October brings us Breast Cancer Awareness month. Every year, as October hits, everyone from athletes, to celebrities to the clerk at the grocery store will be asking you to buy something pink, or wear something pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Each year it is estimated that over 252,710 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,500 will die. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death among women.

According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of women each year and affecting countries at all levels of modernization.

In recent years, perhaps coinciding with the decline in prescriptive hormone replacement therapy after menopause, we have seen a gradual reduction in female breast cancer incidence rates among women aged 50 and older. Death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990, in part due to better screening and early detection, increased awareness, and continually improving treatment options.

So let’s talk about early detection, screening and awareness.

Just please, let all that pink be a reminder to not only donate to worthwhile charities supporting the fight against breast cancer, but also as a reminder to take care of yourself.

The first step in prevention is self-breast exams. Talk to you doctor, or look up online how to perform one, but these exams are of the utmost importance. You know your body better than anyone, so you will be the first to notice if something isn’t right or is different. You are more likely to spot these differences right away if you get in the habit of doing self-exams monthly.

Set a reminder on your phone, write it on your calendar, whatever you need to do to stay on schedule and check yourself every month. You can check out breastcancer.org for tips on self-exams as well as signs to look for during exams. Remember to bring up any irregularities to your doctor as soon as possible. There is a good chance that any lump you find is benign, but it is always better to be safe. This is also true if you have any sort of discharge or pain (beyond normal tenderness associated with hormonal changes).

No one gets particularly excited about turning 40, but it’s an important benchmark as far as breast health is concerned. Forty is the age when women should start getting regular mammograms (with the caveat, of course, that your personal history and family history may affect when you need to start getting them). Even is you show no symptoms and have no known risks for breast cancer, you should have regularly scheduled mammograms to help detect potential breast cancer at the earliest possible time.

The bottom line is that early detection is vitally important to beating breast cancer. So make sure you are doing all that you need to in order to protect yourself.

For more on breast cancer and breast cancer awareness month, see Lou’s article on page 7.