Last month was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The Mid South featured some great events to raise money and awareness, including the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk and the Komen Foundation’s Race for the Cure.  However, with an estimated 182,000 new cases of breast cancer expected to occur among women in the United States in 2008, our awareness should not be limited to one month.  Breast cancer awareness is necessary year around.

Women who have their annual mammogram at Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett now benefit from an advance in technology – digital mammography. The new machine may look like the older film mammography machines, but the images produced are very different.

Both digital and film mammography uses X-rays to create images of the breast, but a National Cancer Institute study shows that digital mammography may have advantages over film. For instance, digital mammography was shown to provide better images for younger women (those under age 50) and women with very dense breasts. Digital mammography also uses less radiation than standard film mammograms.

How It Works

Digital mammography is very much like digital photography. The digital mammography machine takes an electronic picture of the breast and sends it to a computer. There the image can be stored and viewed by physicians. Since the image is on a computer, doctors can use special software to zoom in on an area of concern.

Patients may notice shorter wait times while the technologist makes certain that the image is acceptable. The technologist doesn’t have to develop and check the X-ray film but instead can immediately view the image on a nearby computer screen.

Other potential advantages of digital mammography may include:

– Shorter imaging times. Digital images generally take
less than a minute compared to 10 to 15 minutes for
film mammography.
– Better images. Digital images have better contrast
resolution and allow physicians to manipulate the
images to view different areas of the breast.

Mammography Aids in Early Detection
Mammography, whether standard film or digital, aids in the early detection of breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 200,000 women and 2,000 men were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. Yet thanks to early detection and treatment, 98 percent of those diagnosed with a localized breast cancer that has not spread reach the five-year survival rate and 80 percent survive 10 years after diagnosis.

The American Cancer Society recommends that at age 40 women begin adding an annual mammogram to their annual clinical breast exam and monthly breast self-examination. Women ages 20 to 39 should have a clinical breast exam every three years and perform a monthly breast self-check.  To schedule your mammogram at Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett, please call 901-820-7575.

Saint Francis Hospital accepts over 85 managed health plans, including: Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, CIGNA, Coventry, Humana and United Healthcare.
2986 Kate Bond Rd; Bartlett, TN 38133 ; 901-820-7000

To receive your free guide to women’s health,
call 901-820-7022.