October 12, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
People are turning pink today in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
A group of caring folks all decked out in pink turned out for a media photo this morning at the courthouse in a show of solidarity for the observance.
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“Today is our fifth annual DeKalb County wide Pink Out for Breast Cancer Awareness sponsored by all of our civic organizations, courthouse, and Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital,” said Shan Williams, Regional Community Relations Coordinator for Saint Thomas Health.
“This is solidarity for us to remember not only those we’ve lost to this terrible disease but to remind everyone that it is time for their annual mammogram because prevention is very important with breast cancer,” she said.
“We (hospital) are offering 2D and 3D mammography right here in our regional area and that is the best state of the art mammography services in the entire nation. Its right here locally. You don’t have to go out of town,” Williams continued.
“This year in October we (hospital) are giving away a free gift to anyone who has their annual mammogram so we encourage you to come out and do that every single year. It is so valuable and so very important. Everyone has been affected by cancer in some way so please get your mammogram,” added Williams.
Thanks to largely stable incidence rates, improved treatment, as well as earlier detection through screening and increased awareness, a woman’s risk of dying of breast cancer dropped 39 percent between the late 1980s and 2015, translating into more than 300,000 breast cancer deaths avoided during that time.
Despite that progress, there’s much more to be done. Breast cancer is still the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, second only to lung cancer.
At this time, there are more than 3.1 million people with a history of breast cancer in the United States. (This includes women still being treated and those who have completed treatment.)
You can reduce your risk of cancer by making healthy choices like eating right, staying active and not smoking. It’s also important to follow recommended screening guidelines including mammograms, which can help detect certain cancers early.