Breast Health: An Informative Guide for Women

The National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates that every year a total of 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and more or less 40,000 of those diagnosed die.

In 2005, the American Cancer Society estimated total risks of one for every eight woman for breast cancer. Many women do not even know that they have one until they reached the lateral stages, where most symptoms are detected.

Breast health involves improving the conditions of the breasts and keeping them from damage like cancer.

Why Do Women Develop Breast Cancer?

The following are just some of the contributing factors that could lead to breast cancer for most women:
    
a)Getting older
    
b)Direct family history
    
c)Genetics
    
d)Breast lesions
    
e)Distant family history
    
f)Abnormal breast biopsy
    
g)Excessive radiation
    
h)Alcohol
    
i)Weight
    
j)Late or early menopause
    
k)Race

How Does One Detect Breast Cancer?

The early stages of breast cancer are not painful. Some symptoms are detected later. These may include:
    
a)A change in both the size and the shape of the breast
    
b)Lump detection near the breast or underarm area
    
c)Discharge and tenderness in the nipple
    
d)Pitting and ridge in the breast
    
e)Change in the feel and texture of the breast, areola, and nipples

If ever such symptoms occur, a woman should immediately go and see her doctor. More often than not, the signs are not cancer, but it is still advisable to check with the doctor so that the problems will be treated and diagnosed as early as possible.

When these symptoms show, the doctors would perform the following treatments, and physical exams are conducted for detection and confirmation:
    
a) Clinical breast exam
    
b) Mammography
    
c) Ultrasonography

Basing on the results of these exams, the doctor may decide whether or not further tests are required and if treatment is necessary. In such cases, the doctor needs to check the condition of the patient regularly.

About the author

Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women, including Abortions By Pill, physical examinations, family planning, counseling, laboratory services.

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