cancers in today’s medical world, but it also has one of the highest survival rates compared to any other cancer when it is caught at an early stage.
According to the National Cancer Institute, it is estimated that approximately 2.6 million US women with a history of breast cancer were alive in Jan. 2008, more than half of who were diagnosed less than 10 years earlier. Most of these individuals are now cancer-free, while others still have evidence of cancer and may still be undergoing treatment.
Studies have also found that during 2004-2008, among adult women, those 20-24 years of age had the lowest incidence rate, 1.5 cases per 100 thousand women.
“I know that I should do the self checks on my own but I have never gone into a doctor to have a full breast exam done,” shared junior Morgan Allen.
It turns out this is not an unusual response when women between the ages of 20-28 are asked if they have been checked.
Although getting checked at an early age won’t help prevent cancer, it will help you and your doctor know where you stand regarding breast cancer, and it can also trace your family history so that you can know if any other females in your family are at a risk of getting cancer, as well. Getting checked while in your twenties will allow you to catch the cancer while it is in its very earliest stages, saving you from many painful, extensive hospital treatments and potentially saving your life.
When asked her opinion on why many of her patients didn’t get checked sooner, Dr. Verica of Westchester Medical said, “I think it is still that thought of, ‘oh it can never happen to me’ mentality.” She continued, “everyone knows that cancer isn’t something you can run away from, and everyone knows someone that has cancer, survived it, or died from it, but we still seem to have that thought of, ‘no I’m healthy so I should be okay.’”
Keeping your health means preparing for your future health. Go and get checked, especially if you have a family history of breast cancer.