Let’s Learn Ways To Effectively Prevent Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer is a kind of cancer that develops in the breast cells. It can happen due to various factors, like gender (females are at a higher risk of developing breast cancer), obesity, ageing, exposure to radiation, previous breast conditions, alcohol consumption and genetics.
Dear ladies, ILS Hospitals, the best hospital in Kolkata would like to bring forward preventive measures for breast cancer. But before we tell you the preventive tips for breast cancer, let’s know the symptoms of the same.
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Swelling in the breast or breasts
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Rashes and redness in the breast/s
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Changes in breast anatomy
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Changes in the nipples’ appearance
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Pain in the breasts
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Feeling of lumps or nodes in the breasts
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Discharge from nipples.
Now, it’s time to know how to prevent and lower your chances of developing breast cancer.
1. Maintain a healthy BMI:
Being overweight or obese (especially after menopause) puts you at more risk of developing breast cancer. Excessive fat issues increase the estrogen levels which in turn makes you vulnerable to breast cancer. To prevent breast cancer, keep a healthy body weight or BMI (18.5-24.9).
2. Control your alcohol consumption:
As we all know, alcohol consumption is injurious to health. Did you know, alcohol is also a culprit behind breast cancer? Alcohol not only raises your estrogen levels but also damages the DNA in cells causing cancer. Avoid consumption of alcohol or at least minimize it.
3. Do physical activities:
If you live an inactive lifestyle, you invite several health issues. It has been found that women who did physical activities regularly had a lower risk of breast cancer. So, ditch the sedentary lifestyle and engage yourself in physical activities.
4. Stop smoking:
Despite numerous warnings on the cigarette packets, people still smoke. Apart from lung cancer and other serious health conditions, smoking is also responsible for causing breast cancer. Ladies, if you have this harmful habit, get rid of it today to protect yourself from breast cancer.
5. Self-examine your breasts:
Regular breast self-exam (once a month) should be encouraged as it helps early diagnosis of any abnormality. To perform a breast self-exam, stand in front of the mirror and observe your breasts. Check for redness, swelling, change in size and nipple discharge. It is always best to learn this self-diagnostic method from an expert gynaecologist.
You should also consult an experienced gynaecologist, whenever you’ve any queries regarding your gynaecological health. Visit ILS Hospitals in Kolkata and Agartala for any medical help.
10 Facts About Breast Cancer Every Women Should Know About!
Cancer, in general, is a critical illness, but breast cancer is one very common type that claims many lives all over the world. World Health Organization identifies breast cancer as the most prevalent type of cancer among women and a leading cause of death among them. Gynaecologists advise every adult woman to have some knowledge about breast cancer in brief as it often comes handy to seek timely treatment.
Here we present a few facts about breast cancer
1. Aging is a prime risk factor of breast cancer. Though many younger women are being diagnosed with breast cancer, it is mostly found in women aging more than 55.
2. Though women have an exceptionally high risk of breast cancer, more and more cases of male breast cancer are surfacing in recent years.
3. One in every 8 women is at risk of developing breast cancer, in their lifetime.
4. Women with first family (mother, daughter or sister), with a history of breast cancer, have a higher risk of the same. It is almost twice as compared to women without it.
5. However, surprisingly about 8 out of 10 breast cancer patients have no family history of the same.
6. Having denser breast tissue, with more fibrosis and glandular tissue is more likely to have breast cancer. A routine mammogram can identify it in time and thus annual screening is advised for women above 40 years.
7. Breastfeeding for a year or so reduces the risks of breast cancer and a few other gynaecological issues in the future.
8. Overweight and obese is a major risk factor for breast cancer. Proper adequate exercise can mitigate its risk for good.
9. A proper self-breast exam can also detect an abnormality in time, leading to timely treatment of the same.
10. Many breast cancer tumours onset in the underarm and armpits as well. A timely ultrasound scan can detect them on time.
Bonus Fact-
Eating healthy and quitting smoking and alcohol can promote good health and mitigate the chances of breast cancer.
Every year, the month of October is observed as the breast cancer awareness month. During this festive season, when we bow down to the supreme female deity Durga, let us also acknowledge the empowering women, who work tirelessly for the family’s health and wellbeing. ILS Hospitals encourages every woman to avail Well Women Health Check-Up Package to address critical threats such as breast and uterus cancer along with other prevalent gynaecological discomforts.
Visit https://bit.ly/2y52uo3 to book your package now!
A Brief Introduction of Breast Cancer
After attaining puberty, a women’s breast develops fat, lobules, connective tissues and glands to produce milk for breastfeeding. After the onset of cancer, the cells keep multiplying uncontrollably and starts spreading after a certain point of time, to its nearby tissues as well. Breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer among women.
Men can be affected by breast cancer as well, though the count is very little as compared to that of women. Several times, the genetics plays an important role towards its prevalence, but many times, the culprit is the sedentary lifestyle. It can be addressed with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgical approach.
Types of breast cancer
There are mainly two kinds of breast cancer. Invasive and non-invasive breast cancer. In the prior case, the cancer cell breaks out from the inside of ducts and thus the risk of its spread remains significantly high. The latter condition is the opposite and is termed when the cells remain at the origin of the outbreak. If it is left untreated, over a period of time, it develops into invasive cancer anyways.
Symptoms of breast cancer
The primary symptom of a breast cancer is characterized by the developing either a thick tissue or a lump in the breast or armpit. Secondary symptoms comprise of one or more of the following-
- Pain in the breast or in an armpit, which does correlate with the monthly cycle.
- An inverted or sunken nipple.
- Redness of the breast skin
- Discharge blood or other fluid from the nipple
- Rash on the nipple, or around it
- Change of size or shape of breast irrelevant to the monthly cycle
- Scaling or flaking of the nipple or the breast skin
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Initiative on this world Breast cancer awareness month
On this breast cancer awareness month, we, at ILS Hospitals encourage every woman to step up and seek breast examination at least once annually, to keep the risks of breast cancer at bay. We also, motivate every adult women to learn and practice self-breast examination every three to six month and keep an eye on any growth on the breast or under the armpit. Women with either a personal medical history or family history of previous lumps or cancer are requested to be-be extremely cautious regarding the same. Going for a mammogram is often recommended by a gynaecologist.
Several of the lumps of the breast are not cancerous. However, in case of any doubt, it is best to get it checked by a physician as soon as possible.