On today's episode, my special guests are Dr. Bonnie Buchman, RN, ND, PhD. and Toni Ligas, RN. Dr. Bonnie is a nurse / naturopath offering a more natural approach healthcare with numerous options in complimentary medicine. Dr. Bonnie's clinic is the Vibrant Wellness Center with two locations: Parkersburg, WV and Charleston, WV. Toni Ligas is an RN who has been practicing for the past 11 years and is a Breast Health Educator at the Strecker Cancer Center at Marietta Memorial Hospital in Ohio.
The month of October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers. The average risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about 13%. This means there is a 1 in 8 chance she will develop breast cancer. This also means there is a 7 in 8 chance she will never have the disease. In 2010, approximately 230,480 women and 2,140 men in the United States were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer for the first time. The American Cancer Society's estimates for breast cancer in the United States for 2019 are: * About 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women. * About 62,930 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be diagnosed (CIS is a non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer). * About 41,760 women will die from breast cancer. In recent years, incidence rates have increased slightly by 0.3% per year. Fewer than 2% of breast cancer cases occur in women under age 35, but incidence rates increase quickly with age. About 50% of cases are diagnosed in women aged 45-65. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, only lung cancer kills more women each year. The chance that a woman will die from breast cancer is about 1 in 38, about 2.6%. Death rates from female breast cancer dropped 40% from 1989 to 2016. Since 2007, breast cancer death rates have been steady in women younger than 50, but have continued to decrease in older women. These decreases are believed to be the result of finding breast cancer earlier through screening and increased awareness, as well as better treatments. At this time there are more than 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. This includes women still being treated and those who have completed treatment.(source: American Cancer Society. Cancer.org)
Dr. Bonnie, Toni and I discuss what breast cancer is, risk factors (risk factors you cannot change, risk factors related to lifestyle, disproven or controversial risk factors), factors that we can do to lower our risk of breast cancer. signs and symptoms and more.