Breast Cancer Risk- How to Deal With It
Shiv Majumdar

Defined Tag: Breast Cancer Risk.

As women age, the risk of contracting more diseases and conditions increases. This is one of the reasons why diet and exercise are so important, but genetics also play a major role in the types of diseases that some women may contract. Breast cancer is one of the conditions that have been a major concern for women as they age, and if there is a history of breast cancer in the family, the onset of the sickness could be much earlier. Here are some of the ways to detect breast cancer risk, as well as some information on possible treatments that you may want to discuss with your doctor.

First, it is important to realize that different cancers have different risk factors, so the tendencies that one person may have for one type of cancer may not affect their likelihood of developing breast cancer. Also, just because you have a breast cancer risk factor present in your body doesn't mean that you will automatically get the disease, and some women who develop cancer in the breasts do not exhibit any risk factors at all.

There are some breast cancer risk factors that are inevitable, which is why it is so important to make sure that you are taking control of your health in any way that you can. Being a woman is a risk factor for breast cancer, since the excess production of estrogen has been linked to the disease. Women also have more breast cells than men, and the cells are constantly exposed to the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Men can develop breast cancer, but it is 100 times less likely.

Age is also a breast cancer risk; studies have proven that only one out of every eight breast cancer cases occur in women younger than 45. However, two out of three breast cancer incidences are found in women older than 55. In addition to this, if there is a family history of breast cancer, this will make the likelihood of contracting the disease higher. Between five and ten percent of breast cancer cases are said to be hereditary, and this is the result of gene mutations that are inherited from one or both parents.

In order to reduce breast cancer risk, it may be a good idea to talk to your doctor about balancing your hormones, so that you will not have excess amounts of estrogen in the body. This can be done by switching birth control pills, using an intrauterine device to prevent pregnancy, or undergoing hormone replacement therapy. A balanced diet full of antioxidants will also help to reduce the risk in some patients. For more information on breast cancer risk and how you can stay healthy, visit www.mayoclinic.org.