Native American Women Are Missing Out On Mammograms
Sandy Powers
May 12, 2009
All women do not receive the same medical care. Because of the low incidence of breast cancer in Native American women, many Native American women are not being given regular diagnostic exams that include mammograms. For this reason, breast cancer in American Native women is usually more advanced by the time it is diagnosed. Native American women only have a 53% five year survival rate of breast cancer compared to 81% five year survival rate for Caucasian women.
All women must act as their own health advocates. It is not enough to do monthly self-breast exams. I am a breast cancer survivor of 4 years. My cancerous tumor could not be felt, even by the surgeon who later performed the biopsy and knew exactly where it was located by reading a digital mammogram. My screening mammogram was not definitive.
Over 20 per cent of breast cancers are missed because of the poor quality of the screening mammograms and the inaccuracy of the radiologists who are reading the film. A publication of the New England Journal of Medicine reported that women with dense breasts, or who had a last menstrual period within 12 months of their mammogram or who are younger than age 50 may benefit from having a digital rather than a film (or regular screening) mammogram. "This digital mammography study demonstrates how new technologies are expanding our ability to detect breast cancer earlier in more women," continued the report. (Donīt lock yourself in the "under 50" part. Older women can also benefit.)
Digital mammograms are not as available as screening mammograms are. In fact, only about 40% of U.S. mammography units are digital, the other 60% are conventional, or screening. Call your local hospital to find a breast-imaging center. Check the yellow pages under "mammograms" to see who offers digital mammograms. If digital mammograms are not available in your area, then get a regular screening mammogram. Demand the best health care available. Native American women should not be dying in such a disproportional percentage. More than 41,000 women will die in the United States from breast cancer this year. Donīt be one of them.
Cancer survivor Sandy Powers is the author of the award winning guide to health, "Organic for Health."
www.organicforhealthsite.com
All women must act as their own health advocates. It is not enough to do monthly self-breast exams. I am a breast cancer survivor of 4 years. My cancerous tumor could not be felt, even by the surgeon who later performed the biopsy and knew exactly where it was located by reading a digital mammogram. My screening mammogram was not definitive.
Over 20 per cent of breast cancers are missed because of the poor quality of the screening mammograms and the inaccuracy of the radiologists who are reading the film. A publication of the New England Journal of Medicine reported that women with dense breasts, or who had a last menstrual period within 12 months of their mammogram or who are younger than age 50 may benefit from having a digital rather than a film (or regular screening) mammogram. "This digital mammography study demonstrates how new technologies are expanding our ability to detect breast cancer earlier in more women," continued the report. (Donīt lock yourself in the "under 50" part. Older women can also benefit.)
Digital mammograms are not as available as screening mammograms are. In fact, only about 40% of U.S. mammography units are digital, the other 60% are conventional, or screening. Call your local hospital to find a breast-imaging center. Check the yellow pages under "mammograms" to see who offers digital mammograms. If digital mammograms are not available in your area, then get a regular screening mammogram. Demand the best health care available. Native American women should not be dying in such a disproportional percentage. More than 41,000 women will die in the United States from breast cancer this year. Donīt be one of them.
Cancer survivor Sandy Powers is the author of the award winning guide to health, "Organic for Health."
www.organicforhealthsite.com
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