Women who undergo regular mammograms might appreciate knowing that the discomfort of the process has a huge payoff: breast screenings reduce your chances of dying of breast cancer by almost two-thirds. The results come from Sweden, which has had comprehensive breast cancer screening since the late 1970s.
Women between the ages of 40 and 69 who received regular screening reduced their risk of dying from breast cancer by 63 percent, compared to the early 1970s when mammograms were not used routinely, The Times of London reports.
A recent HealthScout story describes a new test that promises to detect early breast cancers more accurately. Unlike mammography, the new test extracts fluid from breast ducts with a fine needle and spots cancerous changes in genes found in the fluid.
Simple changes in lifestyle can also reduce the lifetime chance of developing breast cancer, although a recent European survey reveals that many women are fatalistic about the disease and mistakenly believe that their risk is either genetically predetermined or random.
Another Times story reports that three lifestyle factors account for one third of all breast cancers. Results of the European Breast Cancer Conference indicate that many women can cut the risk of disease by drinking fewer than two glasses of alcohol daily; eating five portions of vegetables (they're more protective than fruit); and engaging in a daily exercise equivalent to 30 minutes of walking.
