October marked as Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide helps raise awareness, early treatment and exposure, and palliative care of this disease. There are almost 1.38 million new breast cancer cases and 458 000 deaths from this disease each year. Breast cancer is the most common and mostly spread cancer in women worldwide, both in developing and developed countries. In developing countries, the proportion has been growing regularly due to improved life anticipation, urbanization, and appropriation of modern lifestyles.
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Breast Cancer In Pakistan
Pakistan has the most prominent rate all over Asia of breast cancer due to which 40,000 women die every year. One out of nine women in Pakistan faces cancer\’s risk, while this cancer predominance is the highest rate of all types of cancer in the country, i.e., 38.5 percent.
Neither do underwire bras nor do any personal hygiene stuff cause breast cancer. These are all misconceptions. The major causes of breast cancer are in fact very different. Here is a quick overview:
Breast cancer has a lot of risk factors, some you can control while some you can’t. Let’s go through them one by one: Ever year All over the world breast cancer awareness month celebrating in October
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1 – Weight
If you are overweight, especially after you’ve been through menopause you are probably at risk of developing breast cancer. High levels of estrogen after menopause increases your risk of developing breast cancer. Estrogen levels in your body rise due to the accumulation of fatty tissues. To avoid or minimize your chances of developing breast cancer, adopt a healthy lifestyle, eat fresh organic food, and workout!
2 – Alcohol intake
Alcohol is bad for your health, and once taken in excess it just plays its role as a vital risk factor.
3 – Oral Contraceptives
Birth control pills have both an upside and a downside. On the upside it prevents pregnancy, bone thinning, reduces menstrual cramps, lightens periods, and lower your risk of ectopic pregnancy and ovarian cancer. However, on the downside, it does increase the chances of breast cancer and stroke. Oral contraceptives have been placed in Category 1 of WHO\’s ‘Known and Probable Carcinogen list.’ If possible look for alternatives for protection against pregnancy, if that’s your main reason for taking it. But try avoiding birth control pills if you smoke or if you’re over 35 years as the combination they create is definitely deadly.
4 – Radiation Exposure
If you work in a high radiation zone, implement international standards of radiation exposure because it contributes as a vital risk factor. Don\’t stay overtime, take breaks, go on vacations and use personal protective equipment’s for your safety.
5 – Gender
Being a woman increase the risk factor for developing breast cancer. It’s the matter of X and Y genes that make us more prone in developing it. But it doesn’t mean that men can’t get breast cancer, they get it too!
6 – Age
As you age, you are at a greater risk of developing breast cancer. It is important to make the right lifestyle choices for yourself to avoid more risk. According to research, 1 in 229 women acquire breast cancer, from age 30 to 39. This escalates to 1 in 29, as you cross into your 60s.
7 – Family History
Your family history is also an uncontrollable risk factor for developing breast cancer. If you have any relation with a first-degree relative (mother, daughter, sister) with a history of breast cancer, or multiple relatives with ovarian cancer cases, you are most likely to develop breast cancer.
8 – Exposure To Estrogen
Estrogen is a female hormone that stimulates breast cell growth. If it exceeds its required amount you are going to develop breast cancer. There are certain events that increase the amount of estrogen in your body:
- Early menstruation
- Menopause at a late age
- Environmental exposure to estrogen. You get it from meat, and pesticides such as DDT, which produce estrogen-like substance when broken down by the body.
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Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Pakistan, especially Baluchistan loses women who have no awareness about breast cancer. Breast Cancer is still considered a social taboo in our society for women. It needs to create awareness and attention to this disease. By spreading awareness can help to decrease the no of death in Pakistan. The media and civil societies play a significant role in spreading breast cancer awareness month. Many factors providing risk factors for breast cancer include age, weight, physical activity, family history, hormonal and reproductive, smoking factors. Those women have a middle-class family background, with advanced age, higher body mass index, and a high ratio of incomplete pregnancies at significantly increased breast cancer risk.
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