October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Coryell Memorial Healthcare System wants to help you get involved. As a community-owned healthcare organization, this Gatesville, TX, hospital makes community health a priority. They understand that supporting healthy communities isn’t only about offering exceptional medical care in the face of illness or injury. It also means bolstering health and wellness through education and preventative care.

This month, the team at Coryell Memorial Healthcare System is joining the rest of the country in turning their focus toward breast cancer awareness, supporting the effort to protect women now and look toward a cure in the future. While there’s no surefire way to prevent breast cancer, there are ways to reduce your risk.

Empower yourself to take charge of your health with these tips from Gatesville’s premier community hospital:

• Maintain A Healthy Weight: Obesity is linked to an increased breast cancer risk, especially if it occurs after menopause. Eat a nutritious diet and exercise to maintain a healthy weight and reduce your breast cancer risk.
• Don’t Smoke: It’s not news that smoking cigarettes are bad for your overall health. More and more evidence is arising that it may also be linked to increased breast cancer risk. Now you have one more reason to commit to quit.
• Reduce Alcohol Consumption: The amount of alcohol you drink is directly linked to breast cancer risk. Don’t feel like you need to become a complete teetotaler, however. Enjoy the occasional drink or two, aiming to average out at less than one drink per day.
• Choose Hormonal Treatments With Care: Birth control pills and post-menopausal hormones both carry with them increased breast cancer risk. They also bring copious benefits. Birth control use lowers the risk of ovarian cancer, colon cancer, and uterine cancer while post-menopausal hormones lower the risk of some diseases. Speak with your medical care professional to determine how these treatments work or don’t work for you.
• Get Regular Screenings: While screenings don’t prevent breast cancer, they do increase the chances of catching it before it progresses. Regularly self-examine your breasts, and call your medical care professional if you notice any changes. Women over forty should schedule yearly mammograms at their local hospital.

Help spread breast cancer awareness in your community. For questions or concerns about reducing your risk of breast cancer, contact the compassionate medical care professionals at Coryell Memorial’s Diagnostic Imaging Department in Gatesville, TX by calling (254) 865-8251 today.