October is Breast Health Awareness Month. The best known tool to fight breast cancer is the mammogram. In the past, mammography has had quite a stigma attached to it, along with several myths about who should have a mammogram and what it's like to have one taken. The following will hopefully dispel some of the negative beliefs associated with mammography. The examination produces radiographic pictures called mammograms.
Mammograms show slight changes in breast tissue.
They reveal both harmless and cancerous growths even when these growths are too small to be felt by a woman or her physician. The great majority of lumps turn out to be harmless. When cancer is present, mammography can save lives through early detection. For all women, mammography is the best way to screen for breast cancer and detect a cancer the size of a grain of salt, long before it can be felt by hand. This early detection is important because small tumors are generally easier to treat and early removal increases the odds that the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body.