Facts You Should Know About Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a disease that can send chills up a womans spine, but men are not totally immune from it. Between the chest wall and skin lies a collection of fatty tissues and glands which compose the breast. After the birth of a baby, these glands in a womans breast produce milk to nourish the infant. 1520 lobes compose each gland. Special ducts (tubelike structures) serve to transfer the milk from the glands to the nipple. As milk is produced and fills the breast, the glands and ducts enlarge. The fatty tissue within the breast is the key component in determining size and shape. At times, tumors can form in the breast which may be cancerous.

A malignant tumor (cancerous) is composed of an outofcontrol growth of abnormal cells. Benign tumors are noncancerous and incapable of spreading through the body. Tumors with the ability to spread through the body are referred to as malignant, or cancerous. When a malignant tumor is discovered in the breast, the patient is told she has breast cancer. Cancer cells normally develop in the ducts or glands; however, it is possible for them to appear in any portion of the breast. The most common form of cancer diagnosed in the women of Europe and North America is breast cancer. Over 200,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. Among American women, only lung cancer outranks breast cancer, making it the second most deadly.

Just because a woman develops breast cancer, it does not mean the disease will take her life. Women have a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer, but a 1 in 28 chance of dying from it. The largest risk for a woman to develop breast cancer is her age. Older women have a greater chance of developing breast cancer than younger women. Another influence for a woman is if she had her first menstrual cycle at a young age. Other factors also figure in, such as her age at the time of her first pregnancy; a history of breast cancer in her family and BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations If a woman knows breast cancer is in her lineage, she is advised to undergo genetic testing as 310% of breast cancers are related to gene mutations. A woman can help reduce her risk of breast cancer if she will maintain a healthy weight, limit her alcohol consumption to no more than five drinks per week and exercise regularly. It is also thought that if a woman has her first baby before age 30 and nurses it, plus limits the use of hormone replacement at menopause, she helps lower her chance of developing breast cancer. A final thought if a woman shows to have a high risk of breast cancer, she should discuss the use of a drug called Tamoxifen with her doctor. By using this drug for a period of five years, it has been shown a woman stands a chance of reducing her risk of developing a tumor by 50%.

Early detection is a womans best defense when it comes to surviving and curing breast cancer. Incorporating selfexams, clinical exams and mammograms into her healthcare routine increases a womans chances for early detection. {{{Between the ages of 2039, a woman should undergo a clinical exam every three years. | A woman between the ages of 20 and 39 is advised to undergo a clinical exam once every three years. | A clinical exam should be part of a womans health care every three years between the ages of 20 and 39. | Between the ages of 2039, women are advised to have a clinical exam once every three years

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