HEAL TH
Sometime in the future there very well may be a cure for breast cancer or a preventive measure. What we have now is that hope along with the very real value of early detection.
n Early detection of breast cancer with screening mammography means that treatment can be started earlier in the course of the disease, possibly before it has spread.
n Results from randomized clinical trials and other studies show that mammograms can help reduce the deaths from breast cancer among women ages 40 to 70.
n The five-year survival for breast cancer is 98 percent when it’s caught early and 23 percent when it’s not.
Over the course of the years that I’ve been practicing radiology, the increasing level of screening mammography that we’ve been fortunate to achieve has resulted in a marked and uncontestable
improvement in the overall health and wellbeing of American women. It’s also led to guidelines by the American Cancer Society, the federal government’s National Cancer Institute and most major health organizations that recommend that women who are not at higher than average risk for breast cancer get yearly screening mammograms starting at age 40 and continue so for as long as they are in good health. Keeping in mind that any health
decision is a personal one that involves weighing risks and benefits, I strongly support that recommendation. And I encourage you, wherever you choose to go, to have regular screening mammograms if you’re within the recommended age range. Sometime in the future there very well may be a cure for breast cancer or a preventive measure. What we have now is that hope along with the very real value of early detection. And while mammography, as with any screening procedure, has limitations, it is the most widely available and most effective tool we have to detect breast cancer earlier, when it’s more curable. H
If you have any questions or thoughts you want to share, please email me directly at
sharon.outten@rivhs.com. To schedule an appointment for a screening mammogram at Riverside Tappahannock Hospital please call 800-675-6568 (opt 2). For Riverside Walter Reed Hospital please call 757-989-8830 (opt 2). You may also schedule online at
riversideonline.com. Other important contact information is below:
Tappahannock Free Clinic: 804-443-9590
Every Woman’s Life: 866-395-4968 (or e-mail free_
screens@vdh.virginia.gov)
Gloucester-Mathews Free Clinic:
804-642-9515 (opt1)
80
October/November 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100