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Health Is Wealth: The Hidden Cost of a Toxic Food Supply

Columnist Michelle Pettes encourages us to prioritize our overall health and well-being.

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Healing in Motion: How Exercise Empowers Black Women on their Breast Cancer Journey

African-American women who engaged in vigorous exercise for at least three hours per week cut their risk of developing estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer in half, according to findings from the Black Women’s Health Study.

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Concierge Medicine: Personalized Healthcare at a Premium Price

Dr. Chrisette Dharma, Medical Director of Southwest Family Medicine Associates (SFMA), believes her practice strikes an affordable balance between concierge care and traditional medicine.

Women

From Shock to Strength: Thandi Montgomery’s Mission to Empower Young Women After Breast Cancer

From Shock to Strength: Thandi Montgomery’s Mission to Empower Young Women After Breast Cancer

Throughout her battle with breast cancer, Thandi Montgomery received unwavering support from her husband, Josh, and their entire family, ensuring she never faced the journey alone.

Breast cancer is often perceived as a disease affecting older women, but for young women, the diagnosis can be especially shocking and life-altering. Thandi Montgomery was just 38 years old when she received the news that changed her life forever—she had stage 1 breast cancer.

“I thought I was doing everything right—eating healthy, exercising, and breastfeeding my children. When I first heard the words ‘breast cancer,’ it didn’t feel real. Even though the doctor was explaining what was happening, I couldn’t understand how or why this was happening to me at 38 years old,” Montgomery recalls.


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 10% of all new breast cancer cases in the United States occur in women younger than 45. For Montgomery, a devoted mother to a five-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son at the time, the devastating news came as she was juggling motherhood and family responsibilities.

Her initial reaction? To fight.

“My first thought was, ‘What steps do I need to take to win?’ With my background as a strategist, I turned to research. I wanted to understand everything I could about cancer. Anytime you’re fighting an enemy, you need to know what you’re up against. For me, that enemy was cancer,” Montgomery says.

From the beginning, Montgomery’s family stood firmly by her side. Together, they prayed, researched, and sought multiple medical opinions before finalizing a treatment plan.

“After weighing our options, we chose a combination of holistic and conventional treatments. My conventional treatment included 16 rounds of chemotherapy, 30 radiation sessions, and four surgeries, including a double mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery,” she explains.

Turning Survival into Advocacy

Breast cancer cases in women under 50 have been steadily increasing, with a particularly sharp rise in recent years, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Alarmed by these trends, Montgomery now dedicates herself to raising awareness among young women, urging them to take control of their health.

“Oftentimes, we prioritize our families, careers, and everything else, but we need to prioritize our health. It’s crucial to stay in tune with our bodies, perform monthly self-exams, and take charge of our well-being instead of solely relying on the healthcare system,” Montgomery emphasizes.

She quickly realized that many young women remain unaware of their risk for breast cancer, largely because mammograms are typically recommended starting at age 40. Determined to change this narrative, she began sharing her story widely, inspiring women of all ages. Her advocacy highlights three key pillars:

Self-Exams: Encouraging women to know their bodies and seek medical advice if something feels off.

Advocating for Health: Urging young women to push for answers and demand action if their concerns are dismissed by healthcare providers.

Support Systems: Stressing the importance of leaning on friends, family, and community during the challenging cancer journey.

“It’s important that we take care of our bodies because we only get one. Beyond monthly self-exams, we must also follow up with our annual checkups,” she says.

Thandi Montgomery will share her experience as a young breast cancer survivor at the National Consortium of Breast Centers' 4th Annual Survivors and Advocates Conference, taking place March 21–23, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Addressing Health Disparities

Despite a lower overall incidence of breast cancer, Black women are 41% more likely to die from the disease than white women, according to the Mayo Clinic. This disparity is largely due to later-stage diagnoses and the aggressive nature of cancers like Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), which disproportionately affects Black women.

Montgomery’s powerful testimony has resonated with thousands, motivating them to be proactive about their health. She will share her journey at the National Consortium of Breast Centers’ 4th Survivors and Advocates Summit in Las Vegas on March 23.

“Thandi Montgomery’s story captures her resilience, determination, and strategic approach to battling breast cancer,” says Kimberly Samuels, CEO of NCBC.

