Dr. Karl Kabasele, CBC's medical specialist, has taken the opportunity to answer health-related questions through Your Community Blog. The question for this week was: "When should I start getting screened for breast cancer?"
Although detecting any sort of cancer early is essential to surviving the disease, Dr. Karl gives specific ages for breast cancer screening under two categories: average and high risk.
For those with average risk, "the best evidence tells us that regular mammograms are a good idea between the ages of 50 and 74. On the other hand, if you're at higher risk of breast cancer... you may need to start having mammograms earlier than age 50."
He concludes by saying one should review the possibilities of getting the disease with one's doctor, and to "come up with a personalized plan for breast cancer screening."
Knowing your individual risk mainly revolves around the history of cancer within your family. So, if it is very common, then you may be at higher risk.
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