Health Talk: Hunt for a breast cancer cure still ongoing

View PDF | Print View
by: Guest Total views: 164 Word Count: 577   

October marks the beginning of fall and as many people know, it is also Breast Cancer Awareness month.

There will be many discussions about breast cancer related topics in the media and fundraisers will be held throughout the country. Events of all kinds - including marathons, bake sales and other charitable endeavors - have raised millions of dollars for breast cancer research. But the fact remains that there is still no cure for breast cancer.

Let's look at the statistics. There will be over 200,000 new cases of breast cancer and approximately 40,000 deaths from breast cancer in 2010. Ninety-nine percent of patients will be women and one out of every eight women will be struck with breast cancer during her lifetime. The median age for breast cancer is 61 years old, but it is a disease that can strike younger as well as older women. Early stage breast cancer has a very good prognosis so that at any one point in time over two million women are alive in the United States who have been told "you have breast cancer."

Two million women is a lot of women. Breast cancer as we know does not discriminate and is not concerned about a woman's education level, marital status or socio-economic background. Because there is no one identifying factor that may cause breast cancer this makes finding a cure that more difficult.

Unlike cigarette smoking that causes most lung cancer, there are many risk factors for developing breast cancer. The possible causes of breast cancer are broad and many, but research experiments are designed to answer one narrow question at a time. There are literally thousands of questions waiting to be tackled and answered.

So what can you do? If you are over the age of 40 or have a history of breast cancer, make sure you receive an annual mammogram. Breast x-rays have been performed for more than 70 years.

However, modern mammography has only existed since about 1970, when the first dedicated mammography imaging systems became widely available. Since that time, there has been tremendous advancement in the technology so that today's examination differs markedly even from those of the 2000s.

Breast imaging tests such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are used as supplements to mammography in the detection of breast cancer. Other breast imaging tests such as computerized thermal imaging are currently undergoing clinical trials to determine whether they might be useful in detecting breast cancer, along with mammography. Mammography is proven to be the best way to detect and fight breast cancer at its earliest stages.

Research will continue to help make strides against breast cancer. Already significant progress has been made in early detection and the treatment of women who have been diagnosed. Surgical procedures will continue to be improved. Over the next decade newer methods of detection and treatment using molecular methods and targeted therapies will be revealed.

Science will continue to piece together the answers toward a cure like a jigsaw puzzle. Our bake sale money and relay teams are raising the dollars needed to fund as many different cures as there are women who need them.

Baltimore Washington Medical Center will host a community open house to celebrate the five year anniversary of the Aiello Breast Center from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 16 in the center, located at 203 Hospital Drive, Suite B100. This event is free and reservations are not required.

Additional information:

Discount Mri Supplements
http://www.hometownglenburnie....

Related "Other":

• Nutri-Health Launches Reformulated, Doctor Recommended Probiotic and Prebiotic ...
  Launches Reformulated, Doctor Recommended Probiot ...
• FDA censorship of nutritional science threatens health of all Americans
  (NaturalNews) Concerned about breast cancer? The ...
• Interview with Sally Pipes on ObamaCare at Six Months
  Drug Rehab - Drug rehab and drug rehabilitation ...
• Committee studies ways to trim city's benefits cost
  The cost of health insurance for Richmond city em ...
• Swingers at Higher Risk of Catching STD
  Scientists from Maastricht University tracked pati ...

Comments

Add Comment