Marla Burns
Beach Fanatic
Mammogram Screening Guidelines
Women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year. A screening mammogram is an x-ray exam of the breast in a woman who has no symptoms. The goal of a screening mammogram is to find cancer when it is still too small to be felt by a woman or her doctor, greatly improving a woman’s chance for successful treatment. Women in their 20s and 30s who are not high risk should have a clinical breast exam as part of their regular health exam, preferably at least every three years.
Women at high risk include those who have a known breast cancer gene mutation, have a first-degree relative (mother, father, brother, sister or child) with the designated gene mutation, had radiation therapy to the chest when between the ages of 10 and 30 years old, or have a family history of breast cancer. High-risk women should begin screening mammograms at age 35 or younger, depending on their specific situation.
To qualify for the free screening at Sacred Heart, women must be between the ages of 40 to 65 and reside in either Okaloosa or Walton County. Women on Medicaid or Medicare already qualify for an annual screening mammogram, so the program will target the “working poor” – women who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid but who cannot afford a screening exam.
For more information about the free screening mammogram program or the Olson Women’s Diagnostic Center at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, please call (850) 278-3980. http://www.sacredheartemerald.org/page.asp?ID=100
Women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year. A screening mammogram is an x-ray exam of the breast in a woman who has no symptoms. The goal of a screening mammogram is to find cancer when it is still too small to be felt by a woman or her doctor, greatly improving a woman’s chance for successful treatment. Women in their 20s and 30s who are not high risk should have a clinical breast exam as part of their regular health exam, preferably at least every three years.
Women at high risk include those who have a known breast cancer gene mutation, have a first-degree relative (mother, father, brother, sister or child) with the designated gene mutation, had radiation therapy to the chest when between the ages of 10 and 30 years old, or have a family history of breast cancer. High-risk women should begin screening mammograms at age 35 or younger, depending on their specific situation.
To qualify for the free screening at Sacred Heart, women must be between the ages of 40 to 65 and reside in either Okaloosa or Walton County. Women on Medicaid or Medicare already qualify for an annual screening mammogram, so the program will target the “working poor” – women who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid but who cannot afford a screening exam.
For more information about the free screening mammogram program or the Olson Women’s Diagnostic Center at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, please call (850) 278-3980. http://www.sacredheartemerald.org/page.asp?ID=100