Breast Cancer: Facts and Misconceptions

Breast Cancer is the second most common cancer to affect females. Fortunately, with the advent of modern medicine, there are a lots of treatment available for it and an early detection can lead to complete cure. Here we will discuss what you can do to detect at an early stage and also some facts to quell your anxieties about it. After the age of 50, the chance of a female having breast cancer is one in eight. So it is very important to keep a check.

So what are the thing one can do. Here it is important to know what are the things one can do or avoid to decrease their chances of having breast cancer.

1. Decrease Fat content in your diet. Cut back on those chocolates, fatty foods such as butter. The fatter you are the more chances of having breast cancer.

2. Do not drink alcohol

3.Lead a Healthy lifestyle

4. Breastfeeding is known to decrease the chances of developing Breast cancer

Regular Screening is an important part of checking Breast Cancer. Most Important of them is Self Examination by yourself. every now and Then, feel your breast with the palm of your hand and look for a lump. In case you find one, it is better to consult a doctor.So what are the other signs of Breast Cancer.

1.A painless lump in your breast. Breast cancer is initially painless

2.A lump anywhere near your breast, collarbone, armpit.Look for such subtle signs.

3.Look for changes in the nipple. A discharge from nipple should prompt you to consult your doctor.

Mammography: It is basically an X-ray of your breast. Most of the medical societies recommend a mammogram every 2 years after 50 years of age. It can detect an early cancer and save your life.

Now who is at an increased risk of having breast cancer and should be more vigilant.

1. Middle aged woman who have not been pregnant.

2. Overweight women.

3.Women who have had cancers of other female organs,

4. And most important women who have near relatives such as mother,sister with breast cancer.
   These women should get genetic testing done to exclude a genetic cause for this. There are two          gene which should be tested BRCA-1, BRCA-2. If any of these tests suggest an increased risk, a        voluntary operation to remove breast tissue may be considered.

This is what Angelina Jolie also got done. It is called Mastectomy. It is a safe procedure for those at high risk. One can get artificial implants later on by plastic surgeon.

Even after this one gets breast cancer, do not worry . There are lots of therapies available.Consult a good cancer specialist. Fight and do not lose hope.

P.S. Males can also get breast cancer, so If you feel lump in your breast, do not ignore.

Stay healthy. Stay blessed

If you have any doubts about breast cancer, you can reach out to us by commenting.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER- The information provided on this site, such as text, images, graphics etc are for informational purposes only and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purpose.Always seek the advice of the physician or respected health care professional before taking any medication or starting a new treatment.The prices mentioned for the various procedures are subjected to change.We are not responsible for any inaccuracies,omissions,or editorial errors,or for any consequences resulting from the information provided.By continuing to view this site ,visitors indicate acceptance of these terms.

Cancer: Taming the dragon!

Probably the most feared word of 21st century, cancer. No one wants to hear it. Its like a death sentence. So what is cancer. It is an uncontrolled proliferation of our own body cells. The word uncontrolled is more important as cells continue to divide and later die in our body. That is how we grow, But here they don't die , they just keep multiplying and spreading like crab, hence called cancer. And then suffocate our body.

And why is it that we are still lagging behind this deadly monster and have not been able to tame it with modern medicine. Why don't we kill it like we kill infections, the bacterias in our body with a deadly cocktail of antibiotics, because they are own cells. What kills those cancer cells will kill our normal cells and that is the whole struggle when it comes to cancer drugs, to kill more of cancer cells and less of our own cells. With advent of molecular medicine, the day is not far when we will be able to specifically target cancer cells detecting them by their specific molecular targets and treat it like an infection. Even now we have made a lot of progress and an early detection virtually means long life.

And that is what this and a series of articles are about. The subtle signs when you should think it may be cancer.In this article we will discuss general danger signs about cancer and in following articles various tests available for different cancers to clear your doubts.

1.A painless growth or swelling. cancers are generally painless. If its painful and is accompanied by fever, its probably infection

2.You are losing weight or you don't feel hungry. losing weight doesn't include dieting or losing 2 kg. It has to be significant. So What is significant weight loss, 5 percent of your initial body weight in 1 month or 10 percent in 6 months.

3.Blood in cough,vomiting,stool(latrine),nose,urine or an untimely bleeding through female reproductive tract. If you have blood through any orifice, consult a doctor. It may probably be nothing . But its better to be sorry than late.

4.Fever is generally a sign of an infection and less likely to be due to cancer, but a fever lasting for more than 7 days should be investigated.

5.Difficulty or pain while passing food through the food pipe may suggest a food pipe or wind pipe cancer, or it may just be nothing. but an endoscopy should be done.

6.Change in your bowel(latrine) habits.Initially you used to go two times to the loo because you eat a lot but now you go four times, not good, or now you go once in two days, not a good sign. take isabgol before sleeping, have good healthy diet( There will be an article on healthy diet later), wait for a week and if it still persists , consult a doctor. He may initially do simple stool and blood tests but if in doubt, he may like to go for colonoscopy. Don't worry, its nothing to be ashamed of.

7.If a swelling or any of the symptom has persisted for more than 6 months, its probably not cancer. cancer doesn't give much time.

8. Headache which has started recently and if none in your family has migraine. And if the headache is associated with difficulty seeing but your eye doctor says you don't need glasses, its better to get an MRI done after consulting a doctor.

These are some of the red flags, don't sit idle. If you have any of these. I know you all are workaholics and have work commitments, but remember jaan hai to jahaan hai.

In subsequent articles, we will tell you about various habits you can avoid to avoid cancer. Off course you thought of smoking but that is just one of them.And a few tests you can do yourself as surveillance for cancer.

In case you have any doubts about your disease or blood report or want to know about some topics, post a query in our comment section and we will respond to you in 24 hours.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER- The information provided on this site, such as text, images, graphics etc are for informational purposes only and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purpose.Always seek the advice of the physician or respected health care professional before taking any medication or starting a new treatment.The prices mentioned for the various procedures are subjected to change.We are not responsible for any inaccuracies,omissions,or editorial errors,or for any consequences resulting from the information provided.By continuing to view this site ,visitors indicate acceptance of these terms.