Women’s Health Issues: Breast Cancer

Your happyfication includes your health, big time. Per WebMD, the top 5 Women’s Health Concerns include Heart Disease, Depression, Auto-Immune Disorders, Breast Cancer, and Osteoporosis.
Though physicians do not always lead with this, all of these items can be both prevented and treated with good lifestyle habits to include superfoods and plenty of happy-fying exercise. Because this is difficult for most, physicians are more apt to write you a prescription to put a band-aid on your symptoms. However, nutritionists and more progressive physicians are adamant about ensuring your optimal environmental circumstances for optimal health! This must include what goes into our bodies and what we do to move our bodies and take responsibility for our own health. This allows us to both take responsibility for our illnesses and also to understand that we are more than powerful enough to work with our own bodies to heal ourselves through holistic means.
This week’s discussion is in regard to Heart Disease. Here is what WebMD states about it:
The first sign of breast cancer often is a breast lump or an abnormal mammogram. Breast cancer stages range from early, curable breast cancer to metastatic breast cancer, with a variety of breast cancer treatments. Male breast cancer is not uncommon and must be taken seriously.
If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, you’ll want to know what stage it is. The answers will help you and your doctors know more about what’s ahead and decide on the best treatment for you.
Doctors have many ways to find out what stage of breast cancer you have. Clues come from physical exams, biopsies, X-rays, bone scans and other images, and blood tests. A doctor called a pathologist puts tissue samples from the breast and lymph nodes under the microscope to find out even more.
The 5-year survival rate shows how many people live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s based on the stage at the time of diagnosis. This rate is only an estimate, and some people will live much longer. The lower the stage, the better the chances of living longer. Your doctor can help you understand survival rates and what they mean for you.
Although the precise causes of breast cancer are unclear, we know the main risk factors. Still, most women considered at high risk for breast cancer do not get it, while many with no known risk factors do develop breast cancer. Among the most significant factors are advancing age and a family history of breast cancer. Risk increases for a woman who has certain types of benign breast lumps and increases significantly for a woman who has previously had cancer of the breast or the ovaries.
A woman whose mother, sister, or daughter has had breast cancer is two-to-three times more likely to develop the disease, particularly if more than one first-degree relative has been affected. Researchers have identified two genes responsible for some instances of familial breast cancer. These genes are known as BRCA1 and BRCA2. About one woman in 200 carries the genes. Having one of them predisposes a woman to breast cancer but does not ensure that she will get it.
Generally, women over age 50 are more likely to get breast cancer than younger women, and African-American women are more likely than Caucasians to get breast cancer before menopause.
How Can I Prevent Breast Cancer?
Doctors still are not certain how to prevent breast cancer. Regular aerobic exercise may offer some protection. Studies have found that women who exercise vigorously and often are only half as likely as non-exercisers to get breast cancer. This has been demonstrated primarily in younger, pre-menopausal women. Exercise also can help women with breast cancer better tolerate the side effects of treatment and recover faster after surgery.
Nutrition and Diet to Prevent Breast Cancer
Diet plays a small but measurable role in breast cancer prevention. Dietary fats may increase your risk for developing breast cancer and fruits, vegetables, and grains may help to reduce the risk. This has been recorded in countries other than the United States. In the United States, no measurable reduction in breast cancer risk has been associated with following low fat diets. But studies are currently being conducted to learn more.
(Source: WebMD.com)
