Breast Cancer (Risk Factor You Can't Control and Risk Factor You Can Control)

Cancer is a dreaded disease and usually happens when cells which cause proper cell growth are mutated. Breast cancer is cancer which occurs in either the ducts or the lobules of the breast. Cancer can also affect the fatty tissue of the breast and later on move to the lymph nodes thus making it more severe. Let us have a look at the different risk factors of breast cancer and whether they can be controlled or not.

Controllable risk factors of Breast cancer

• Weight– If you have a BMI of 25 then be sure that you become prone to getting affected with Breast cancer. Keeping your weight restricted is one risk factor that is under your control. Extra fat cells mean more estrogen which increases the chance of cancer cells to grow.
• Drinking Alcohol– In comparison to women who do not drink those who do at least three times a week increase their chances of getting the disease by 15 %. The number of drinks you increase per day also increases this chance by another 10%. Same holds true for smoking as well.
• Unhealthy diet– It is an underlying truth that no food can make you get breast cancer. But by consuming certain healthy foods, you definitely reduce the probability of getting it. These would include items like fruits, legumes, vegetables, and whole grains would reduce any unhealthy cell changes seen in the body.
• Less exercise– There have been researches which prove that if you exercise regularly every week, you reduce the chance of getting breast cancer. Regular exercise would limit your blood sugar and a hormone named insulin growth factor which regulates the behavior of your breast cells.

Uncontrollable risk factors of Breast cancer

• Genetics– If someone in your family has had mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene chances are you would get the disease too. You will receive a mutated copy of this gene from your parent, and then you are exposed to the risk of getting affected.
• The previous history of breast cancer– Supposing you have been affected by breast cancer in the past then you may get it again, and there is nothing you can do about it. Similarly, if your mother or sister has had it your chances of getting it nearly doubles.
• Dense breast tissue– Fatty tissue, glandular tissue, and fibrous tissue are what makes a typical breast. If a woman has less of fatty tissue and more of the other two, then she is supposed to have dense breasts. Such women have 1.5 to 2 time’s higher risk of getting breast cancer as opposed to a woman with normal breast density.
• Radiation therapy on chest– If at a young age you had to get radiation therapy on your chest for some other treatment you may face breast cancer incidence later in life. However, this situation does not hold true for women who have had the same done after the age of 40.

Breast cancer can be detected on time provided women learn to detect the symptoms. There are some risk factors which increase your scope of contracting the ailment, but if you are careful and maintain a healthy lifestyle, you may be able to keep it away.