Breast cancer statistics with TidalHealth

BERLIN, Md. – In this week’s edition of Health Beat, brought to you by TidalHealth, WMDT spoke with Dr. Margo Gill, a physician with the Women’s Health & Gynecology Department at TidalHealth Atlantic.

Dr. Gill spoke with WMDT about the importance of family & personal history when it comes to assessing risk for breast cancer.

“If you had a family member who had breast cancer young, in general, think about having screening starting about 10 years prior to when that person would have been diagnosed,” Dr. Gill elaborated. “Women who are less than 40 [years-old] and African American actually have more than a two fold increased risk for breast cancer in younger ages.”

The average age for Caucasian women to be diagnosed is 66 years, while in African American women, it’s closer to 62 years. Part of the increased risk comes from a specific gene mutation that is more likely to be found in African American women.

Additionally, Dr. Gill said that perimenopause and menopause can add additional complications to the mix when it comes to breast cancer.

“So I go through and I love to show my patients what their body would be doing in a normal 28 day cycle, where every day is a new adventure between the ovary and the brain talking to each other,” Dr. Gill explained. “That gets much more accentuated during that perimenopause, and immediately within the first five years of post menopause. And that plays a huge part into this perimenopause and post menopause breast cancer.”

To learn more about the services offered at the TidalHealth Breast Center, click here.