Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak is one of several Beaumont Health facilities set to host health fairs during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
Hospital officials said the goal is to educate women and their families about breast cancer while emphasizing detection, nutrition and healthy lifestyles.
‘Early detections of breast cancer is vital,’ said Dr. Nayana Dekhne, corporate director of the breast care program at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. ‘Today’s advanced imagining technologies, including mammography, breast ultrasound, MRIs, along with digital breast tomosynthesis, are effective screening and diagnostic tools.’
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer, behind skin cancer, found among women in the U.S., according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as a leading cause of cancer deaths for women nationwide.
It is estimated that more than 200,000 women in America develop breast cancer each year and nearly 20 percent of them die.
The breast health fair at the Beaumont location in Royal Oak is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m, Oct. 4 outside the main Mackinac Dining Room at the Hospital at 3601 W. 13 Mile Road.
The best way of finding breast cancer and affecting a cure is still with mammography, according to Dr. Murray Rebner of Beaumont Hospital’s Breast Imaging section in Royal Oak.
‘Women over 40 should get an annual screening mammography,’ Rebner said in a statement. ‘Three out of four women who die from breast cancer have not had regular mammograms.’
Beaumont hospitals offer mammography services at 17 locations in metro Detroit.
But women first need a prescription from their doctors to have the testing done and can visit Beaumont.org/mammogram for further information, hospital officials said.
‘Information, genetic counseling and awareness are starting points for women who may be at risk for breast cancer,’ said breast cancer surgeon Dr. Majd Aburabia of Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn, in a statement.
Genetic counseling and family health history assessments are important tools for helping women understand their risks for developing breast cancer, she added.
Studies show that regular exercise, low alcohol consumption and avoiding obesity lower risks for developing breast cancer.
A breast health fair is also scheduled at Beaumont Hospital, Troy, 44201 Dequindre, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 19.
