Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Senior Care
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Held annually, this is a national campaign to amplify recognition and understanding of this disease. Although many are aware of breast cancer, most neglect to take precautions to detect the disease in its early stages. It is so important to do this for yourself and urge others to do the same, however, it is especially important to be aware of the added dangers associated with breast cancer and seniors.
Breast Cancer Risks in Seniors
Breast cancer risk increases with age and about 1/3 of female breast cancers are diagnosed in patients aged older than 70. Unfortunately, elderly breast cancer has a significantly lower survival rate. This could be due to the delay in diagnosis and the ‘under-treatment’ of elderly breast cancer patients.
Screening is also a very heated issue in the elderly population. For some reason, mammography is not widely used for screening purposes in the elderly patients with breast cancer, but mostly for diagnosis of symptomatic patients. Screening mammography is not usually performed in women over 65–70 years.
Some elderly women delay reporting and under-report to their physicians suspicious symptoms and lesions and their breast cancer may then be more likely to be diagnosed at a more advanced stage with punitively reduced treatment options and inferior outcomes. What we can learn the most from this is senior breast cancer awareness should be a priority. Breast health promotion campaigns should include images of older women to make clear the relevance of this information to women in this age group.
Breast Cancer and Senior Care
At Comfort Keepers, our distinctive approach to care giving is what we like to call Interactive Caregiving and it allows us stimulate and engage our clients in assorted activities in life so that they can maintain physical fitness as well as stay emotionally fulfilled in their own surroundings. Our goal is to stay connected with you so that you know exactly how your loved one is doing. Part of this is making sure your senior is getting the proper screenings for breast cancer and other relevant diseases they should be watched for. This will allow us to change services if the needs of your loved one change. We are here to help you and your loved one. Peace of mind for you, independence for your loved one that is what we provide.
No matter what your needs are, we can help. Call us today or visit our website for more information about our in-home senior care services.
Comfort Keepers
23900 Lyons Avenue
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
661-287-4200
