Isn’t it great to have a nice new dress that will boost your confidence? When you put on the new dress you will always handle it with care. However, one day if you find that a button from that dress is missing what will you do? Would you repair it once or would you just leave it? In fact, being breast aware is as simple as taking care of your dress. To stay healthy we simply need to pay more attention to our breasts. The aim of this assignment is to configure a number of techniques and everyday tasks to check for breast cancer to enable one to prevent the disease in its entirety or to catch it in its early stages when it’s curable.
Research has shown that breast cancer is one of the most common cancers that affect women in Hong Kong. It is the third leading cause of Cancer death among women after lung and colorectal cancer. In the past two decades, the incidents of breast cancer have shown an upward Trend. In each year of the past 10 years, there were over 2000 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed and 400-500 women succumbed to the disease.
There is a need to spread awareness among each woman that the risk of developing breast cancer decreases with age. Another factor of family history of breast cancer is another risk factor that should always be kept in mind. The larger number of relatives with breast cancer the woman has, particularly if the affected relatives are her close family members for instance her mother or sister, the greater the risk for the woman to eventually develop breast cancer.
Moreover, the women’s risks improve and increase further if their affected relatives develop breast cancer at a young age. Some familial breast cancers are caused by inheriting specific gene mutations. These gene mutations increase the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. However, in western countries, only a small number of breast cancer cases are due to gene mutations. But, in Hong Kong, genetic testing for breast cancer risk is not yet common.
In addition to a family history of breast cancer, other risk factors for breast cancer include the previous history of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or endometrial cancer. Various other factors that most of people are unaware of include
- Having spot administration at an early age (before age 12)
- Late Menopause (i.e. after age 55)
- Having no children is having the first right after the age of 30.
- History of radiation therapy to the chest area before the age of 30.
Besides taking birth control pills or hormone replacement theory can also increase the risk of breast cancer, but the risk decreases gradually after stopping. Breast cancer risk may also be increased due to Lifestyle related with such as obesity, alcohol consumption, lack of physical activity, and not breastfeeding.
Currently, mammogram examination is a commonly used method to screen for breast cancer. This screening test uses low-dose X-Rays to look for early asymptomatic breast cancers with the view that early diagnosis and effective treatment will prevent the progression of the disease and thereby death by breast cancer.
