Medicainfo.Com

Breast cancer is a widely discussed disease all over the world as it is the most common cancer among women. In spite of all efforts to raise awareness about this deadly disease, many people are quite ignorant about it and even have lot of misconceptions. Women often do not understand the symptoms and attach wrong risk factors to this disease. We have so many doubts and queries about it.
Does breast size determine risk of breast cancer? How can I save myself from breast cancer? What precautions can I take?
We will discuss about these queries in detail to raise awareness levels and also to find the wrong beliefs.
There is a definite need to have correct information about the cancer that causes huge deaths among women and whose timely diagnosis could have avoided many of these deaths.
Let us discuss female breast cancer in details and understand whether really breast size is a risk factor behind breast cancer.

Breast cancer risk

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a disease which usually starts in the inner lining of the milk ducts or lobules. The abnormal cells of the tissues of the breast grow in an uncontrolled way. In India alone almost 1 in 22 women are open to the risk of developing this cancer. In the US the ratio is 1 in 8.
Many reasons have been cited which cause breast cancer. Some of these have medical backgrounds but most of them are mere myths which are propagated through ignorance.

What are the risk factors of breast cancer?

Several studies have been conducted to link body types with breast cancer. The characteristics that have been studied are body weight, height, and breast size.

Height

A woman’s height is a determinant of breast cancer to some extent. Taller women are more at risk of developing breast cancer than shorter women. Though the reason is not sufficiently clear yet there is a suggestion that the hormone that is responsible for height is also responsible for development of more milk duct tissue. Tumors develop in this tissue and thus more of this tissue implies higher risk of breast cancer.

Body weight

Body weight has several aspects like height, frame size and the amount of fat and lean body tissues. In fact there is a difference in accumulation of fat also. Some women have heavier top than bottom while in others it is just the opposite.
The extent to which a woman’s body weight influences her risk of getting breast cancer varies with her age or more precisely with her menopause. Researchers have shown that heavier women have a higher risk of breast cancer after menopause than before menopause. Although in general, the risk of breast cancer is highest in post-menopausal women.

Breast size

Most women have queries about the link between breast size and breast cancer. There is a popular belief that women with bigger breast are at higher risk of developing breast cancer.
The medical professionals assure us that no research has proved this notion. On the contrary it can be supposed that breast size has nothing to do with breast cancer. Yet, there is a word of caution here that must be mentioned. Obesity has a major role in breast cancer as obese women are at higher risk. And normally obese women have larger breasts than women of healthy weight. May be in that sense this notion has been fuelled but otherwise there is no link between breast cancer and breast size.

Alcoholism

The risk of breast cancer increases with the amount of alcohol a woman consumes. So to save from breast cancer a woman should curb drinking sprees and change her lifestyle.

Family history

For a woman the risk of breast cancer doubles if she has any close relative like mother, sister or daughter with breast cancer. So women with family history of breast cancer should regularly check for breast cancer symptoms.

Genetic reasons

Mutated genes passed down from a parent can cause hereditary breast cancer. But against the popular myth that such genes are passed down from mother is wrong. Even fathers can contribute to mutated genes.

To fight against breast cancer what we need is awareness and correct information. There are a lot of preventive measures also which should be taken.
Doing self breast exam will enable you to be aware of any change in your breasts. If required, you can consult your physician for clinical examination and mammogram also.
Be aware of this disease and stay away from myths but try to know the real facts which will help you to keep breast cancer at bay.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Is breast tenderness normal during ovulation?
• Adoloscent breast problems – breast development problems
• Breast pain while breast feeding – breast pain remedies
• Breast asymmetry causes & treatment
• Causes of breast pain and treatment

Recent Health Topics