Breast Health Education: What You Need to Know

As you know October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month; this campaign is to help raise awareness of the disease which effects one in eight women in their lifetime. Though the statistics sound scary, the good news is that early detection saves lives. With education you can learn how to identify potential symptoms, and learn some preventative behaviors that can help reduce your risk.

There are a few things you can to do lower your risk factors for developing breast cancer; though none of these steps are guaranteed, they have been shown to significantly lower women’s chances of developing breast cancer. In fact, a self-breast exam is what saved my Grandma. She was doing an exam and noticed a small lump under her arm; knowing that this wasn’t something that had been there before, she made an appointment with her Doctor immediately, who confirmed our worse fears. But thankfully due to her preventative steps, we still have her here with us today!

Know Your Breast. Knowing how you breast are supposed to feel is one of the easiest ways to be proactive in early detection. If you are unsure how to preform your own self-breast exam, talk with your Doctor.

Get Moving! Exercising three or more hours per week can significantly decrease your  chances of developing breast cancer. So take a walk, a bike ride, or hit the gym a few times a week. Keeping your weight in check is another very pro active step to prevention.

Try a Fresher, Healthy Diet. A low fat, high fiber diet (get those fruits and veggies in) avoiding processed foods, go organic when possible (avoiding pesticides) and cooking your food and storing it safely is also a step in the right direction.

Drop those Bad Habits. Everyone’s been telling you for years- but seriously stop smoking, and limit your alcohol intake.

Get Your Vitamin D. Studies have shown that low Vitamin D levels and higher risks of breast cancer go hand in hand. Plus Vitamin D helps regulate normal breast cell growth, so it’s a win/win.

De-Stress. Stress causes all kinds of health issues – though there isn’t any studies (that I’m aware of) that link stress and breast cancer, if it can reek havoc on your body, why couldn’t it? De-stressing not only makes your body feel better, but it gives you an emotional and mental ‘restart’ as well.

Aflac  understands how life changing being diagnosed with breast cancer can be, so they have partnered with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) again for its second annual “This Duck Wears Pink” campaign. Aflac is selling a variety of campaign-related merchandise including the plush duck, hats and a breast cancer ribbon pin, with all the net proceeds going to the AACR for the specific purpose of funding research aimed at finding a cure for breast cancer!

For most companies Fall is open enrollment season for health insurance – which means you can review your employers benefit offerings and choose the health insurance policy right for you. When considering all of your options, be sure to check out Aflac’s cancer policy. A cancer policy can be used not only for treatment expenses (which can be quite costly) not covered by major medical insurance, but also for things you don’t think about until you need it like extra child care cost that may be needed, transportation to and from treatments, and even everyday living expenses like your mortgage or grocery bill.

If you or a loved one does end up being diagnosed, the last thing you want to do is worry about your finances. A cancer insurance policy will help take away that worry, and allow you to concentrate on what is really important.

Not to mention that Aflac’s recently introduced One Day Pay initiative allows Alfac to process, approve and pay eligible  claims in just a day so you can have the money you need immediately.

Check out this video to see how Aflac’s cancer insurance policy has helped policyholder Celia through her breast cancer journey.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.