BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH: EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES – Straight From The Senate

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and with an average of 4,100 Hoosiers facing a breast cancer diagnosis every year, this disease is something that must be faced head on.

In many cases, women are not prompted to go to the doctor or seek medical assistance until they experience troublesome symptoms. But often times, once symptoms are present they indicate a progressive issue that could have been detected sooner with early screening methods.

According to most cancer organizations, all women over the age of 40 should receive annual mammogram screenings. Women age 20 and over should have clinical breast exams at least every three years as well as conduct monthly self-exams.

Unfortunately, for 50 percent of women, these recommendations may not be enough to detect the early signs of breast cancer. That is because half of women have what is considered dense breast tissue, which means they need ultrasounds and MRIs to detect early signs of the disease.

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This is an issue that I was made aware of a few years ago when a local woman approached me and detailed her harrowing battle with breast cancer and the trouble she faced to receive a diagnosis, due to her dense breast tissue.

After hearing her story and realizing that so many other Hoosiers could be experiencing the same concern, my colleagues and I in the Indiana General Assembly teamed up to pass Senate Enrolled Act 414. The law, which took effect July 2013, requires certain insurance plans to provide women over the age of 40 who have dense breast tissue with alternative and more powerful screening methods than a mammogram.

The law also requires facilities performing mammography exams to inform women if they have dense breast tissue and directs Indiana’s Medical Licensing Board to provide public education programs and standards for annual screenings for these women.

Both males and females should educate themselves and see if they are at risk due to genetic or lifestyle factors. The National Breast Cancer Foundation offers resources to help people inform themselves about the disease. For more information visit their website at www.nationalbreastcancer.org.

Please don’t let the warnings and advice about breast cancer become white noise.

If you have important health-related experiences or if you work in the medical field, state leaders appreciate your input. SEA 414 is a positive step for Hoosier health, but we must always be looking for what else we can do to put an end to the nearly 13,000 annual cancer deaths in Indiana.

As always, please contact me with your ideas by email at Senator.Long@iga.in.gov or by phone at 800-382-9467.