CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, experts are urging women not to let those important annual screenings lapse over fear of COVID.
Charlene Miranda, Director of Network Management with United Healthcare and herself a breast cancer survivor, said women should not let a fear of COVID-19 keep them from routine mammogram screenings.
“I cannot stress the importance of following up with your screenings, especially mammograms for breast cancer, because better to find out earlier than later. You just can’t undo the effects once you have a diagnosis and it’s later on in the stage, advanced stage,” she said.
For women without insurance, Miranda said there are many low cost and even no cost programs through local hospitals and the Florida Department of Health.
Related links:
Florida Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program
Schedule a mammogram with the Memorial Healthcare System
Schedule a mammogram with Baptist Health
Also in today’s health news, a drug used to treat osteoporosis may help prevent Type 2 diabetes.
In a nationwide study, adults treated with the bisphosphonate drug alendronate at any time in their life had a 36 percent lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes compared with people who never used the medication.
While the findings are promising, researchers still need to understand the mechanism that makes the drug appear to work.
They believe it may be related to a reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress.