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VA Encouraging Female Veterans to Begin Breast Cancer Screening

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, considering October is breast cancer awareness month, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requested every female veteran spend a few minutes with their doctor this month and talk about scheduling breast cancer screenings. If you're a veteran diagnosed with breast cancer, you could qualify for veterans compensation payments.

Breast cancer is known as the second leading cause of cancer death in women and the chance of a women diagnosed with the condition is 1 in 8. At the same time, however, the survival rate for those who are diagnosed is almost 90% over 5 years. If the cancer is detected while still isolated to the breast, that survival rate jumps to almost 99%.

Regularly scheduled mammograms have been proven to be one of the most effective ways to detect the presence of breast cancer, which is why the VA is encouraging mammograms be performed every other year for every woman between 50 and 75 years old.

For some, there may be other risk factors included, and those must be taken into consideration such as: 

• family members with breast cancer;
• radiation exposure to the chest/breast area;
• being overweight;
• not exercising; and
• unpreventable gene mutations.

Breast cancer can strike women of any age. With female veterans being one the fastest growing populations in today's military they need VA medical attention.

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today - 1-888-234-5758.