Editorial Music & Art Short story Carnatic Music Humour Culture Fitness Buzz Book Review Poetry Prev Issue Next Issue Breast Cancer Awareness Special Woman, Take Care! Mammogram & BC Myths Chemo-And Therapy Breast Self-Exam

Mammogram Facts and General Breast Cancer Myths - Niti Yadav Niti Yadav is a graduate student in the US. She volunteers for promoting health awareness in women and young girls.

Every woman needs to know about mammograms. A mammogram, a breast X-ray, can find cancer when it's very small - up to two years before you can feel a lump in your breast. When breast cancer is found early, 90 percent of the women who get it will live.

• You don't need symptoms to need a mamogram. Because you can't feel breast cancer when it is just beginning, the National Cancer Institute says that every woman age 40 and over should get a mammogram.
• When you turn 40, you should get a mammogram every one to two years, and your doctor should examine your breasts regularly. Once you turn 50, get a breast exam every year.
• A mammogram is easy.
• A mammogram is nothing more than an x-ray of your breast. The x-ray is easy. When you get a mammogram, the nurse puts each breast between two plastic plates.
• For a clear picture, the breasts are slighty flattened. A mammogram doesn't hurt, and it takes just a few minutes.
• Schedule your mammogram when your breasts will be least tender, such as the week after your menstrual period. Wear a two-piece outfit to make undressing more convenient and avoid using deodorant and lotions that day which can affect the film. Bringing prior mammographic films (which you have the right to receive upon request) and being prepared with your health history will help the fast and accurate interpretation of your test results.

General Breast Cancer Myths

• Breast cancer is contagious.
• Breast cancer is mainly a genetic disease.
• Women who have had breast cancer in the past should not become pregnant.
• Only women get breast cancer.
• A breast cancer diagnosis is a medical emergency.
• The statistic "one in eight women will develop breast cancer" means just that, that one of every
• eight women will develop breast cancer.
• If a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, chances are she will die from it.
• Women who are at high risk of breast cancer cannot do anything about it.

Myths About Risks and Causes of Breast Cancer

• If a woman’s mother had breast cancer, then she will get breast cancer.
• Older women are less likely to get breast cancer than younger women.
• Large-breasted women are at higher risk for breast cancer.
• Breast-feeding causes breast cancer.
• Silicone breast implants increase the risk of developing breast cancer.
• Only women with a family history of breast cancer are at risk.
• Only a family history of breast cancer on the mother’s die increases the risk of breast cancer.
• Only white women get breast cancer.
• Small-breasted women cannot get breast cancer.
• Fibrocystic breast condition increases the risk of breast cancer.
• An injury to the breast causes cancer.
• A discharge from the nipple indicates breast cancer.
• Some women are more likely to develop breast cancer because of their personality (the so-called "cancer personality" theory).
• Performing breast self-exam is the best way to detect breast cancer.
• If a woman tests positive for the breast cancer gene, she will eventually get breast cancer.
• If a woman is diagnosed with lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), she will definitely develop breast cancer.
• Using birth control pills causes breast cancer.
• Antiperspirants are a leading cause of breast cancer.
• Drinking coffee increases the risk of breast cancer.
• Underwire bras cause breast cancer.
• Lawn chemicals, dry cleaning services, and/or pesticides cause breast cancer.
• Pregnancy increases the risk of breast cancer.

Myths About the Prevention of Breast Cancer

• Breast cancer is preventable.
• Women who have their breasts removed (prophylactic mastectomy) will not develop breast cancer.
• A low-fat diet and exercise can prevent breast cancer.

Myths About Breast Lumps

• All breast lumps are cancerous.
• A woman with lumpy breasts is at high risk of developing breast cancer.
• Breast cancer always presents itself in the form of a lump.
• The best place to practice a breast self-exam is in the shower.
• If a breast lump is painful, then it is not cancerous.

Myths About Mammography

• A mammogram prevents breast cancer.
• A mammogram causes breast cancer.
• Mammograms are painful.
• Mammography is 100% accurate in the early detection of breast cancer.
• Calcium deposits seen on a mammogram are related to the calcium supplements a woman is taking.
• Women who cannot afford mammograms are out of luck.
• Mammography always finds cancer when it is curable.

Myths About Breast Cancer Treatment

• If a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, she will lose her breast.
• Cutting or exposing breast cancer to air during surgery or biopsy causes it to spread.
• Mastectomy is a safer treatment than a lumpectomy and radiation.
• Mastectomy ensures breast cancer will be eliminated forever.
• Chemotherapy will make a woman’s hair fall out.
• Removing the lymph nodes will cause the arm to swell forever.
• Radiation therapy increases the risk of developing breast cancer again.
• External radiation therapy causes patients to become radioactive.
• Older women diagnosed with breast cancer do not receive "full treatment."

Credits

Information on Myths about breast cancer by: http://www.imaginis.com

View and Post comment on this article