Health magazine, along with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), did a survey of readers and OB-GYNs.
They wanted to find out exactly how much people knew about breast cancer, and the results are shocking.
Many women have some serious misconceptions about the disease!
So thankfully, the magazine set out to clear all that up.
Surprise finding #1: 63% of women think family history is the biggest breast cancer risk factor.
What you should know: The vast majority of women with breast cancer have no family history.
Surprise finding #2: 40% of women say breast cancer is the cancer they worry about most.
What you should know: Breast cancer is very treatable when caught early.
Surprise finding #3: 39% of women say the most important way to catch breast cancer early is by doing a formal monthly breast self-exam (BSE). In other words, you think it is more crucial than mammograms.
What you should know: Mammograms are most important, 73% of docs say.
Surprise finding #4: 4% of women say weight has the “biggest effect” on breast cancer risk.
What you should know: Being heavy increases your risk a whole lot — by as much as 40%.
Wow! We had no idea!
Hopefully if you didn’t know before, you know now!
Knowledge is the first step to prevention!
[Image via Wikimedia Commons.]
