Live Well

Breast Cancer awareness Month

Checking your breasts or chest regularly helps you learn what looks and feels normal for you. This makes it easier to notice any changes that could be a sign of a condition such as breast cancer.

How to check
Breast Cancer awareness Month

When diagnosed at an early stage, 98% of women survive their breast cancer for 5-years or more. Regular breast screening can find breast cancer before you notice any symptoms. 

If you've been invited but missed or didn't book

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Key messages

· Breast screening saves lives as cancers can be diagnosed and treated earlier than they would have been without screening, often before you can even see or feel any changes to your breasts yourself. All women aged from 50 up to their 71st birthday are invited for free NHS breast screening.

· It’s understandable some women are anxious about attending their breast screening appointment and your mammographer will do everything she can to make the experience as comfortable as possible for you.

· If you have been invited for breast screening but missed or did not book an appointment you can still contact your local NHS breast screening service to arrange one, even if you were invited weeks, months or years ago.

· Breast screening services are more accessible than ever. As well as hospitals, mobile screening vans are available in convenient community locations, such as supermarket car parks.

· Women of all ages should be ‘breast aware’. Get to know how your breasts normally look, you will be more likely to spot any changes that might be signs of breast cancer. If you are concerned, do not hesitate to contact your GP practice.

· It is important that you continue to look at and check your breasts regularly, even if you have just had a mammogram.

Breast Cancer awareness Month
Every October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is marked worldwide to show support for everyone affected by breast cancer.

 

Research has shown that barriers to attending screening appointments include:

· Fear and anxiety that the procedure would be painful and uncomfortable.

· Not knowing what to expect – fear of the unknown.

· Embarrassment talking about and showing their body.

· Not knowing/wanting confirmation that a female healthcare professional would carry out the procedure.

Breast Cancer awareness Month
Useful Screening statistics

· When diagnosed at an early stage, 98% of women survive their breast cancer for 5-years or more.

· In 2022-23, a total of 1.93 million women aged 50 to 70 (64.6%) attended screening appointments (within six months of invitation).

· Screening prevents an estimated 1,300 deaths from breast cancer each year in the UK.

· Around 4 in every 100 women are asked to come back for more tests after screening and offered care and treatment as required. Out of these 4 women, 1 will be found to have cancer.

· Screening is vital in helping the NHS identify cancers at an earlier stage and in 2022-2023 the NHS breast screening programme led to cancers being detected in 18,942 women across England in 2022-23, which otherwise may have been diagnosed and treated at a later stage.

Stoptober

Vaping to quit smoking

Nicotine vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking. It's also one of the most effective tools for quitting smoking.

Vaping is not completely harmless and we only recommend it for adult smokers, to support quitting smoking and staying quit.

The link below has facts on vaping, based on scientific evidence and research, plus advice on how to use vapes (sometimes called e-cigarettes or e-cigs) as a tool to quit smoking.

Vaping to quit smoking
Stoptober

Stop smoking aids

Willpower is important when you're stopping smoking, but it's easier when combined with some extra support.

Stop smoking treatments really help with managing nicotine cravings and other tobacco withdrawal symptoms. They also boost your chances of successfully quitting, especially if you get expert support from your local stop smoking service.

If you have tried stop smoking aids before, it's worth trying again because you may need to try a few to find what's right for you.

Stop smoking aids
Stoptober

Find your local Stop Smoking Service

Free local Stop Smoking Service near you. It's much easier to stop smoking when you get the right support and with professional help, you're 3 times as likely to quit for good.

Contact your local service to check they can help you before visiting them at their address

Find your local Stop Smoking Service

Healthcare for the armed forces community.

How the NHS can help if you're in the British armed forces or are a veteran, a reservist or a family member of someone who is serving or who has served.