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MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
On Tuesday’s TV6 Morning News, U.P. Health System’s Trauma and General Surgeon Laura Lozier sat down with Molly Birch to explain when you should start screening for the disease
“Breast cancer is really common, unfortunately, around 13% of women or one in eight will be diagnosed in their lifetime,” Lozier said
Lozier says access to screening is making a difference in the mortality rate of women diagnosed with breast cancer
“With the advent of screening mammograms and it becoming more common and more encouraged by primary care physicians, the survivorship of breast cancer has gone way up, maybe a 30 to 40% increase in survivorship,” Lozier said. “It’s become very survivable now that we can catch it really early, when it’s small, before it has spread.”
Lozier says you should start screening at age 40, unless your doctor advises you otherwise
“Get them annually,” Lozier said. “If you might have a higher risk for breast cancer, you have multiple relatives, first-degree relatives like parents, brothers, sisters who have had cancer or specifically breast cancer, you might have to do it a little bit earlier.”
Lozier says there are symptoms you can watch for, but those symptoms don’t often show until the disease has developed past the early stages
“We used to really push the self-breast exam,” Lozier said. “Now it’s more about knowing what’s normal for you, and if you notice something that’s out of your usual, then you should be talking to your doctor about it.”
If you’re concerned about your risk for developing cancer, Lozier says there are some lifestyle changes you can make today to help combat that risk
“In general, living a healthy lifestyle is the most important thing. One of the big ones is always smoking. People think about smoking for lung cancer, but it actually increases your risk for multiple types of cancer,” Lozier said. “Heavy alcohol consumption, obesity, those are big risks for breast cancer as well.”
Lozier recommends talking with the other women in your life about their experiences to help each other keep up with regular screenings
You can learn more about screening options here and at the state of Michigan’s Breast & Cervical Cancer Control Navigation Program website
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