breast cancer

Breast cancer in women has been on the decline and this is being related to more awareness and early screening. Cancer of the breast is the leading cause of death in women followed by lung cancer. More cases of this cancer have been reported in the developed counties compared to the developing countries. Out of every 36 deaths in women, one of them is likely to have died from cancer of the breast. According to the American Cancer Society, around 1.3 million women world wide are diagnosed with the cancer and 465,000 women die due to the disease.

It occurs when the damaged cells or the cells that are supposed to die off start to multiply uncontrollably causing a mass known as a tumor. The tumor can form in the ducts or the lobules in both men and women but more common in women. The best way to detect cancer of the breast early is by going for regular mammograms. This is an x ray of the breast.

Treatment of cancer will depend on the stage, rate of growth of the tumor, its size and the stage. Some of the treatment options include chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. Treatment can also involve multiple therapies. Early detection of breast cancer is important because treatment will be more effective. This together with proper treatment will also reduce the chances of death from the condition.

According to statistics by the National Cancer Institute, although all women can get breast cancer, the risk is higher with not only age but also race. 77% of reported cases of cancer of the breast are usually of women over the age of 50. They also conclude that;

Cancer of the breast is likely to be detected late in African American women making their death rates higher compared to white women. However, the death rates for white women over the age of 70 are higher than those of African women of the same age.

In the United States, white, African American women and Hawaiian women have the highest incidences of developing invasive breast cancer compared to Vietnamese, Korean and American Indian women.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, white women have the highest incidences of this cancer followed by black, Hispanic, Asian and American Indians. Black women have the higher rates of death from the cancer followed by white, Hispanic, American Indians and Asian women.

Emma Wanjiku is an experienced writer and publisher who focusses/reports on issues affecting you. Her research is based on aspects and topics of life that matter. She is a trained journalist. For daily health tips and fitness information, access her health site at http://www.emmalifetips.com/

View the original article here

Breast cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the breast tissue and there are two main types of it.

Lobular carcinoma is one type and it starts in the glands of the breasts that produce milk.

Ductal carcinoma is a type of cancer that starts in the tubes that carry the milk from the breast to the nipple.

There are uncommon cases where the cancer can start in other parts of the breasts as well. This type of cancer can be invasive or it can be non-invasive. If it is invasive that means it has spread from the lobules to other parts of the breasts. Non-invasive means that it hasn't spread to other areas of the breasts.

There are many types of breast cancer that are very sensitive to estrogen. This simply means that estrogen causes the cancer cells or tumor to increase and grow. There are cancers that have estrogen receptors on their cell's surface. These are called estrogen positive receptors.

Women who have these types of cells usually have a more serious form of cancer and it is more progressive. Unfortunately throughout the course of time it is said that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with cancer in her lifetime. Below are some main causes of breast cancer in women:

Family history plays a big role in whether or not you will contract breast cancer. You have a bigger risk of getting cancer if you have a close relative who has had it. Many people have genes in their body that are more susceptible to cancer. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have the most common defects in them. If a woman has one of these defective genes, she has an 80% chance of getting cancer in her lifetime.

As a woman gets older her chances of getting cancer increases. Most of the advanced cases of breast cancer are in women over 50.

Drinking more than 1 or 2 alcoholic beverages per day also increases a woman's risk for breast cancer. Also women who have never had children or who gave birth after the age of 30 have an increased risk as well.

There are some things you can do to help prevent cancer if you are at a high risk for contracting it. First and foremost seeing your doctor and discussing your options is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself against this disease.

Find more about breast cancer.

View the original article here

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I had a question from one of my clients about why should she worry about breast cancer "at her age?" We devote a lot of press to mothers and daughters and sisters and spouses, but what about grandmothers and great-grandmothers? What I am going to share with you in this posting may seem a bit of a surprise, because we tend to focus a lot of our attention on women who are in their prime when we think about breast cancer. We may even think that older - and very post-menopausal - women need not be as concerned about a medical risk often associated with hormonal activity.

