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Be aware of the risks

Everyone is wearing pink this month. Pro and college football players are donning pink socks and sporting other pink accessories. Even the referees are throwing pink flags instead of the traditional yellow in some games.

Why pink? It’s the official color of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, celebrated each October. Each year the Morning Journal publishes a special supplement with valuable information about this disease.

Why is this so important? According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2015, the latest year for which incidence data are available, 242,476 new cases of female breast cancer were reported, and 41,523 women died of female breast cancer in the United States. For every 100,000 women, 125 new female breast cancer cases were reported and 20 died of cancer.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, in Columbiana County between 2010 and 2014 there was a 12.8 percent incidence rate of breast cancer and it caused 6.8 percent of cancer deaths.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease. One of every four deaths in the United States is due to cancer.

The purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness month is to educate people about the symptoms of breast cancer, as well as the best ways to prevent, detect and treat this potentially deadly disease.

So, what are the symptoms of breast cancer?

According to the CDC, breast cancer is difficult to detect, because when it starts out, it is usually too small to feel and does not immediately display symptoms. As it grows, breast cancer can cause changes in how the breast looks or feels. Symptoms may include:

*A lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).

* Thickening or swelling of part of the breast.

* Irritation or dimpling of breast skin.

* Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.

* Distortion of the nipple or pain in the nipple area.

* Nipple discharge other than breast milk, including blood.

* Any change in the size or the shape of the breast.

* Pain in any area of the breast.

The best way to find breast cancer early is with a mammogram. If you are a woman age 50 years or older, the CDC urges you to have a screening mammogram every two years. Early detection is key to successful treatment. The National Breast Cancer Foundation also encourages adult women of all ages to perform a monthly breast exam.

While most of the focus is on women, men also suffer from the disease as well, albeit at a significantly lower rate. If you’re a woman, everytime you see pink this month, we hope it will remind you to schedule a mammogram soon and be proactive in protecting yourself against this disease. And men, when you see pink, check yourself for symptoms and remind the women in your life to get checked out as well.

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