One of the most dreaded forms of cancer is breast cancer. Breast cancer is responsible for many deaths and is commonly found in both towns and the rural areas. It is suspected that almost 155,000 new cases will spring up in 2015 and the medical fraternity states that there may be 76,000 deaths expected because of this dreaded disease.
Lead consultant and Head of Unit, Max Super Specialty hospital, Saket, Anuradha Kapur has stated “Since more patients (in India) turn up in later stages, they do not survive long, irrespective of the best treatment they may get, and hence the mortality is fairly high.” Shyness, embarrassment, social stigmas and doctors ignorance, may be the reason why patients delay treatment say the doctors.
Breastfeeding the baby doesn’t provide a safety guard against breast cancer and even men have been diagnosed to suffer from the same. Just because there is a member of the family who has been diagnosed with the disease doesn’t mean that you will also have it and neither does a huge breast size mean that you may suffer from it later on in life.
Weighty issues:
Doctors say that only 5-10% breast cancers are due to a family history and genetic in origin. Fat cells in the body secrete estrogen and other substances. Estrogen has been known to stimulate cell growth and may influence the breast tissue growth in the wrong way. So watch your weight women and start burning out those calories fast by exercising! Obese women need to reduce weight as they have more chances of breast cancer than their slimmer counterparts.
Nipple discharge:
You do have to keep an eye open for a discharge from the nipple, a nipple retraction or a painless lump in the breast. We have a few pointers that have shown to influence breast cancer. Read on for more:-
Alcoholic beverages:
Alcohol and smoking is a no-no. You face a risk of breast cancer if you are very fond of nursing that alcohol glass in your hands. Restrict your alcohol intake to glass of wine, beer or liquor to just about two glasses and that too, weekly.
Fish and Chicken:
Eat more fish enriched with Omega 3 fatty acids instead of red meat. Increasing the quantity of red meat in the diet has shown a connection with breast cancer. “The risk of breast cancer increases by 13% and by 54% in women consuming oral contraceptive pills” and who have an additional red meat serving daily. While you are at it have a well balanced diet loaded with the goodness of fibers obtained from whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Leave the fatty foods, sugared beverages and refined flours aside. Chicken and fish are a better bet than red meat.
Early babies:
Women have a baby soon to have healthy breast say the doctors. Don’t delay the pregnancy for a long and include a child in your life. Have Kids at an early age and then breastfeed them to decrease the chances of breast cancer.
Underwire bras:
The lymph nodes compressed by bra straps have not shown to cause breast cancer according to studies , the American Cancer Society has stated “In reality, body fluids travel up and into the underarm lymph nodes, not towards the underwire. It was believed by many that under wired bras cause compression of lymph nodes and increase chances of breast cancer. Similarly, there is no sufficient evidence that any type of bra cause breast cancer. If the lady is overweight with large breasts, then the weight is a cause which can increase her risk of breast cancer but not the under wired bra she is wearing. It would make sense that women with larger breasts are both more likely to wear underwire bras and more likely to develop breast cancer. But this doesn’t mean that underwire bras cause breast cancer,” The statement has been confirmed by the, Dr Anuradha Kapur , at the Max Super Specialty hospital, Saket.
