The County Durham Wellbeing for Life service is working in the local community to promote breast screening and encourage women to attend their screening appointments.
Wellbeing for Life are working in local communities to give women in County Durham the opportunity to find out more about breast screening and the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
1 in 8 women and 1 in 870 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. There were 54,800 new cases of breast cancer in the UK in 2014.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme invites all women aged between 50 and 70 for screening, mammogram, every 3 years. You need to be registered with a GP to receive the invitations. If you are older than 70, you can still have screening every 3 years but you won’t automatically be invited. To make an appointment, talk to your GP or your local breast screening unit.
Vicki Moffat, Wellbeing Area Lead, said ‘The number of women attending their breast screening appointments has fallen since 2011. Breast Cancer is not just a lump. Going for breast screening can find abnormalities which you wouldn’t necessarily be able to feel or see, so it is really important that you keep your screening appointments.’
Breast screening saves around 1,300 lives every year in the UK. Screening aims to find breast cancers early. Very early breast cancers are usually easier to treat, may need less treatment, and are more likely to be cured. It is important to go for your breast screening whenever you are invited.
It is important to know your body and get checked out if anything changes that is not normal for you. 15,500 breast cancers are diagnosed through screening in the UK each year.
You should see your doctor if you have:
• A change in the size, shape or feel of a breast
• A new lump of thickening in a breast or armpit
• Skin changes such as puckering, dimpling, a rash or redness of the skin
• Fluid leaking from a nipple and you aren’t pregnant or breastfeeding
• Changes in the position of a nipple
• Breast pain
If you notice any unusual changes in your breast don’t wait until your next mammogram. See your doctor straight away.
For further information, please contact Vicki Moffat, Wellbeing for Life Area Lead (East Durham) on 0191 5274150.
