PT Health Life – Understanding cancer risk factors can help you make more informed choices about lifestyle and health.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and the leading cause of death in women.
Experts say that the trend of breast cancer tends to increase over the years. Therefore, it is essential to increase communication about this disease and its risk factors.
Dr. T. Sujit, Consultant Radiation Oncologist, National Cancer Institute (India) said: “Knowing the risk factors for the disease is always necessary as it can help a person take make more informed lifestyle and health-related choices.”
1. Breast cancer has genetic factors
Dr. T. Sujit said: Family history is one of the common causes contributing to increased risk of breast cancer. About 5-10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary and are caused by inherited mutations in the BRCA1 (breast cancer gene 1) and BRCA2 (breast cancer gene 2) genes that are passed from parent to child. female.
Normally, these genes help make proteins that repair damaged DNA in normal cells. However, mutated versions of these genes can lead to abnormal cell growth that causes cancer.
BRCA and other mutations can be inherited from both parents, he explains. If a first-degree relative, such as a mother, sister or daughter, has breast cancer, the risk almost doubles, and having 2 first-degree relatives increases the risk about 3-fold. The risk increases if multiple family members, from the mother’s side or the father’s side, have breast cancer. Therefore, a detailed assessment of the medical history of both families is needed.
While breast cancer is known to be more common in women, men carrying BRCA 1 & 2 mutations are more likely to develop breast cancer than other men. It’s better to know your family health history to prevent breast cancer or any other cancer, or detect it earlier when it can be cured.
With these gene mutations , the risk of developing other types of cancer is also increased, including acute myeloid lymphoma, fallopian tube cancer, and pancreatic cancer . Breast density and BMI are some important factors that influence breast cancer risk and are expressed as familial clusters. This may be due to lifestyle and genetic similarities between family members.
2. Lifestyle changes help prevent breast cancer
According to Dr. T. Sujit, factors that can increase the risk of breast cancer include: sedentary lifestyle, smoking and alcohol consumption in women, environmental exposure, exogenous hormonal factors fertility (hormone replacement therapy and use of birth control pills), menstrual factors (early or late menopause), reproductive factors (late childbirth, twins), excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages gas and fast food, obesity and lack of exercise.
Although there is no sure way to prevent breast cancer, there are ways to help reduce your risk of getting the disease. One of the most important is early detection, which is key to preventing breast cancer-related deaths.
Breast self-examination helps detect any abnormalities such as a lump or swelling around the breast, collarbone or armpit. Regular mammograms will help detect more microscopic tumors and lead to diagnosis at an early stage – this expert suggested.
Lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and alcohol will help reduce the risk of breast cancer. Other preventative measures such as exercising or increasing daily activity, maintaining an optimal weight, eating a balanced diet and avoiding snacking will help prevent breast cancer. Dr. Sujit further notes, always discuss the risks of birth control and postmenopausal hormone therapy with your doctor .
