Breast Health
Want to learn more about this at Kettering Health?
You’re a healthy, active, 50-something woman with no family history of breast cancer. You’ve always been good about getting your annual screening mammograms since you turned 40, and you’ve never had any issues – not even a single call-back for additional tests.
So perhaps you’re thinking, “I’m good now, right? I don’t need to keep having regular mammograms. If I haven’t gotten breast cancer by now, chances are, I’m not going to get it.”
Well, not exactly.
The facts
According to the American Cancer Society recommendation:
- A woman’s risk of breast cancer increases with age. In fact, the aging process is one of the biggest risk factors for breast cancer. Why? People are living longer these days, and the longer we live, the more opportunity there is for genetic damage (mutations) to occur in the body. As we age, our bodies become less capable of repairing the damage, and as a result, cancer can occur.
- Most breast cancers occur in women age 50 or older. Rates of breast cancer begin to increase after age 40 and are highest in women over 70.
- The median age of diagnosis of breast cancer for women in the U.S. is 61
- Most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no history of it in their families.
- Yes, mammograms are x-rays. However, the level of radiation exposure is very low, and the benefits of mammography far outweigh the risks
- Medicare, Medicaid and almost all insurance companies cover the cost of having a mammogram. Ask your physician about where you can get a mammogram.
“At Kettering Health Breast Centers, we have a highly trained, board-certified staff of breast imaging specialists that patients can count on to interpret their mammograms,” said Dr. Meghan Musser, medical director for women’s imaging at Kettering Health.
What are the benefits of continuing regular mammograms?
- Regardless of whether you are age 40 or 70, mammograms remain the best line of defense in the early detection of breast cancer.
- A mammogram can find a lump before you can even feel it. Detecting a lump early, while it’s small and before any symptoms appear, usually results in more options for treatment, with fewer side effects.
- Women over the age of 50 often reap the most benefit from mammography, as their breasts are less dense, making them more effectively imaged during a mammogram.
- Mammograms are effective at detecting invasive breast cancers.
Take the time to continue caring for yourself
Getting a mammogram is so easy and takes so little time…usually about 15 minutes.
