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by NYC Councilspeaker Christine Quinn
Oct-31-2007
Friends, Welcome to the inaugural NYC Women First: Health Starts with You email update. Our launch on October 1st was a great success—if you were able to attend, thank you—and if you weren’t we missed you! We also had an exciting event to announce steps the City Council, the Administration and CUNY are taking to educate women about breast cancer. October’s tip: Get screened for breast cancer. How does breast cancer impact women in New York City? Cancer has been the second leading cause of death among New York City women. Of all types of cancer, breast cancer causes the second highest number of deaths among American women. Approximately 5,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually in New York City. In 2005, 1,254 women died of breast cancer citywide. You have the power to screen yourself for breast cancer. 3 methods for detecting breast cancer: 1. Breast self-exam. You should do a breast self-exam once per month. A breast self-exam is conducted by checking for lumps or changes in your breast size and shape. Learn more about breast self exams and set up a workshop for friends, family, coworkers: http://www.maurerfoundation.org/community.html 2. Clinical breast exam. You should have a clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse annually. The clinical breast exam is similar to the breast self-exam. NYC Women First is an initiative of the New York City Council Christine C Quinn, Speaker 3. Mammography. Women over 40 should receive an annual mammogram. A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast taken by compressing the breast between two plates. It produces an image that reveals abnormalities in the tissue. In recent years other screening and diagnosis tools have included MRI, sonogram, and ultrasound. If you do not have a regular care provider or gynecologist, there are many free or low cost services available, even for women without health insurance. See a list at http://www.nyccouncil.info/html/womenfirst/tip1.cfm. Remember: Health Starts with You! Spread the word: Get your friends, family, colleagues involved forward this email and sign up for updates at www.nycwomenfirst.org.
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