Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer is a disease affecting women all ethnic backgrounds. According Texas Medical Association, one out of nine American women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. A new breast cancer case is diagnosed every three minutes and one woman dies from this disease every 13 minutes. The statistics are definitely frightening for women around the world, though it does affect a small percentage of men. Though the disease is unbiased in who it affects, minority women are very much susceptible to it. BlackAmericaWeb.com stresses that back woman should become more aware of this problem. According to the America Cancer Society, breast cancer is 12 percent higher in Anglo women than it is black woman, but with black women it strikes at an earlier age and the mortality rate is higher. Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among black women, surpassed only by lung cancer. According to a study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seatle, African American women, Native American women and Hispanic women are 70 percent more likely to die after a diagnosis than a white woman. This is attributed to the most incurable tumor type “triple negative,” which affects African-American and Hispanic women more than Caucasian women

The purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is very straight forward. Since October is designated as BCAW, many women schedule a check-up with doctor for their annual mammogram. Mammography is used to diagnose breast disease in women who have symptoms, and also those who appear to have no breast problems. According to the Society’s “Cancer Facts & Figures for African-Americans 2007-2008” booklet, “Factors that contribute to the higher death rates among African-American women include differences in access to and utilization of early detection and treatment, risk factors that are differentially distributed by race or socio-economic status, or biological differences associated with race.”

RedbookMag.com outlines prevention methods women should take for breast cancer. Four doable ways to reduce your breast cancer risk inlcude:

• Do monthly breast self-exams! "About 40 percent of lumps are still discovered by women themselves," says Lillie Shockney, of the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center.
• Help your husband quit smoking. Women who have never smoked but who are frequently exposed to smoke at home or work are 68 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than other never-smokers.
  
• Know your family history. If you have relatives with breast cancer or other hormone-driven cancers such as prostate or ovarian cancer, talk to your doctor about BRCA testing.
  
• Breast-feed your babies. Research suggests that the practice can protect against breast cancer in moms over age 25.
  
  For more information on breast cancer, visit nbcam.com