What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer is a disease in which breast tissue cells start growing abnormally and uncontrollably breast cancer is of a different kind and it depends on which cell turns into cancer.
Every woman requires to understand what she can do to diminish her risk of breast cancer.
Below are some risk factors that you can change to empower yourself and make sure your breast cancer risks are as low as possible.
- Being overweight: older women who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of getting breast cancer than those at a normal weight. Obese women also have a high risk of breast cancer recurrence.
- Drinking Alcohol: Studies show that a woman’s risk for breast increases with the more alcohol she drinks.
- Smoking: Younger women who smoke have a higher risk of breast cancer than their non-smoking peers.
- Eating habits: consuming unhealthy food and lack of exercise can also increase the risk of breast cancer.
- Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: The timing of pregnancy and breastfeeding is crucial, the woman who has had their first pregnancy post 35 years or who never had full-time pregnancy are at a higher risk of breast cancer. Also, studies show that women who breastfeed for longer are at a lower risk of breast cancer.
- Oral contraceptives or birth control pills: Studies suggest that oral contraceptives insignificantly increase the risk of breast cancer. While others have revealed no nexus between the use of oral contraceptives to prevent pregnancy and the spread of breast cancer. Research may increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
What lifestyle change should be done to reduce the risk of breast cancer?
- Minimize alcohol intake to control the risk.
- if you smoke then quitting is the best option
- Diet: there is no reliable research that confirms that eating or avoiding specific foods reduces the risk of developing breast cancer or preventing a recurrence. However, eating more fruits and vegetables and fewer animal fats is definitely beneficial.
- Be Physically Active: Exercise is beneficial both for the prevention of breast cancer and also for breast cancer survivors. A balanced diet and regular physical activity will ensure healthy weight management and improved lifestyle. A recent study on breast cancer found only a third of survivors meet recommended activity levels.
- Marrying and planning a family at the right age can lower the risk of breast cancer. Also, breastfeed your child the natural way the longer you breastfeed the lower are the risk.
- Be breast aware: Do monthly breast self-examination.
- Get breast screening done: discuss with your doctor regarding mammography breast screening tests.
- Avoid Hormone Replacement Therapy to ease menopause symptoms.