Breast Cancer con't Published Oct. 29, 2009 By Tech. Sgt. Chrissy Turnipseed,81st Medical Support Squadron 81st Medical Support Squadron KEESLER AFB, Miss. -- Editor's note: The authors are currently deployed with the 379th Expeditionary Medical Group in Southwest Asia. For many of us, deployments are a time of great stress. Family separation, mission requirements, maintaining fitness, being far away from home: all of these things can leave us feeling as though we're stuck in a whirlwind. The military lifestyle requires that we take care of ourselves both physically and mentally. Activities such as getting enough sleep, regularly exercising and maintaining healthy eating habits ensure that we stay fit to fight and can effectively deal with the stress in our lives. For women in the military, taking care of ourselves also means taking the time to perform monthly breast self-exams. Breast self-exams familiarize a woman with how her breasts look and feel so that over time it becomes easier to identify changes. Normal variations occur in breast tissue for many reasons such as menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause, taking birth control pills and weight fluctuations. Some changes are not normal and should be immediately reported to your doctor. They include dimpling or "orange peel" appearance of the skin, new inversion of a nipple, pus or discharge from a nipple or continuous pain in one breast. Along with performing breast self-exams, we should have a medical provider perform clinical breast exams at least every three years (typically with a well-woman exam or during an annual pap smear test) and women over 40 should have mammograms every one-two years. Besides practicing good prevention strategies, we can also increase our chances of detecting the disease early by knowing our personal risk factors. Risk factors are those aspects of our lives that indicate we are more likely to develop a certain disease. Some risk factors such as high alcohol use, obesity and physical activity levels are controllable. Risk factors like our sex, age, race, family history and already having cancer in one breast are not. Although some women who develop the disease never have any risk factors, we can reduce our overall likelihood of developing breast cancer by leading an active lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight. Breast cancer is a very complex disease that is diagnosed in almost 200,000 women every year and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the United States. Despite all the grim statistics, breast cancer can be defeated. As women in the military, we have learned to fight many different enemies both on and off the battlefield. The battle against breast cancer may be the biggest fight of our lives, but we can be ready for that fight. By arming ourselves with knowledge, prevention strategies and a healthy lifestyle we stand the ready to defeat this enemy too! We as service members are very fortunate to have great medical benefits, excellent health care and easy access to highly trained medical professionals. Indeed, our military medical services place high value on patient education, disease prevention, early detection and maintenance of a healthy fighting force. Remember, when visiting your doctor, this is not the time to be shy! If you have any questions or concerns about your body or anything going on in your life, don't be afraid to talk to your health-care provider. If something is bothering you... ask! It's always a good idea to write down your questions beforehand, just in case you forget. Also, be sure to jot down notes about the information you receive from your health-care provider. Take control... Stay in the Fight... Live Life!