Assess Your True Risk of Breast Cancer - Softcover

Kelly Ph.D., Patricia T.

9780805064681: Assess Your True Risk of Breast Cancer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0805064680 ISBN 13: 9780805064681

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks, 2000

The first book to give women the tools they need to realistically assess their risk of getting breast cancer--and choose the best course of action

Ask women what their number-one health fear is and most will not hesitate before answering "breast cancer." The recent proliferation of easily misunderstood and often contradictory statistics about breast cancer and its causes, however, is scaring many women who have only a small risk of contracting the disease.
Assess Your True Risk of Breast Cancer is designed to help women evaluate what their risk really is and then determine what the next step should be based on that risk. Written by a leading expert in the field, the book discusses everything from studies on how age and family history relate to breast cancer risk, to those on hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer, enabling a woman to understand and focus on her own personal situation.
Whether providing advice on how to get more extensive testing, counseling, and preventative measures when necessary, or offering the welcome assurance that the risk is small enough to warrant just annual checkups, mammograms, and regular self-examinations, Assess Your True Risk of Breast Cancer replaces rumors and scare tactics with solid, practical, and vital information.

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Review:

Ask any woman what disease she fears most, and chances are she'll say, "breast cancer." Health-conscious women wonder how much their risk is increased if they eat fat, go on hormone replacement therapy, use birth control pills, have a family member with breast cancer, and so on. "This book is designed to give you a clear, useful understanding about what your breast cancer risks really are--not the same endlessly repeated statistics that leave you bewildered, but solid, dependable information that actually makes sense," promises author Patricia T. Kelly, Ph.D.

Assess Your True Risk of Breast Cancer lives up to that promise. Kelly, a medical geneticist who specializes in cancer risk assessment and counseling, shows you how to analyze statistics, put your breast-cancer risk into perspective, and take the most appropriate steps for your personal situation. As factual as her information is, she never neglects the important emotional component, which she calls "the human part." She illustrates her points with anecdotes and moving quotes from women about their feelings and experiences. Even when she's explaining something as complicated as interpreting your risk from statistics, she makes analogies and relates discussions with her clients to make the information easier to understand. She also presents some reassuring facts that we don't usually hear: "When a breast cancer is found before it reaches a little less than half an inch in size, it is almost never life threatening," and "Most women who have a close relative with breast cancer will never be diagnosed with this disease," for example.

Kelly reviews major studies on hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer, concluding that HRT taken at menopause does not increase the risk of breast cancer, and shows you how to interpret studies. She also explains in detail cancer cell development, noncancer cell growths, genetic testing, and much more medical information. Depending on your interest and need, you may not want to read every chapter (and you don't have to), but there's so much value in the chapters you choose that you'll be glad you purchased this book. --Joan Price

About the Author:

Patricia Kelly, Ph.D., is a medical geneticist who specializes in cancer risk assessment and counseling. A diplomate of the American Board of Medical Genetics and a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics, Kelly lives in Berkeley, California.

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