Health-care overhaul supports research on breast cancer in young women

Gavin

Current event posting #1

Topic: Health

Title: Health-care overhauld supports research on breast cancer in young women

Writer: Michelle Andrews

Publication Name: Washington Post

Date of Publication: September 27th, 2010

Length: 740 words

Main Idea:

Even though breast cancer is rare in women under the age of 45 it is still a serious and deadly issue. With the new health care reform in place there are now new laws that require the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to create a new education program about breast cancer awareness and prevention for young women. The laws also require the National Institutes of Health to create more effective screening and detection tests to diagnose breast cancer. $9 million dollars per year will be given to do so from now until 2014. Of the 250,000 women in the united states diagnosed with breast cancer per year in the United States 10% of them, or 25,000, are under the age of 45. This number is not insignificant and needs to be considered greatly. When young women are diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40 their survival rates are 83% compared to 90% for women 40 and above. This is probably due to late diagnoses in younger women so therefore the cancer has been growing for longer and is more aggressive. Mammograms for all young women wouldn't be cost effective so therefore the new funding will go to making a better and cheaper way of screening.

Conclusion:

With the new health-care system in place the new funding for detecting breast cancer in young women and educating young women about prevention and screenings is going to work. With 25,000 women under the age of 45 being diagnosed per year it is nothing to be taken lightly. New technology for screenings and detection and better preparation and awareness is what is going to change the rates of breast cancer in america.