More women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer every year than with any other cancer. Health professionals throughout the state are trying to increase the public's awareness of this deadly disease.

Statistics show that one in every eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in her lives. Studies also show that breast cancer prognosis is better if it is diagnosed in its earliest stages.

Most women who get breast cancer have no family history of the disease or other risk factors. Breast cancer can occur at any age, but it becomes more common as women get older. Although some women are at slightly higher risk — women whose mothers or sisters had breast cancer, women who have never had children, and women who had their first child after age 30 — the biggest risk factor for breast cancer is being a woman.

A woman can increase her chances of early diagnosis if she does monthly self breast exams and begins yearly mammograms at age 40. Mammography can reveal a malignant tumor or cancer two years before symptoms appear. Self breast exams should be done seven to ten days after a menstrual cycle or on the first day of the month after menopause. All women should have a clinical breast exam yearly by a trained health professional.

Those who don't know how to do a self breast exam or are unsure if they are performing it correctly can call the health department or their physicians for instructions.

During a monthly self breast exam a woman can find several breast cancer warning signs that should be reported to her physician as soon as possible. These include any lump or thickness in the breast or under the armpit, discharge from the nipple, dimpling, puckering, redness or scaling of the skin on the breast or nipple, change in the size of the breast, or consistent pain in the breast of unknown origin.

Eligible women age 50 to 65 can receive free clinical breast exams and mammograms by calling the Health Department for details, but any woman who needs instruction for self breast exam can receive it by calling for an appointment.

For information, phone the Fayette County Health Department at 770-461-1178, ext. 416, or call your physician or the Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345.

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