Friday, February 3, 2012

About Women's Health: Are You Up-to-Date on Breast Cancer Screenings?

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This week, the Komen for the Cure charity decided to stop funding Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screening program for low-income women. Regardless of your political beliefs on the matter, the controversy does highlight one big truth: Breast cancer screenings save lives. So, are you up to date on yours?

Mammography Screening
It's still up for debate when women should get their first mammogram -- it depends on complicated factors like family history. So, it's important to talk to your doctor about when and how often you should have one, given your specific medical circumstances.
See More About:  breast cancer  cancer  breast health

How to Perform a Breast Self-Exam
While a breast self-exam is not foolproof and is certainly not a replacement for more thorough screenings, it is still an important part of breast cancer prevention.
See More About:  breast lumps  mammogram  breast health

Clinical Breast Exam
Another way doctors sometimes catch breast cancer is by performing a clinical breast exam as part of a routine annual physical or a well woman exam. It's also useful for establishing a "baseline" of what's normal for your breasts, which will be noted in your charts, letting a doctor track any changes.

Breast Ultrasound
If a mammogram or clinical breast exam indicates a possible abnormality (or you report one to your doctor, such as pain), you may receive a breast ultrasound so that your doctor can get a visual idea of what the tissue looks like.

 


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