October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about a disease that affects one in eight American women some time in their lifetime. In 2018 alone, an estimated 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed along with 63,960 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.

Breast cancers can start in different parts of the breast, but most begin in the ducts that carry milk to the nipple. Some start in the glands that make the breast milk, but there are also other types that are less common.

Although many types can cause a lump in the breast, not all do. Many are only found through mammograms, which can detect cancers at an earlier stage, often before they can even be felt.

Not all lumps are cancerous, however, so a mammogram and biopsy of the area will determine what course of action needs to be taken.

Women should check with their physician on the proper way to do a self examination to check for lumps an other possible symptoms.

Symptoms may include swelling of all or just part of the breast, even if a distinct lump isn’t felt. Skin irritation, pain, redness, scaliness and even nipple discharge can also be signs something is wrong.

Breast cancer isn’t solely a woman’s disease, either. More than 2,000 cases of breast cancer each year are diagnosed in men.

However, breast cancer doesn’t necessarily mean a death sentence.

More than 3.5 million American women have survived breast cancer, and with new technology and medical practices, those numbers are expected to grow.

In fact, according to cancer.org, survival rates for women are at 91 percent five years after diagnosis, 86 percent after 10 years and 80 percent after 15 years.

Early detection is the key to survival and mammograms are the leader in early detection.

At Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital, if you come in for your mammogram during the month of October, you will receive a thermal coffee mug with a coupon to get a free mug of coffee from one of our local businesses.