BREAST CANCER AWARENESS; KEEPING HER IN THE PICTURE
According to WHO, in 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685,000 deaths globally. As of the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer.
Breast cancer occurs in every country of the world, mostly in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life.
Cancer cells can spread into a nearby breast tissue (invasion). This creates tumors that cause lumps or thickening that can spread throughout the body and become fatal; breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumors.
Early diagnosis increases the chances of treating breast cancer before it advances. The most important factor that affects breast cancer survival is whether the cancer has metastasized or spread to other body organs (stage of cancer).
Early diagnosis is very important, that is why over the years, the month of October has been dedicated to this cause. Breast cancer awareness is a time when we educate, show support to individuals, and emphasize regular checkups for women.
This month’s theme is “Keeping her in the picture”. This theme centers around the involvement of everyone to keep an eye out on the well-being of every notable woman in their lives. Women are important in this world and the life and health of every woman counts.
‘In keeping her in the picture’ everyone needs to know the causes, the risk factors, and ways to perform a personal check, with the measures for interventions. All this will be discussed in today’s article.
Early detection
Approximately half of breast cancers develop in women who have no identifiable breast cancer risk factor other than their gender being female.
It is worth noting that breast cancer in men is a rare disease that at the time of diagnosis tends to be more advanced than in women. Approximately 0.5–1% of breast cancers occur in men but 99% occur more in women. Why one woman is diagnosed, and the other woman is not is not fully known but certain risk factors can increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer.
- Age: the risk increases with developing age. It is more prevalent in women 50 years and above, but this still does not rule a woman of a younger age out.
- Family history: most women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a known family history of the disease, but this does not necessarily mean that a woman is at reduced risk.
- Alcohol and smoking; research has shown that certain lifestyle habits like smoking and alcohol increase the likelihood of a woman having breast cancer.
- Being Overweight
- Unhealthy eating
- Having a previous diagnosis
- Certain inherited high penetrance gene mutations greatly increase breast cancer risk.
Symptoms to pay attention to:
- Any change in the size or the shape of the breast.
- Pain in any area of the breast.
- Nipple discharge other than breast milk (including blood).
- A new lump in the breast or underarm.
How to conduct a personal check: Pls take 3 minutes to personally conduct this test today:
- Visually inspect your breasts with your arms at your sides.
- Raise your arms high overhead and look for any changes in the contour, any swelling, or dimpling of the skin, or changes in the nipples.
- Rest your palms on your hips and press firmly to flex your chest muscles. Left and right breasts will not exactly match, so look for any dimpling, puckering, or changes, particularly on one side.
- When lying down, the breast tissue spreads out evenly along the chest wall. Place a pillow under your right shoulder and your right arm behind your head. Using your left hand, move the pads of your fingers around your right breast gently covering the entire breast area and armpit. Use light, medium, and firm pressure. Squeeze the nipple, check for discharge and lumps. Repeat these steps on your left breast.
Note that a physical examination is not enough, see a doctor for further diagnosis and treatment.
We will be looking at treatment options and the importance of occupational therapists and physiotherapists in breast cancer treatment in the next article so stay tuned!