DIAGNOSTICS SERVICES

Mammography Services
Breast cancer is the #1 diagnosed cancer in women.  Every woman, any woman, can develop breast cancer, whether or not someone else in your family has had it, whether you have large or small breasts, or whether or not you have fibrocystic (lumpy) breasts. If you are female, you might be one of the women each year in the U.S. who develop breast cancer.  While most breast cancer occurs in women over age 50, after menopause, it does strike younger women as well.

Every year 40,200 women will die from breast cancer. Medical experts believe that 13,000 of these lives could be saved if women would have mammograms on a regular basis.

The experienced and caring staff of The Women's Center of St. Helena Hospital offers mammograms. These can be billed through insurance programs, or, thanks to donations made through private funds (such as St. Helena Hospital Foundation's Elaine Mackie Fund and funding by the California Department of Public Health) mammograms can be provided at a reduced cost or at no charge to any woman.

Most people who develop any type of cancer do not know they have cancer until they develop serious symptoms. When breast cancer is detected in the localized stage without spread to lymph nodes, the 5 year survival rate is 97%.  With a mammogram, a radiologist can often see cancer before a woman experiences any cancer symptoms. Cancer in the breast can be found while it is still tiny--the size of the head of a pin. But, in order to catch the cancer when it is this small, a woman has to have a mammogram on a regular basis, depending on her age and her personal health. Even if a woman has a mammogram that looks fine, she still needs to continue having them done regularly, so that if she does develop breast cancer, her doctor can catch it while it is still small and she can start cancer treatment immediately.

The American Cancer Society announced new guidelines to help women know how to protect themselves against breast cancer. 

The guidelines they have developed are:
If you are age 40 and older, you should have a mammogram done every    year, have an annual clinical breast examination (CBE) by a health care 
   professional , and perform monthly breast self-examination (BSE).

If your family has a history of breast cancer, OR if you have other reasons    that could put you at a higher risk, talk with your doctor or nurse    practitioner about:
        starting mammograms before you're age 40; or
        having mammograms more often.


Since many women don't know how a mammogram can help save their lives, it is important for all of us to help others--our mothers, grandmothers, friends--understand their personal risk.

For more information about our mammography services,
please call (707) 963-1912.

Osteoporosis Testing
Are you unsure whether or not to take hormone replacements after menopause? Does your family have a history of easily broken bones? Do you crash diet? Do you smoke? Do you take arthritis medications?

If so, a bone density test may provide some answers and indicate whether your habits or prescriptions are putting you at risk for osteoporosis.

Many healthy, active people will suffer broken bones in the future because they don't know their bones are becoming brittle today. The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis and that 18 million have low bone mass.  Of these, 1.5 million develop hip, wrist and vertebral fractures every year.  (Osteoporosis does not affect only women-- 1 in 2 women and 1 in 8 men 50 and older develop osteoporosis.)

One simple, painless way to know if you are at risk is to have a bone density test, called a DEXA (Dual-Energy x-ray Absorptiometry). A DEXA is a very low level x-ray done within 30 - 45 minutes while you relax in a reclining position. It is able to detect the earliest signs of bone loss by x-raying four spinal vertebrae and one of the hips. A radiologist reads the results, writes a report and forwards it to your physician. (You can request a copy of the report from your physician at no charge.)

The results are extremely valuable. If you're unsure about taking hormones, a DEXA gives you concrete facts to help you decide whether or not to take them. If your DEXA shows that you're losing calcium, or bone density, hormones may help stop that loss. (Many women lose up to 20% of their bone density within the first five years after menopause.)  You should discuss with your doctor or nurse practitioner when to have a follow-up DEXA to recheck your bone density level and reevaluate your decision about hormones.

A DEXA is also helpful if you have a family history of bone fractures or are concerned about health risks. Since you might not break any bones for 10 or 20 years, you may not know your bones have become brittle until it's too late. A DEXA can help you avoid painful, and serious, bone fractures. If you are at risk, you and your physician can discuss a treatment plan. This plan may include taking hormones, increasing the amount of calcium in your diet, doing weight- bearing exercises, learning how to avoid or prevent falling, or taking one of two prescription medications, Fosamax or Miacalcin, which were approved by the FDA in 1995.

To make an appointment for a DEXA, or for more information,
please call (707) 963-1912.