When you know it’s October and you hear about wear pink, we all know it’s for Breast Cancer Awareness. This form of cancer affects women the most, but can affect men as well, so attention from both men and women is necessary. The biggest advice about early detection has been to schedule an annual mammogram starting at the age of 45; this age has now decreased to 40, and now it has been determined that there is an increase in this cancer among younger adults in their 30’s. Although the minimum age of annual testing has not gone below 40, the awareness of the cancer is to be discussed with anyone from the pubescent years and older.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for Black and Brown women, and Black women are more likely to die from it compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Having quality access to healthcare in this country is a big problem; we are still plagued by our history of systemic racism and the economic factors that prevents equality of care. Also, Black women have denser breast tissue than most other groups which can make it harder to detect the cancer cells on mammograms. Now the factors that may be the cause of breast cancer include obesity, lack of exercise, bad eating habits, alcohol assumption, environmental factors, and having a first child older than 30 years increases the risk. So as a society we must continue to be educated on the topic and promoting self-advocacy in healthcare services.
There are many different stages of cancer one can be diagnosed with, but the purpose of education is to encourage awareness and hope that an early diagnosis is found. Some things each of us can try are…
- Doing regular self-exams of the breast
- Having annual physicals with breast exams
- Having regular gynecology visits with breast exams
- Getting mammograms each year if 40 and older
- Maintaining a healthy, balanced diet
Don’t be afraid to speak up and advocate for yourself and if you need support involve someone you can trust because one should never go about it in silence. I hope to see the numbers of breast cancer cases decrease soon, but until here are some links to articles, movies, books, interviews, and personal stories to keep the discussion going.
Wear It Pink Day is Friday October 27th
https://www.healthexperiencesusa.org/Breast-Cancer/Advocating-for-Yourselfx
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/i-was-diagnosed-with-breast-cancer-for-the-first-time-at-age-16
https://www.breastcancer.org/facts-statistics/myths-vs-facts
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/19/health/breast-cancer-screening-age-race-study/index.html
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