Throughout the year, many organizations promote breast cancer awareness. Especially during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, healthcare professionals, public service groups, and government agencies work diligently to provide education and information about the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. Here are a few statistics to illustrate these efforts.
The American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that 38% of all breast cancer cases in the United States could be prevented with simple changes to everyday diet and exercise.1
If followed, these 5 recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help lower the risk of breast cancer2:
- Get screened for breast cancer regularly
- Control your weight and increase your physical activity
- Know your family history of breast cancer
- Find out the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy
- Limit the amount of alcohol you drink
In recent years, mammography screening has generated some controversy, but mammograms have been shown to lower the risk of dying of breast cancer by 35% in women over the age of 50.3
For non-Hispanic white, African American, and Hispanic women in the United States, breast cancer incidence rates differ geographically. Incidence ranges from 110.8 cases per 100,000 women in Arkansas to 140.4 cases per 100,000 in California and the District of Columbia for non- Hispanic white women. Rates for African American women range from 73.2 in New Mexico to 131.0 in Delaware; and for Hispanic women, incidence ranges from 34.1 in Mississippi to 133.3 in Delaware.4
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 5,612,649 reconstructive procedures were preformed in 2012; of those, 91,655 were breast cancer reconstructive surgeries.5
Sources
1. www.aicr.org/learn-more-about-cancer/breast-cancer/? gclid=CISakI6YzLkCFWxyQgodd08AaA#facts.
2. www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/prevention.htm.
3. www.breastcancer.org.
4. www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysur veilance/documents/document/acspc-030975.pdf.
5. www.plasticsurgery.org/Documents/news-resources/sta tistics/2012-Plastic-Surgery-Statistics/Reconstructive- Surgery-Procedure-Trends-2012.pdf.