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Doctors push women to get mammograms

• More women age 40 and older need to get their yearly mammograms, a health expert says.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

Have questions about breast cancer or mammograms? Call the American Cancer Society at (229) 446-1073; the Carlton Breast Center at (229) 312-4800; Palmyra Medical Centers at (229) 434-2000; and the Dougherty County Health Department at (229) 430-6200.

ALBANY — Health professionals miss no shot at presenting their messages, and the American Cancer Society is no different.

Today, the organization uses Mother’s Day as another vehicle for pitching — by means of suggesting that men encourage the women they love to take care of their breast health — the importance of mammograms.

Cecillia Morris, senior community manager at the society’s Dougherty County Unit, speaks to anyone and everyone about breast cancer and mammograms.

“Any opportunity — whether a presentation, a work site, a social organization or just ... Greek (fraternities and sororities) organizations, even colleges,” she said. “They help out.”

Although education and outreach have helped when it comes to breast cancer-related deaths, it remains that 1 in 7 women (national average) will get breast cancer, said Linda Van Der Merwe, director of the Carlton Breast Center at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, where she also is director of radiation oncology.

According to ACS data published in 2007, there was an annual average of 64 breast cancer cases in Dougherty county for 2000-2004, or a total average of 256 cases. For that same period, there were 16 deaths annually (average), or 64 total deaths.

In Lee County, the 2000-2004 American Cancer Society data shows 13 cases annually, or 52 total, and no deaths. In Mitchell, Terrell and Worth counties, the annual averages were 16, seven and 13 cases, respectively, or 64, 28 and 52 total cases, respectively. There were no deaths in those counties, the data shows.

“Overall, we know that Georgia has a higher incidence of all types of cancers and breast cancer is excluded from that,” Van Der Merwe said. “And (yet), we still are not imaging routinely the ladies that are in the age group that we should be (imaging).”

The American Cancer Society guidelines state that women age 40 and older should have yearly mammograms. Women also should be conducting self exams, Van Der Merwe said, and getting yearly physicals.

Women younger than 40 who have a family history of breast cancer or a direct primary relative that has been diagnosed with breast cancer should also have annual mammograms, Van Der Merwe said.

She pointed out that for the 40 and up age group, a yearly mammogram is considered routine. For women younger than 40, an annual mammogram is considered a diagnostic procedure, she said.

“I think that a lot of it (not enough women getting mammograms) has to do with education,” Van Der Merwe said, “and understanding that there are resources available for women who can’t afford to pay for the mammogram or don’t have health insurance.”

In 2007, she said, the Carlton Breast Center did 220 federally-funded mammograms for women living in Dougherty County.

“If they go to the health department and if they meet the criteria, the health department signs them up for breast tests and more,” she said.

“And by doing that ... the patient can get the mammogram at no cost to them,” she said.

Through the American Cancer Society, women who need a mammogram get a documented referral and entered into a database.

“We have a huge database,” Morris said, “and we tell them where they can get the education, where they can get a low-cost or free mammogram and training.”

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