Breast Cancer – Detection, Prevention, Treatment
The post for today have been research from sources such as Mayo Clinic, WHO, National Library of Medicine and other reference points. Serge is not a qualified doctor nor does he claim to be one.
In our last episode, we talk about the causes and symptoms that can occur when one has breast cancer. Today we will talk about three important things one should do and that is to detect, prevent and medicate if need be.
As mention before 80% of breast cancer is detected via lumps and therefore, as your first line of defense – conduct a breast self-examination. BSE is a screening method used in an attempt to detect early breast cancer. The method involves looking at and feeling each breast for possible lumps, distortions or swelling. It is recommended for those still having menstrual cycle to perform BSE at the end of the period.
For the breast are least likely to be swollen and tender at this time. Do note that the effectiveness for detecting tumors via BSE is at 0.5%. Where the other percentage will be a false positive and even if a lump is detected in your breast, the doctor will still need to biopsy the tissue sample to be sure. Although BSE is now not recommended by health authorities to detect breast cancer as it is not proven to save lives; BSE may be appropriate in women who have a particularly high risk of developing breast cancer.
So should you perform BSE? Yes and at the same time go have your breast check via a mammogram machine. Also if at anytime your lovely boobs doesn’t feel right, see a doctor. The faster you detect, chances of you eradicating the cancer is higher.
So now that we talk about detection, is there a way to prevent breast cancer from ever happening to you? Well, the answer is a yes and is a no. The World Cancer Research Fund indicated that women can reduce their risk of breast cancer by maintaining a healthy weight, drinking less alcohol, being physically active and breastfeeding their children.
Another method of prevention would be mastectomy, though it is only recommended for those with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Remember our last post ?, we did say that breast cancer can be inherited. This is the reason we said that prevention is a yes and no situation.
Verified that you have breast cancer? It is not the end of the world, so smile and move on!
Depending on when the cancer was detected, your doctor may recommend one or several types of treatment. Surgery, chemotherapy and medicine are the usual forms of treatment. How the doctor treats the ailment will be based on the type of cancer you have as well as how far it has spread.
We won’t be delving into the three treatments mention as this can take at least 20 post to write. As we come to a close in this chapter, remember to detect early to prevent breast cancer from happening and if you already have it, this isn’t the end of the world.
