Yuma, Arizona (NAPSI) - As mothers, we tend to put everyone else first. Our children and our family are often our #1 priorities we do whatever is necessary to make sure their needs are met, often times pushing our own needs to the side, including those things we need to do to make sure we keep ourselves healthy.
As we celebrate the coming of spring and the joy of Mother’s Day, we take time to reflect on what motherhood means, and now is the perfect time to think about steps you can take to better ensure that you will be there for your children, to guide and celebrate them along the way for years to come.
It’s the old airplane safety model—put on your own oxygen mask before helping your child with theirs. The same applies for your breast health. Take care of yourself first, so you can be there to take care of the ones you love.
Here’s an alarming statistic that will motivate you to make breast health a top priority: one in eight (1 in 8) women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime.1 But among those women, survival rates for those whose cancer is detected early is nearly 95 percent.2 Today, there are more ways than ever to detect breast cancer early, making successful treatment an increasingly common reality. In order to reduce risk or detect breast cancer early, each woman must KNOW YOUR RISK for developing breast cancer.
While family history is an important part of knowing your risk to develop breast cancer, 80% of women who develop breast cancer have little-to-no family history³—that’s most of us.
“Mother’s Day is a time for women to think about their role as mothers…and daughters, sisters and friends,” says Dr. Melanie K. Bone, OB/GYN at Women’s Health and Healing of the Palm Beaches in Atlantis, FL. “BREVAGen represents another way that mothers—and all women—can be proactive about knowing their own breast cancer risk and take steps to continue to be there to care for those they love.”
BREVAGen™ is a genetic-based risk prediction test for sporadic breast cancer. The test takes into account both clinical risk factors—such as a woman’s current age, age at birth of first child, breast biopsy history, as well as genetic biomarkers known to be associated with sporadic breast cancer. BREVAGen results provide refined, individualized 5-year and lifetime cancer risks of developing sporadic breast cancer, enabling women to work with their doctor to determine the breast cancer risk reduction/early detection plan that is right for them.
It’s no secret motherhood keeps you busy, but here are three simple things you can start doing today to help reduce your breast cancer risk:
• Make healthy diet choices: It’s easy to get lured into snacking from your kids’ plates and leftovers, but that’s not always the best choice for moms. Make a “mommy section” in your pantry and fridge of healthy options to help you maintain a healthy weight.
• Stay active: Motherhood keeps you on your toes, but make sure you set aside time for at least 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity each week. 4
• Take a BREVAGen test: BREVAGen is a quick test with results that could impact your life. Using a simple cheek swab, BREVAGen provides you both five-year and lifetime predictive risk assessments to more accurately evaluate your risk of developing breast cancer.
This Mother’s Day, why not give yourself—and your family—a priceless gift. Make sure all of your medical appointments and health screenings are up-to-date, including knowing your risk for developing breast cancer and what you can do now to reduce your risk for breast cancer, or detect it early. It’s a gift that benefits your entire family.
BREVAGen is available through doctors in all 50 states. To find a doctor near you or to learn more, visit BREVAGen.com. Know Your Risk…your children and family will thank you!
References
1. National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Breast Cancer Risk in American Women. Accessed April 9, 2014 at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/probability-breast-cancer.
2. Breast Cancer. Breast cancer survival rates by stage. American Cancer Society. Accessed April 9, 2014 at http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-survival-by-stage.
3. Breast Cancer: Early Detection. American Cancer Society. Accessed April 9, 2014 at http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003165-pdf.pdf
4. American Cancer Society. Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2013-2014. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, Inc. 2013.
