Gene Simmons: Make your women get mammograms. Shannon's scare shows importance of early detection

Gene Simmons has an important message for American men: Make your women get mammograms.  Noting that one in eight American women will get breast cancer at sometime in their lives, Gene Simmons stated that although Shannon has always been proactive in taking care of her health, many women are not. Gene said that the breast cancer statistics he had discovered since Shannon's breast cancer scare were "horrific and very scary."

Gene Simmons and his long-term girlfriend, Shannon Tweed, appeared on The Doctors today in order to discuss Shannon's recent breast cancer scare.  Shannon Tweed was out shopping with her sister, Tracy Tweed, when Shannon discovered a lump in her breast.  Both Shannon and Gene agreed that the whole experience was "very scary" and that they wanted to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of regular breast examination, including mammograms.

The full story of Shannon Tweed's breast cancer scare will be chronicaled in the season premiere of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels this Sunday on A&E.

In the last six months, there has been a lot of publicity surrounding conflicting recommendations on when women should begin having mammograms and how often they should have them.  Like most doctors, Shannon's own doctor, Kristi Funk MD-- as well as The Doctors' Lisa Masterson, MD-- recommends that women should have a baseline mammogram at age 35 and begin yearly mammograms starting at 40.  The doctors noted that breast cancers double in size every 3-4 months; if you wait two years between mammograms, it may be too late.

Women at a high risk of breast cancer should start breast cancer screening at an earlier age, and may want to consider having MRI instead of or in addition to a mammogram.  To find out more about MRIs and mammograms and breast cancer screening recommendations, see my article MRI vs Mammogram.

Although Shannon and The Doctors did most of the talking on this morning's show, Gene Simmons did make it a point to emphasize his message to the men of America.  Breast cancer affects everybody and women should not assume that breast cancer is something that happens to others, or that they are too young to have breast cancer.  Women should have regular mammograms, and Gene Simmons wants men to know that if the person they care about does not want to be tested, they need to force her to take care of herself because her health and well-being affects her partner and her whole family, too.

Where to get a mammogram in the Dallas Metroplex

Talk to your doctor about regular breast cancer screening.  Where you go to have your yearly mammogram may depend on your neighborhood and insurance company, however one dedicated solely to breast cancer screening and diagnoses is Solis Women's Health. 

Solis Women's Health is where I go for my yearly breast cancer screening and I cannot recommend them highly enough.  They have locations throughout the Dallas Metroplex, offer full field digital mammography and you can even make your appointment online.  The last time I was there, I even got a piece of chocolate for the ride home.