Private MD News

Representative urges women to get frequent cancer tests

Updated: 2009-03-24 20:01:31 CST Category: Ovarian

A Florida Democratic Congresswoman recently went public about her successful fight against breast cancer, which occurred in the past year, in an effort to send a message to women under 40 that they need to undergo cancer testing for early detection.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz told various news providers this week she underwent seven surgeries, including a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after discovering a lump in her breast from a test.

The Congresswoman also had her ovaries removed, since the disease put her at a higher risk for ovarian cancer.

Her decision to speak publically about her breast cancer survival launches Wasserman's national education campaign for young women between the ages of 15 and 39 to get medical testing for cancer frequently.

"It just pains me to know that younger women, because they don't know and because they're blown off by physicians many times, and because they squeeze their eyes shut and hope that it's nothing, that their death rate [for breast cancer] is much higher," Wasserman told the Miami Herald.

Younger women who are comfortable with technology may be interested in ordering online lab tests for early detection of various diseases and conditions.

Related Articles from Private MD:

• Study: Catching second breast cancer early improves survival rate
  
• Early screening key for ovarian cancer
  

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