How to Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer

Do you fear breast cancer? Many woMen do because it is such a killer! Surprisingly, Men are not immune to this disease either.

How to Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer

How to Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer

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How to Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer

How to Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer

If you received a diagnosis of breast cancer just 20 years ago, your chances of being a survivor would have been much less than they are today. That's because of the marvelous advance of medical research.

There are a lot more options available now for treating malignant tumors than were available a few years ago. And more and more women are breast cancer survivors today.

But you would like to know what your particular risks are for developing breast cancer, wouldn't you? Although no one knows exactly who is going to get breast cancer, there are riskfactors that can be taken into consideration. You can do something about some of these risk factors, and other risk factors there's not much you can do about. --except to be on your guard.

Here are the risk factors you can control:

1. Obesity

2. Drinking alcoholic beverages

3. Smoking

4. Taking estrogen with progesterone for menopausal symptoms

5. Using birth control pills

6. Lack of exercise

7. Choosing to feed your baby with a bottle instead of breast-feeding.

The following are risk factors over which you have no control:

1. Aging

2. Breast cancer in your immediate family

3. Starting your periods before the age of 12

4. Passing through menopause after the age of 50

I Knowas you can see, there are risks you can do something about and risks that you can't do anything about. So why not start with what you can do? For example, choose to eat healthy Foods instead of junk Food. Stay away from alcoholic beverages and smoking. Exercise regularly.

For the risks you can do nothing about, you can use preventative measures. If your mother or and or another close relative had breast cancer, try to remember to schedule a yearly mammogram. And have a doctor examine your breasts once a year. Learn how to do breast exams once a month yourself and be faithful about checking your breasts on a regular basis.

To even more accurately assess your personal risk for developing breast cancer, you can take a test that willlet you know if you carry a mutated gene related to breast cancer.

Why not choose to reduce your risk factors by doing all you can to protect yourself from this deadly disease?

How to Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer

Etiology of Breast Cancer

Epidemiological risk factors for a disease could give significant clues as to the etiology, or cause, of a disease.

Etiology of Breast Cancer

Etiology of Breast Cancer

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Etiology of Breast Cancer

Etiology of Breast Cancer

The etiology of human breast cancer remains largely unknown. Risk factors associated with the disease could be classified into three extensive determinants: family history factors, hormonal and reproductive factors, and environMental factors. A current epidemiologic analysis concluded that 73% of breast cancers are attributable to environMental factors. Over 78% of cases happen in postMenopausal women. Late onset is consistent with the long latency periods usually related with chemical carcinogenesis in humans.

Studies of migrant populations and geographic variations in the incidence of breast cancer recommendthat lifestyle and environmental effects are involved in the etiology of the disease. Its rates in Asian and Mediterranean countries are considerably lower than in North America, yet, in some generations, its rate in female offspring of Asian immigrants to the United States approaches the American rate.

Current studies point out that its rate in Japan is increasing, coincident with the westernization of the Japanese lifestyle. In general, the incidence of breast cancer in American Indian and Alaskan Native women has been lower than in most of the other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Migration of these Native American families has caused an upsurge in the rates.

An elevated occurrence of breast cancer has been noted in the U.S.northeast, particularly the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania area, which is amongst the most heavily polluted areas on the continent in terms of industrial and vehicular emissions. An increased risk of breast cancer was reported for postmenopausal women as well who lived for more than 10 years near an industrial facility in Long Island, New York.

While the association of numerous risk factors, like family history and reproductive patterns, with breast cancer has been well established for several years, work in the past 10-15 years has added considerably to our comprehension of disease etiology.

Etiology of Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer: Know Your Risk Factors, the Signs and Symptoms and What to Do About It

All woMen, essentially, are at some degree of risk for developing breast cancer—considering that breast cancer is the most common cancer among North American woMen and that one in seven women either has it or will get it in their lifetime.

Breast Cancer: Know Your Risk Factors, the Signs and Symptoms and What to Do About It

Breast Cancer: Know Your Risk Factors, the Signs and Symptoms and What to Do About It

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Breast Cancer: Know Your Risk Factors, the Signs and Symptoms and What to Do About It

Breast Cancer: Know Your Risk Factors, the Signs and Symptoms and What to Do About It

But some women have a higher risk of contracting breast cancer than others, and that’s why it’s important for all women to assess their individual risks.

There is no single cause of breast cancer, but some factors seem to increase the risk of developing it.

The risk is increased the older you are, if you had your first child after the age of 30 (or no children at all) and if you have a family history of breast cancer, especially a mother, sister or daughter. Other minor, suggested risk factors—some of which have not been fully documented or studied—include previous breast disorders, early first menstruation, dense breast tissue, use of combination birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy (with both estrogen and progestin), a diet high in fat and alcohol and not breastfeeding or exercising.

If you’re a woman who has assessed a higher personal risk of developing breast cancer, you need to know what to Watch for; the first signs and symptoms of the disease.

The first sign of breast cancer [http://www.8008135.info] is normally a lump, a spot or other abnormality on the breast, usually felt by you first or seen on a mammogram (an x-ray of the breast) before you can even feel it. The lump is also constantly present, may feel hard, tender and unusual and like it’s attached to your skin.

Additional signs and symptoms of early breast cancer include other lumps, spots or abnormalities of the breast or nipple, such as a lump in the armpit, an inverted nipple, nipple discharge or eczema-type symptoms on the nipple, and irregular changes in the size, shape and skin of the breast.

Early detection is key. One way to help out with early detection is to learn how to do a breast self-examination—and to do them regularly. Breast self-exams basically allow you to “get to know” your particular breasts and how they look and feel normally, so you are better prepared to detect any unusual changes.

Mammograms and clinical breast examinations, which are done by doctors, are usually considered more reliable than self-exams. Mammograms aren’t recommended until women are a bit older (into their 40s and 50s, although slightly younger if a woman’s personal risk factor is higher), but clinical breast exams can, and should, be done sooner and more regularly.

At the first sign of what may appear to be breast cancer, and even if it’s not, it’s important for women to talk to their doctor right away. The sooner breast cancer is detected, the sooner it can be treated, and the greater chance of survival.

Breast Cancer: Know Your Risk Factors, the Signs and Symptoms and What to Do About It