Are you breast aware?

Do you know what breast screening is and why it is important?

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the UK, affecting one in nine women at some time in their life but so far the breast screening programme in the UK has screened more than 19 million women and has detected around 117,000 cancers. It is thought that breast awareness and screening will save 1,250 lives each year by 2010.

What is Breast awareness?
Breast awareness is about a woman of any age younger or older getting to know how her breasts look and feel and being aware of changes in size or shape or the presence of lumps, tenderness or changes in the skin of the breast and nipple. Doing this hasn’t been shown to reduce the number of women dying of breast cancer, but it may alert you to any potential problems early on. If you have any concerns about what you can see or feel, we’d like to encourage you to attend the surgery so that one of the doctors or nurses can listen to your concerns and examine you carefully. We can also teach you how best to  examine yourself.

What is Breast screening and who can have it?

The NHS offers a free breast screening program. This is where you are invited to attend the screening centre (at the hospital or sometimes in mobile centres that may be nearer and more convenient for you) and where a special x-ray called a mammogram is performed. In complete privacy and done by an experienced operator, the breast is gently placed between the two parts of the xray camera while the picture is taken. For a few women this may be slightly uncomfortable and a very few may find it painful but it takes less than a minute and could detect any early changes of breast cancer which are too small to feel even by an experienced doctor.

All women in the UK aged between 50 and 70 are eligible and will be invited routinely every three years for the test. Women younger than 50 have a lower risk of developing breast cancer and so we currently rely on breast awareness alone in this group. Not every woman will receive an invite as soon as she is 50 due to the large numbers of women attending screening but you should expect to be invited for and have your first mammogram performed before your 53rd birthday. Once women reach the upper age limit for routine invitations for breast screening (70), they will not be routinely invited every three years but instead are encouraged to make their own appointments.

If you would like to chat about any issues related to breast awareness, breast screening or breast cancer, or would like to chat about any other medical concerns you may have, why don’t you call the surgery and make an appointment to see one of the doctors or nurses who are more than happy to discuss any issues.
 

External Links

Breast Cancer Care

NHS Cancer Screening - Breast Cancer Awareness

Touch Look Check