October is internationally known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
For the past 19 years, October has been used to highlight the subject, raise funds and research and encourage women to become aware of their breasts
This message is especially important for women living in Britain as breast cancer is now the most common cancer affecting women in the UK. Nine out of 10 women will suffer from the disease at some point during their lives, that’s more than 41,000 new cases diagnosed each year with 12,700 cases proving fatal.
However, survival rates are better than ever these days and breast cancer death rates have fallen in the past 10 years. The earlier the cancer is diagnosed the better the chances of survival. That is why it is important to be breast aware and to get into the habit of checking your breasts.
How to examine your breasts
Being breast aware is all about being familiar with your normal breast tissue and how it changes. A good way of checking your breast is looking in the mirror so that you can see your breast from different angles or if you prefer you can do it lying down. It is important to remember that most lumps are harmless, especially if you are young but finding a lump can be frightening and you should still get it checked out by your doctor as soon as possible.
Leave a Reply