Genesee County Health Department

Better Life Through Better Health

Do you see pink everywhere you look? That’s because October is breast cancer awareness month. Each year, more than 211,000 women in the United States learn they have breast cancer. Early detection is key to survival.

Mammograms can detect tiny breast cancers before a woman or her doctor can feel them and long before symptoms appear. The Genesee County Health Department recommends yearly clinical breast exams and mammograms for women age 40 and over and monthly breast self exams for women age 20 and older.

Research has shown that women with certain risk factors are more likely to develop breast cancer than others. Common risk factors are:
Age: Approximately 82% of breast cancers occur in women age 50 and older.
Personal/Family History: Although 80% of women who develop breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer, the risk increases for a woman whose mother, sister, or daughter has had the disease.
Other risk factors: Obesity, physical inactivity, and drinking more than two alcoholic beverages per day. Beginning menstruation before age 12. Late menopause (after age 50). Never giving birth or having your first child after age 30.

The Genesee County Health Department’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program offers free clinical breast exams, pelvic exams, mammograms and Pap smears to women who qualify. Women must be age 40 and over, and be uninsured, underinsured or income-qualified (e.g., 1 person household with yearly income of $26,000 or less).

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Genesee County Health Department at (810) 237-4545 or visit us on the web at www.gchd.us.