For more information about the conference, visit the NCBC website at www.breastcare.org.

More Stories

Dr. Nathalie Johnson Honored with the Impact Award at NCoBC 2025

NCBC President Jennifer Plichta, MD, MS, FACS, CGRA, presents Dr. Nathalie Johnson, MD, FACS, with the 2025 Impact Award.

Dr. Nathalie Johnson Honored with the Impact Award at NCoBC 2025

Las Vegas, NV – March 27, 2025 – Dr. Nathalie Johnson, a distinguished leader in breast cancer care and advocacy, was presented with the prestigious Impact Award at the NCoBC 2025 34th Interdisciplinary Breast Center Conference, held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The NCBC Impact Award recognizes individuals whose pioneering contributions have significantly advanced breast cancer care, research, and advocacy.

The award was presented to Dr. Johnson by NCBC Board President, Jennifer Plichta, MD, MS, FACS, CGRA, in recognition of her unwavering commitment to improving breast cancer treatment, education, and patient care.

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Is It Just Stress or Something More? Understanding Hormonal Imbalances

Is It Just Stress or Something More? Understanding Hormonal Imbalances

In our modern day, many people ignore stress as part of the everyday normal. Severe feelings of being overwhelmed by work deadlines, financial crises, personal responsibilities, etc can cause numerous emotional and physical problems. If the problems of chronic fatigue, mood swings, weight fluctuations, or even irregular periods continue despite the implementation of stress management systems, it is perhaps wise to consider the possibility of a hormonal imbalance.

A person's hormonal health is very central to their health. The body relies on a network of glands called the endocrine system designed to produce and regulate hormones, and this system affects nearly every physiological function within a human, their metabolism, their mood, and, even their immune response. If there is some kind of disruption to this balance, the outcomes can go beyond basic stress symptoms. How does one differentiate between stress discomfort and the more sinister internal hormone imbalance? Here, we will answer some important questions concerning stress discomfort, and hormonal health.

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Black Maternal Health Week: Addressing Racial Disparities in Maternal Care
Photo by Shelly Shell on Unsplash

Black Maternal Health Week: Addressing Racial Disparities in Maternal Care

Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW), observed annually from April 11-17, is a national campaign founded by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance in 2018. It raises awareness about the disproportionate maternal health challenges faced by Black women in the United States and advocates for systemic change in maternal healthcare (Black Mamas Matter Alliance, 2018). Addressing Black maternal health is crucial for achieving health equity, improving overall public health outcomes, and ensuring that all women have access to safe, respectful, and high-quality maternal care. It requires a multifaceted approach involving policy changes, healthcare system reforms, and efforts to combat racism and discrimination in medical settings.

The Urgency of Black Maternal Health

The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed nations, and Black women are disproportionately affected. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women (CDC, 2022). Structural racism, implicit bias in healthcare, and limited access to quality medical services contribute to these disparities.

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Cervical Cancer Awareness Month Should Be Every Month

This article is dedicate in loving memory to my best friend Tonina O'Brien, who courageously fought cervical cancer for 2 years. You can read more about our journey in my story about being a caregiver.

January is cervical cancer awareness month, but it shouldn't stop there. When we think of cancer that primarily targets women, we think of breast cancer, however, there are numerous gynecological cancers that don't get the same amount of attention and research. Cervical cancer, which is a type of cancer in the lower part of the uterus connecting to the vagina. One of the top causes of cervical cancer is persistent infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection At one point, cervical cancer was the most common cancer deaths amongst women. Through years of research it was found with proper screening and prevention methods numbers have started to level out. When my best friend Nina found out she had cervical cancer I realized how common, yet unknown this form of cancer really was.

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6 Simple Steps Women Can Take to Lower Heart Disease Risk—No Pills Needed

6 Simple Steps Women Can Take to Lower Heart Disease Risk—No Pills Needed

Scope of the problem

Heart disease is largely preventable, yet, it remains the number 1 cause of death in women in the United States, claiming the lives of 1 in 3 women, more than breast cancer (1 in 25 to 30 women die of breast cancer) and more than all cancers combined. Unfortunately, these statistics haven’t changed much over time. Despite all the sophisticated advances in cardiovascular care, women under 65 years old are twice as likely as their male counterparts to die following a heart attack.

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