| It would not be surprising, therefore, that any ailment or | | | | already.Factors associated with breast cancer include:- |
| condition that endangers the look, health and | | | | Taking an oral contraceptive pill |
| functionality of this vital body part would be a real | | | | - Hormone replacement therapy |
| source of worry to every lady.Breast cancer, despite | | | | - Obesity and/or high fat diets |
| all medical and technological advances, as been on the | | | | - Family history of breast cancerIt is worth stating |
| rise in the last 50 years or so. The figures that stare | | | | here, however, that most breast cancers are |
| us in the face when we check the records are quite | | | | hormonally related Other factors may also affecting |
| alarming. But, there is no running away from these | | | | the risk, include stress, carcinogens, excessive use of |
| figures, they are real.It's alarming but it is true that | | | | stimulants like alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes and |
| there's more breast cancer now than ever before. It is | | | | exposure to pesticides and radiation.Early detection of |
| true that between 1979 and 1986 the incidence of | | | | breast cancer is still the best guarantee of getting |
| invasive breast cancer in the United States alone has | | | | cured. Presently, six out of every seven patients |
| increased 29 percent among white women and 41 | | | | diagnosed with breast cancer are cured at an early |
| percent among black women, and incidences of all | | | | stage. However, if they are diagnosed when the |
| breast cancers doubled. It's true that despite yearly | | | | cancer has become advanced, the cure rate falls to |
| mammograms and advanced medical and diagnostic | | | | about one in seven. It is extremely important to catch |
| technology the percentage of women dying from | | | | breast cancer at an early stage if it is to be |
| breast cancer has remained virtually unchanged over | | | | satisfactorily cured. This therefore makes knowing the |
| the past 50 years, and that every 12 minutes | | | | symptoms very crucial.Breast cancer, in its early |
| throughout the last half of the 20th Century another | | | | stages hardly shows any sign at all. It does not cause |
| woman died of breast cancer.It is also fact that more | | | | any pain in most instances. Some of the symptoms |
| than two hundred thousand cases of breast cancer | | | | associated with breast cancer include:- Itching in the |
| are diagnosed every year in the United States. In | | | | armpit or around the breast region |
| Canada about twenty thousand new cases, thirteen | | | | - Pink, red, or dark colored area (called erythematic) |
| thousand in Australia and over forty one thousand in | | | | with texture similar to the skin of an orange |
| the UK. And it's true that breast cancer is the disease | | | | - Ridges and thickened areas of the skin of nipple or |
| that women fear more than any other, that breast | | | | breast |
| cancer is the biggest killer of all women aged 35 to 54, | | | | - Appearance of a bruise that does not go away |
| and that of the 2.5 million women currently diagnosed | | | | - Nipple getting inverted |
| with breast cancer, half will be dead within ten years.It | | | | - Breast warm to the touch |
| really does not matter if you are 20 years old or 50 | | | | - Pain in the breast which could vary from a constant |
| years old. You stand some risk of catching the | | | | ache to stabbing pains |
| monster. It is estimated that one in every nine women | | | | - Change in texture as well as color of the skin |
| will get breast cancer at some period in her lifeThese | | | | around the nipple |
| are not pleasant tales. My purpose in painting these | | | | - Change in the shape or size of a breast |
| gory pictures, is not to scare anyone, but to make you | | | | - Dimpling of the breast skin |
| see the importance of giving more attention to your | | | | - Swelling or a lump in the armpit |
| breast. The more you know about breast cancer, the | | | | - Discharge from the nippleNone of these symptoms |
| better.Almost every woman is at risk of breast | | | | is clear evidence of breast cancer, as most of the |
| cancer, but records show that 80% of cases are | | | | signs may also arise due to other conditions affecting |
| found in woman over 50 years of age. There are | | | | the breast. Only a doctor can made a definite |
| several factors that can predispose one to breast | | | | statement about the presence or otherwise of breast |
| cancer. Some are within your control and others are | | | | cancer after an exhaustive examination.Know your |
| not. It therefore makes much sense to avoid the | | | | breast, and how to self examine your breast and |
| humanly controllable factors as much as possible. Most | | | | always report the slightest changes to a doctor. It's not |
| of these are the daily lifestyle choices we make. The | | | | worth taking chances with breast cancer. It's real and |
| problem is that these habits do not show the extent of | | | | it's spreading like wild fire in the ever-polluted society |
| damage they can cause to our body until we begin to | | | | we live in today. Do the little you can to keep your |
| get older, and by then the damage is done | | | | name off the breast cancer list, the sacrifice is worth it. |