 With minds on fall and October one thing you may want to consider this season is breast cancer awareness month Wednesday, we spoke with Pike County health director Tammy Riley about breast cancer prevention and early detection October is breast cancer awareness month and traditionally, you know, we talk about breast cancer and early detection the importance of early detection and try to educate the public you know about seeking those annual mammograms and Self-checking and things of that nature According to the CDC about one in eight women will get breast cancer in their lifetime Riley adds that breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths among women and that those above 40 should get tested but definitely at age 40 there is a Suggestion for annual mammograms and a definite recommendation starting at age 50 and older what we've seen is Definitely some improvement over the previous years with through education and outreach. So for example in 2000, Pike County alone lost 19 females to breast cancer Moving forward to 2017. I looked at the data and we lost six women to breast cancer So we have seen some improvement Here at Pikeville Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute We have assembled a comprehensive team of cardiac specialists bringing expertise from all regions of the nation and the world We have coupled that with cutting-edge technology providing them the best equipment and operating rooms available The result is comprehensive cardiac care for the people of our region that is second to none the Heart and Vascular Institute at Pikeville Medical Center according to health rankings Pike County ranks second out of 120 in health behavior with only 40 percent of female Medicare enrollees between the ages of 65 to 74 Eligible for mammograms taking advantage Riley says resources are available Well have those conversations have them early with your primary health care provider But you can always reach out to the pot County Health Department We have a wealth of resources here and information in the clinic. You can call 509 5500 and we will give you information if you're underinsured or uninsured We also have some services and some a sliding scale fee services for individuals out there We want to see women get those annual mammograms and to be talking early on with their health care providers about Self-checks and annual mammograms for mountaintop news. I'm Joel Horge. Oh