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Aging Process - Importance of Breast Cancer Prevention

Breast cancer prevention should be of paramount concern to all women moving along in the aging process considering that there is a one in eight chance they will develop it at some point in their life. Medical advancements within the last several decades have contributed to saving thousands of lives from this deadly disease.

When it comes to breast cancer prevention, knowing your risks plays an important part in protecting yourself from danger. It can be as simple as having a screening performed by your doctor. How early you get involved in protecting yourself could be the difference between life and death.

Risk Factors

Risk factors are a crucial part of breast cancer prevention. You can personally manipulate some risk factors, but other are considered uncontrollable. Controlled factors can be determined by your lifestyle. Eating foods that are high in fat and low in nutrients can be a culprit to cancer, along with smoking and excessive drinking. The choices you make in life also become risk factors. Women who take oral contraceptives could have a greater chance of developing this deadly disease. Having children before the age of thirty can put women at a higher risk for breast cancer. Although some risk factors are easier to control than others, familiarizing oneself with plenty of information will only make fighting cancer easier for you.

Forgoing any form of physical activity can also greatly increase a woman’s chance of developing this deadly disease, especially if she is already overweight. But a woman can be perfectly healthy, have absolutely no risk factors, and still develop breast cancer. The bottom line is that cancer is a gamble, and you have to arm yourself with enough knowledge to have a winning hand.

Medications

There are certain medications available to women who fall under high risk factors for breast cancer. The drug Tamoxifen has been used in the United States for over twenty-five years to help in the fight for breast cancer prevention. The drug is taken once daily as a pill and interferes with the female hormone estrogen, preventing it from attaching itself to cells in the breast tissue. This medication can also be used to treat women already diagnosed with breast cancer because it can slow down or cease the growth of cancerous cells. Tamoxifen has even been associated with helping prevent a recurrence in women who previously suffered from breast cancer.

Mammograms

A more common way to prevent breast cancer is through mammograms. A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast and is the most common form of prevention. Women who are over forty years of age should get mammograms on a yearly basis. For women in their twenty’s and thirty’s, the American Cancer Society’s web site recommends getting clinical breast exams at least every three years from a medical professional. This test is performed using the tips of the fingers to check the entire breast area and under the arm. In addition to mammograms and clinical breast exams, women should also perform breast self exams each month to recognize any signs of lumps or abnormalities in the tissue.

If You Are Uninsured

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is able to help women who fall within the lower poverty levels, are uninsured or underserved gain access to screenings for breast cancer. This program is called the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. The CDC’s web site touts it has served more than two million women under this program since its inception in 1991. In 2000, Congress expanded this service by opening it up to women who are on Medicaid. This breast cancer control act, formally titled the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, is a way to help women, who may have little access to quality health care, have a chance at breast and cervical cancer prevention.

Being smart and knowing your body is the best way to arm yourself for breast cancer prevention. There is a plethora of information available at a moments notice to give you the necessary information to determine if you are at risk for developing this disease. Learning your family history and going to your doctor regularly will put you on the path towards a long and cancer-free life.

Tags: age, Aging Process, breast cancer, cancer, disease, mamograms, tamoxifen, women