Breast Cancer Awareness and the Importance of Mammograms

As we approach the end of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is important to remember that raising awareness for breast cancer is not just about athletes wearing pink shoes and socks. It is about drawing attention to breast cancer, ensuring that people know how to detect breast cancer, and promoting organizations that fight to find a cure for cancer as well as those organizations that assist women in detection and treatment.

According to the American Cancer Society one in eight women in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. For that one woman out of eight, her best chance of surviving breast cancer will be to detect it early. The best way to detect breast cancer early is to regularly have a mammogram screening.

A mammogram is an X-ray picture that allows medical professionals to detect lumps or growths that may not be able to be found during a self-examination. The Provincial Health Services Authority of British Columbia reports that mammograms can detect lumps and growths two to three years before they can be felt, and because of this early detection, women who regularly have mammogram screenings are twenty-five percent less likely to die from breast cancer.

At Pathways Clinic we offer a number of free health services which you can read more about by visiting the clinic section of our website, https://www.pathways-va.org/clinic. Among the free services that are provided are mammograms. If you or someone you know is interested in scheduling a mammogram screening, contact us at (804) 862-1104. If you would like to support the work we do and the services we provide at the Pathways Clinic you can do so by donating at our website, https://www.pathways-va.org, volunteering, https://www.pathways-va.org/volunteer, or simply by helping us spread the word by sharing this blog post with your friends and family.