The Importance of Breast Care in La Grange, KY

The Importance of Breast Care

The majority of early breast cancers are detected with annual mammogram screenings. Learn more about the importance of breast health at Baptist Health.

The Importance of Breast Care in La Grange, KY, HealthTalks Transcript:

Lane Roland, MD:
Breast care is a part of overall personal health and wellness that we should all stay on top of as part of taking good care of ourselves. Over 275,000 cases of new breast cancer are diagnosed every year.

So, we haven't yet quite cured breast cancer, it's gotten much better, and with new treatments, have pushed the five-year survival rate to greater than 90%. And the most important thing we can do right now is get our annual screening mammograms. That is how the majority of early-stage breast cancers are detected. We know that detecting breast cancer early reduces your risk of dying from the disease by greater than 30%.

Annual screening mammograms begin at age 40. In certain high-risk groups, it would be earlier than that. Sometimes, it's down to age 30.

Additionally, when you're seeking out a breast care specialist for a problem, that's what we call a diagnostic mammogram, which is a little different evaluation, but that would be anytime you're having a problem, something's not normal, not right, you're not sure about it, you're feeling something. You have a rash, redness, nipple discharge, lump, pain, that's severe and in one spot and doesn't go away. All of those kind of problems, if anything just doesn't seem right, your breast doesn't look or feel natural to you, something's changing, come on in.

Don't wait. Don't put it off.