Make Sure to Get Your Mammogram
Skipping the annual X-ray may be tempting, but it's ultimately too risky to even contemplate.
Every New Year’s Eve we make our resolutions to get in shape, get healthy, and live a long, happy life. Unfortunately, there is a part of women’s bodies that too often gets ignored: Our breasts!
I’m not talking about purchasing the latest push-up bra or learning to love the way our breasts look (though both are highly recommended). I’m talking about something far more serious for women’s health: mammograms.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that among 72,000 women, just 6 percent had regular annual mammograms over a ten-year period. While medicine has done a good job in getting the word out that every woman needs her first mammogram at the age of 40, the message about the importance of regular mammograms every year thereafter has been less clear.
Listen, girls, I know how you feel. The thought of serving up your breast to be squeezed between two cold, hard plates is not the most appealing. Especially for those of us who have gone through the thrilling, yet body-altering, experience of pregnancy and childbirth, showing our breasts in the harsh light of day is an occurrence we try to minimize.
However, since breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women, behind lung cancer, it’s all the more important that women make mammograms a regular part of their vitality. More than 40,000 women die each year because of the disease.
The good news is that when caught early, breast cancer is highly treatable. Regular mammograms are the single most effective tool in detecting breast cancer. Aside from prevention, early detection is our strongest weapon in the fight against breast cancer.
While many women find mammograms to be uncomfortable, it is a small price to pay for the good they do. The consequences of occasionally skipping a mammogram are real. The same Massachusetts researchers found that among women who got a regular annual mammogram, the risk of death from breast cancer was 12 percent. Among women who went every other year, the risk jumped to 16 percent. And among women who got a mammogram once every five years, 25 percent would eventually die from breast cancer.
The bottom line: The benefits of mammograms far outweigh the risks. And really, mammograms aren’t so bad. The exam typically takes a half hour. While compression of the breast is necessary to get an accurate read on the tissues, the pressure can be calibrated to reduce your discomfort. You may also wish to plan your mammogram for the week after your period, as this is the time the breasts are least likely to be tender.
Some other tips include not wearing any deodorant or powder on the day of the exam. The particles can show up as calcium spots, increasing the likelihood of a false positive. And be sure to ask the technician when the results will be available. That way you can follow up with your physician if you don’t hear from him or her, instead of assuming your results were fine.
If every woman over 40 makes a yearly mammogram a regular part of her future, we increase our chances that a leading killer of women will become a thing of the past. I always tell women that we have to be our own best health advocates. If we don’t take care of our breasts, who will?
I’m not talking about purchasing the latest push-up bra or learning to love the way our breasts look (though both are highly recommended). I’m talking about something far more serious for women’s health: mammograms.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that among 72,000 women, just 6 percent had regular annual mammograms over a ten-year period. While medicine has done a good job in getting the word out that every woman needs her first mammogram at the age of 40, the message about the importance of regular mammograms every year thereafter has been less clear.
Listen, girls, I know how you feel. The thought of serving up your breast to be squeezed between two cold, hard plates is not the most appealing. Especially for those of us who have gone through the thrilling, yet body-altering, experience of pregnancy and childbirth, showing our breasts in the harsh light of day is an occurrence we try to minimize.
However, since breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women, behind lung cancer, it’s all the more important that women make mammograms a regular part of their vitality. More than 40,000 women die each year because of the disease.
The good news is that when caught early, breast cancer is highly treatable. Regular mammograms are the single most effective tool in detecting breast cancer. Aside from prevention, early detection is our strongest weapon in the fight against breast cancer.
While many women find mammograms to be uncomfortable, it is a small price to pay for the good they do. The consequences of occasionally skipping a mammogram are real. The same Massachusetts researchers found that among women who got a regular annual mammogram, the risk of death from breast cancer was 12 percent. Among women who went every other year, the risk jumped to 16 percent. And among women who got a mammogram once every five years, 25 percent would eventually die from breast cancer.
The bottom line: The benefits of mammograms far outweigh the risks. And really, mammograms aren’t so bad. The exam typically takes a half hour. While compression of the breast is necessary to get an accurate read on the tissues, the pressure can be calibrated to reduce your discomfort. You may also wish to plan your mammogram for the week after your period, as this is the time the breasts are least likely to be tender.
Some other tips include not wearing any deodorant or powder on the day of the exam. The particles can show up as calcium spots, increasing the likelihood of a false positive. And be sure to ask the technician when the results will be available. That way you can follow up with your physician if you don’t hear from him or her, instead of assuming your results were fine.
If every woman over 40 makes a yearly mammogram a regular part of her future, we increase our chances that a leading killer of women will become a thing of the past. I always tell women that we have to be our own best health advocates. If we don’t take care of our breasts, who will?
10/22
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