There has been research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering that basically says that regular testing works as well if not better for older patients as it does for younger patients, because if the cancer is caught early - and therefore small - these women have a very favorable prognosis. In other research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston doctors followed about 65,000 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer using Medicare data alongside women without breast cancer who numbered 170,000. Women over 65 who were diagnosed in this group with what is called ductal cell carcinoma in situ and stage I cancer - what they refer to as DCIS - were just as likely to survive for the study period of eight years as those without this diagnosis. Now, this is the amazing part. The women who were diagnosed before 80 years of age actually lived a bit longer than women who did not have breast cancer.

Treatment decisions can be complicated for older patients. And it is mostly because older patients tend to have other medical issues going on which providers refer to as co-morbidities. As we get older, we may also have high blood pressure, diabetes, or something else. In other research physicians have found that more conservative, non-surgical, non-radiation, even non-chemotherapy can be effective. But again, it comes down to early detection to avoid the complications of a more aggressive cancer.

Even if we just come out and say women who got breast exams were just taking better care of themselves, early detection seems to be working better for older women than their younger counterparts. And, of course, we should take the larger lesson that early diagnosis and treatment are incredibly important for any elder for whom we are caregivers. When I first looked into breast cancer and older patients I actually thought I was going to find professionals suggesting it is not as essential to have breast exams as patients get older. The research seems to be saying that doctors ought to be talking to their female patients at every age, because stage II and stage III patients did not fair as well. Talk to your provider to see what is optimal for the age of the elder for whom you care.

Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families. Please email your questions to Charlotte Bishop.

View the original article here

The American Cancer Society expects that 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2011, 57,650 new cases of CIS (the non-invasive form of breast cancer), and that about 39,520 women will die from breast cancer. That's too many! What should Boomer women know about prevention?

There has been much publicity about Vitamin D of late. Now studies have shown that the mighty vitamin D can also help protect all of us Baby Boomer women against breast cancer.

I encourage every woman to check her vitamin D level regularly and keep it in the optimal range. Based upon the outdated requirements for this important vitamin, which have recently been increased, "normal" is not the same as optimal. Many of us have been told by our physician for years that our vitamin D levels are normal. It's time to get them checked against the newer "optimal" standards.

Most docs today now recommend supplementing with 2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 per day, as well as getting as much from your diet as you can. I know it's hard to get all you need from food. Fatty fish like Salmon, herring, catfish and halibut are good sources, but if you don't like fish it can be difficult to find high levels of this important vitamin in other foods.

There is another easy way to optimize our vitamin D. Make sure you are getting plenty of regular, safe, sun exposure. Believe it or not, the sun is actually the best source of vitamin D. The sun's UVB rays help our bodies manufacture vitamin D in the fat layer under the skin. Our own body can make all the vitamin D we need from regular sun exposure. We should spend about fifteen minutes showing some skin before we put on our sunscreen; exposing the skin is good for us as long as we don't burn.

There is also evidence that Vitamin K not only helps activate proteins that are involved in the structuring of bone mass, which is good news for all of us Baby Boomer women, but recent studies show it also has an anti-cancer effect; vitamin K has been used in the treatment of several different cancers, including breast cancer. You can get your vitamin K in swiss chard, kale, parsley and spinach, broccoli and cauliflower, brussels sprouts, liver, soybean oil and wheat bran. Many more choices here than with vitamin D, however, supplements are also available if you'd prefer.

Dietand Exercise are hugely important in preventing breast cancer. A study published in the " Journal of Clinical Oncology " reinforces previous findings that women with breast cancer greatly reduce their risk of recurrence by eating a healthy, plant-based diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and exercising regularly. This study, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, tracked dietary patterns and exercise habits of nearly 1,500 women who were diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Researchers found that the death rate for women who consumed a high-fiber diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and practiced good exercise habits, was 44% lower than the rate for women who exercised little and ate few plant-based foods. Almost half the risk, wow!

So, as my dear ol'gram used to say: "take your vities, eat all your veggies, and get plenty of fresh air!"

Best of Health,

Kathi

Kathi Casey, The Healthy Boomer Body Expert provides weight loss tips, relief from Menopause Symptoms, Sciatic Nerve Pain Remedies and more: http://www.healthyboomerbody.com/

View the original article here