October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Hello reader,
I hope this writeup finds you well and that you and your families are safe and sound from all the brouhaha going on around the globe. Always remember, safety first in everything you do.
Today, i would like to bring to our attention an international month celebration during which awareness is created to help reduce the prevalence of breast cancer through early detection and treatment. Let me hasten to say that i certainly not an expect on the field and is only sharing what i have learnt.
Introduction
According to IARC Globocan, 1.38 million cases of breast cancer is diagnosed every year and out of these we have about 458,000 dying as a result. The condition is known to be one of the most common among women and causes the most deaths as result of cancer diagnosis.
Unfortunately the prevalence of the condition is expected to even rise as a result of inadequate awareness especially in low income and middle income countries where where late diagnosis accounts for the most deaths. Just like many if not all cancer conditions early diagnosis is key to curing and surviving whereas late diagnosis gives poor prognosis which is accompanied by palliative care instead of curative care.
Causes
With no particular or specific cause yet to be pinpointed scientist believe that the adoption of some western style of life especially in the african regions may be a contributing factor. A rise in life expectancy and a change in reproductive processes may also be a contributing factor. Mothers now give birth at a later age in life and may even skip breastfeeding due to work and life hustle and rush.
As we age our immune system also losses some dexterity and this may cause us to be more susceptible to some of these conditions. Again, like most condition a family history of breast cancer is a risk factor to getting the condition, even a history of having breast conditions could also pose a danger to you in the future. Some other possible causes include obesity and exposure to radiations which causes mutations and affect our cells in lots of ways. A mutation in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are also attributed to breast cancer acquisition.
Treatment/ Prevention
Just as the saying goes prevention is always a better option than treatment unfortunately we do not have exact causes of the condition however we are aware of some common risk factors now hence a change in lifestyle based on these risk factors may go a long way to keeping the condition at bay.
Aside this there is another thing we could do to boost the chances of our Ladies in beating this condition and thus educating and creating as much awareness about the condition as we can. Knowledge is power and knowing could cause more individuals to detect anomalies early, seek treatment and go for more routine check ups.
Breast cancer like most cancer conditions involve chemotherapy as an option of treatment, individuals may also be subjected to biological therapy, hormonal therapy, radiation therapy and or surgery to remove cancerous cells.
Breast Self Examination - Press a Boob, Save a Life
What may cause one to seek professional medical opinion in most cases is when they notice an anomaly in their body. So here is simply examination that you may conduct at home to detect lumps in the breast. This may be done by your spouse or yourself.
Conclusion
Your health is your wealth, Good life, live it well. Stay healthy and stay safe, always seek professional medical opinion on an anomalies noticed and do not take things for granted.
Thanks for reading, stay safe and have a great week, Special thanks to my mentors and supporters @mcsamm, @tj4real, @armandosodano, @delilhavores, @gentleshaid, @agmoore. For further reading;
Seigneurin A, Exbrayat C, Molinié F, Croisier L, Poncet F, Berquet K, Delafosse P, Colonna M. Reduction of breast cancer mortality associated with mammography screening: a modelling study using population-based data from 2 French départements. Am J Epidemiol. 2020 Oct 12:kwaa218. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwaa218. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33043362.
https://www.who.int/cancer/events/breast_cancer_month/en/
https://www.who.int/cancer/prevention/diagnosis-screening/breast-cancer/en/