Health Blog

A healthy body and a sound mind

Time to Quit: Smoking Tied to Common Forms of Breast Cancer

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Several studies in the past decade and a half have looked at the link between smoking and breast cancer risk. Findings of a recent study suggest young women may be increasing their risk for developing a common type of cancer by smoking. The findings of the study revealed that women between the ages of 20 and 44 increased their chances of developing breast cancer by 60 percent if they smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for a decade.

The type of cancer developed by patients in the study was called estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. The senior author associated with the study, Dr. Christopher Li, suggested to news agency Reuters that associating cigarette smoking with breast cancer was important.

However, this study isn’t the first of its kind to come to find a link between breast cancer and cigarette smoking. [Read more…]

Breast Self-Examination: Things You Should Know

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A lot of diagnosed breast problems – whether breast cancer or not – are usually first found out by the women involved themselves. They know their bodies best and as such, notice significant – and not so significant – changes early on. This is why it is very important that women conduct regular breast self-examination. During a breast self-examination, a woman may be able to find lumps which have developed over the years. Though lumps are not all malignant, or cancerous, early discovery is always an advantage.

It should be noted, however, that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) do not perceive regular breast self-examination as compulsory. Indeed, even the American Cancer Society sees this as an option. If I were a woman, however, I would make sure to do this every once in a while just to be sure.

So how does one conduct a breast self-examination? It is basically checking one’s breasts for lumps or any other changes. This is done in different positions – standing, lying down, etc. – all the while looking at one’s breasts for any changes. The important thing is that if a woman finds some changes, such as lumps, she should immediately set an appointment with her doctor in order to get it checked.

Another important thing to remember is that even if you conduct regular breast self-examinations, you should not feel complacent. These self-examinations should not take the place of mammograms and regular check ups with your doctor.

Risk Factors For Breast Cancer

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Not everyone is in danger of getting breast cancer but then again, you never know. That is why experts have come up with certain things that they consider to be risk factors. These can indicate whether or not a person has more chances of getting breast cancer. Here are some of the risk factors, courtesy of MedicineNet:

Age: The chance of getting breast cancer goes up as a woman gets older. Most cases of breast cancer occur in women over 60. This disease is not common before menopause.

Personal history of breast cancer: A woman who had breast cancer in one breast has an increased risk of getting cancer in her other breast.

Gene changes: Changes in certain genes increase the risk of breast cancer. These genes include BRCA1, BRCA2, and others. Tests can sometimes show the presence of specific gene changes in families with many women who have had breast cancer. Health care providers may suggest ways to try to reduce the risk of breast cancer, or to improve the detection of this disease in women who have these changes in their genes.

Family history: A woman’s risk of breast cancer is higher if her mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer. The risk is higher if her family member got breast cancer before age 40. Having other relatives with breast cancer (in either her mother’s or father’s family) may also increase a woman’s risk.

Certain breast changes: Some women have cells in the breast that look abnormal under a microscope. Having certain types of abnormal cells (atypical hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ [LCIS]) increases the risk of breast cancer.

So these are only some of the most common risk factors that have been identified. For more information, you can visit the web site of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, did you know that? Breast cancer is one of the most dangerous diseases in existence today. The dangerous thing about breast cancer is that although almost everyone is aware of it, not everyone really takes it seriously. I have a lot of women friends who do not even think that they have to have regular check ups with the doctor. Oh in theory, they know everything, but they do not really take the time to go and have themselves checked.

That is why all the concerned authorities have designated a month in the year to help people become more aware of the issues involved. In keeping with the whole event, I decided to write some posts on breast cancer. Here are some stats to give you a background (courtesy of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month web site):

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, it’s estimated that About 178,480 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007. About 40,460 women will die from the disease this year. Right now there are slightly over 2 million women living in the United States who have been treated for breast cancer.

In the next few posts, we are going to take a closer look at breast cancer and things you can do to prevent it.