In fighting against cancer or any disease, the goal is to control the cause.
However for breast cancer there is no known cause.
What we do know, however, is that there are things and circumstances that increase the chance of breast cancer to develop, known as breast cancer risk factors.
Basically there are two kinds of breast cancer risk factors: those that can be controlled and those that cannot be controlled.
Controllable risk factors include excess weight, alcohol, hormone therapy and exposure to radiation, among others.
Uncontrollable risk factors include age, gender, family history and previous breast cancer.
Obesity.
If there is extra fat in the body, more estrogen is produced, so the estrogen level of the body is increased.
Exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet, while helping you control your weight, are also known protective factors.
Alcohol intake.
Studies confirm that drinking alcoholic beverages, regardless of type, increases the risk of breast cancer.
And the more alcohol you drink, the higher the risk goes.
Radiation.
Exposure to radiation at certain levels increases the risk.
An example for this is women working in x-ray departments.
Hormone therapy.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to control menopausal symptoms.
Estrogen-only HRT is a breast cancer risk and the risk increases if HRT is a combination of estrogen and progesterone.
If you need to take this medication, it is best to discuss with your physician to see what options are available for you.
Age.
Risk increases as a woman gets older.
A 20-year-old woman has a 1 in 1,837 probability of developing breast cancer, compared to a 1 in 40 chance of a 50-year-old.
Gender.
The mere fact of being a woman is a risk factor.
A woman has a hundred times more chance of getting breast cancer than a man.
Genetic predisposition.
The risk of getting breast cancer is increased if your family has a history of the illness, particularly if she is your mother, daughter or sister.
And if the first-degree relative is more than one, and if she was young when diagnosed, the risk increases.
An estimate of 5-10% of cases can be attributed to genetic or DNA defects.
There are two genes that are associated with breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2.
These genes help to prevent cells from growing abnormally, or developing into cancer cells.
Therefore, these genes must be always healthy.
But since we get our genes from our parents, there is a chance that we acquire a defective gene if a parent is diagnosed with cancer.
And even if we acquire only one defective gene, the healthy gene is still at risk of being damaged because of environmental factors.
If we expose ourselves to radiation, toxins or chemicals, this gene can be damaged, so cancer may develop.
Previous breast cancer.
A woman who was previously diagnosed and treated of breast cancer has a high risk of recurrence.
This is because even if cancer cells have been surgically removed, some may have remained or have already spread through the lymph vessels to the lymph nodes.
There is therefore the risk that cancer will develop either on the same breast or on the other breast.
There are also some uncontrollable risk factors that are hormone-related.
These conditions are having first menstruation at a young age, never gave birth and bearing your first child after the age of 30.
Some studies verify a slight link between pesticides and antibiotics with breast cancer, although more research on this topic is still being done.
The same goes with birth control pills or oral contraceptives - studies confirm a slight increase in the risk, although the slight increase decreases over time.
The following have not been proven to cause breast cancer: hair relaxers, cigarette smoking, underwire bras, anti-perspirants, breast implants and caffeine intake.
Knowing the breast cancer risk factors is helpful in the fight against breast cancer.
While we cannot totally eliminate the possibility of acquiring the illness, reducing the risk factors will put the probability at a minimum.
Until cancer research can develop a vaccine or total cure, we do the best we can with the things we can control.
But keep in mind that these are mere risk factors.
No one is absolutely sure of developing or not developing cancer.
However for breast cancer there is no known cause.
What we do know, however, is that there are things and circumstances that increase the chance of breast cancer to develop, known as breast cancer risk factors.
Basically there are two kinds of breast cancer risk factors: those that can be controlled and those that cannot be controlled.
Controllable risk factors include excess weight, alcohol, hormone therapy and exposure to radiation, among others.
Uncontrollable risk factors include age, gender, family history and previous breast cancer.
Obesity.
If there is extra fat in the body, more estrogen is produced, so the estrogen level of the body is increased.
Exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet, while helping you control your weight, are also known protective factors.
Alcohol intake.
Studies confirm that drinking alcoholic beverages, regardless of type, increases the risk of breast cancer.
And the more alcohol you drink, the higher the risk goes.
Radiation.
Exposure to radiation at certain levels increases the risk.
An example for this is women working in x-ray departments.
Hormone therapy.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to control menopausal symptoms.
Estrogen-only HRT is a breast cancer risk and the risk increases if HRT is a combination of estrogen and progesterone.
If you need to take this medication, it is best to discuss with your physician to see what options are available for you.
Age.
Risk increases as a woman gets older.
A 20-year-old woman has a 1 in 1,837 probability of developing breast cancer, compared to a 1 in 40 chance of a 50-year-old.
Gender.
The mere fact of being a woman is a risk factor.
A woman has a hundred times more chance of getting breast cancer than a man.
Genetic predisposition.
The risk of getting breast cancer is increased if your family has a history of the illness, particularly if she is your mother, daughter or sister.
And if the first-degree relative is more than one, and if she was young when diagnosed, the risk increases.
An estimate of 5-10% of cases can be attributed to genetic or DNA defects.
There are two genes that are associated with breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2.
These genes help to prevent cells from growing abnormally, or developing into cancer cells.
Therefore, these genes must be always healthy.
But since we get our genes from our parents, there is a chance that we acquire a defective gene if a parent is diagnosed with cancer.
And even if we acquire only one defective gene, the healthy gene is still at risk of being damaged because of environmental factors.
If we expose ourselves to radiation, toxins or chemicals, this gene can be damaged, so cancer may develop.
Previous breast cancer.
A woman who was previously diagnosed and treated of breast cancer has a high risk of recurrence.
This is because even if cancer cells have been surgically removed, some may have remained or have already spread through the lymph vessels to the lymph nodes.
There is therefore the risk that cancer will develop either on the same breast or on the other breast.
There are also some uncontrollable risk factors that are hormone-related.
These conditions are having first menstruation at a young age, never gave birth and bearing your first child after the age of 30.
Some studies verify a slight link between pesticides and antibiotics with breast cancer, although more research on this topic is still being done.
The same goes with birth control pills or oral contraceptives - studies confirm a slight increase in the risk, although the slight increase decreases over time.
The following have not been proven to cause breast cancer: hair relaxers, cigarette smoking, underwire bras, anti-perspirants, breast implants and caffeine intake.
Knowing the breast cancer risk factors is helpful in the fight against breast cancer.
While we cannot totally eliminate the possibility of acquiring the illness, reducing the risk factors will put the probability at a minimum.
Until cancer research can develop a vaccine or total cure, we do the best we can with the things we can control.
But keep in mind that these are mere risk factors.
No one is absolutely sure of developing or not developing cancer.
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