SUSTAINABLEYOU SUSTAINABLE One thing you can do...
TAKE CARE OF YOUR GIRLS BY KAREN LANGSTON
M
ay is such a wonderful time in the Valley because we get to celebrate Mother’s Day, which has always signaled the end of spring for me. Did you know it is also National Women’s Health Month? I think this is the perfect time to talk about your breasts. And in the words of Henry Ward Beecher, best known for his work in the abolition of slavery, “The babe at first feeds upon the mother’s bosom, but is always on the heart.” I think it is incredible that we women have the ability to sustain a life. And of course, we must also think about the health of our breasts. According to the American Cancer Society, the average risk of a woman developing breast cancer in her lifetime is about 13%. The estimates for new breast cancer diagnoses this year in the U.S. is about 276,480. Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about how we can turn these statistics around with two things you can do, starting today.
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greenliving | May 2020
GET AN EXAM Every May, let Mother’s Day be the perfect time to get a health check-up, including having your breasts examined. You should be doing monthly self-breast examinations, and a yearly exam with your healthcare provider. The gold standard for breast screening for decades has been mammograms. The problem, mounting scientific evidence is indicating, is that mammograms are far less effective at early detection of cancer. Research is also mounting that indicates that mammogram screenings may actually lead to breast cancer, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment, such as indicated in the article, “Breast Cancer Screening in Denmark: A Cohort Study of Tumor Size and Overdiagnosis,” published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
MAMMOGRAMS VS. THERMOGRAPHY The radiation from mammography procedures may also greenlivingaz.com
