Editorial: Check yourself to protect yourself
Imagine every student at Central Michigan University standing side by side in an open area. Then double that number. That is just slightly over the number of women the American Cancer Society estimates will die from breast cancer this year alone.
There is nothing more important than the safety of our students at Central Michigan University. With Breast Cancer Awareness month upon us, we it is in the best interest of all students, staff and faculty to look into breast cancer screenings. Either through monthly self-examinations or cancer screenings through your local hospital, it is important for everyone to be checked.
The simplest way to self-examine is either in the shower or lying down, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Using the pads of your fingers, move around the tissue of the breast area in a circular motion – from nipple to armpit – checking for lumps or tenderness within the area. Thickening of tissue, knots or lumps are typically the most telltale signs of breast cancer in an individual.
Breast cancer is not gender discriminatory.
Non-Hispanic white women have the highest rates of contraction but African American women of all ages are more likely to receive a fatal diagnosis than any other race or ethnicity. Men have a much lower contraction rate, but the Susan G Komen foundation estimates that 440 men will die from breast cancer this year.
As breast cancer for women typically does not occur until over the age of 40, the likelihood of a student being diagnosed is incredibly slim. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. Five minutes in the shower self-examining could be the difference between finding a lump in its earliest and most easily treatable stages and finding it when it's too late.
Be safe, but above all, be smart. As of 2015, there is a one in eight chance of a woman contracting breast cancer in her life: there is a one in 36 chance that she will die from it.
There is nothing more important than your own health. Check yourself to protect yourself.
