General Breast Cancer Information for Patients
As women age their health condition starts to decline gradually. Additional years bring worries, such as higher probabilities of developing illnesses and dangerous conditions, such as breast cancer. Breast cancer is one of those diseases that depend on how old you are; so age becomes the biggest risk factor. According to statistics, breast cancer is the most common type of this disease among the female population of America.
Over the last few years, breast cancer detection has become more sophisticated and the results are now more accurate. Although it greatly depends on the woman’s breast cancer staging, the procedures have been devised that make recovery easier and reduce unpleasant feelings connected with the process of treatment. If we compare breast cancer patients yesterday and today, there are now more opportunities for leading a normal lifestyle despite the disease. Even though today breast cancer information is available from a great variety of sources, very few people know that most patients are not likely to die from this disease. This has to do with early breast cancer detection and fast development of the medicine.
Some decades ago doctors had trouble even predicting the probability of a woman developing breast cancer. Nowadays possible risk factors and breast cancer causes have been identified, so they can sometimes be avoided. The best example would be postmenopausal hormone therapy that increases the probability of developing breast cancer by 26%. Despite what is said about one glass of wine a day and how good it is for your health, women following this ritual are more likely to get breast cancer than their non-drinking peers. One thing that can really help prevent the disease is folic acid (found in green leafy vegetables, such and lettuce, spinach, as well as dried beans and peas, fortified cereal products and sunflower seeds).
Most breast cancer patients are women in their forties. One of the reasons the incidence of this disease for this age group has been rising is the possibility of breast examination with the help of X-ray and abundant breast cancer information. Another trend that may contribute to further growth of incidence is the demographicс situation – the population is aging, and more people get cancers. However, this is not the end, as a lot can be done to successfully prevent breast cancer and help people suffering from it.
What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer includes several diseases that are commonly characterized by abnormal growth of cells and their mutation. In most cases the patient develops a tumor or a lump that consists of such cells. The biggest danger of breast cancer is the possibility of these cells to break away and travel in your body, affecting other organs and continuing to grow. The process of cells spreading is called metastasis, while metastases are new groups of altered cells that settle down in a different area. Some kinds of cancers (leukemia) never form lumps of any kind. Tumors can also be benign (not leading to cancer) and malignant (causing the disease over the time).
In most cases the lumps are not cancerous, as very often they are represented by benign cysts or fibroadenomas, which are found in younger women and girls after puberty. It’s very important to talk to a doctor as soon as a lump is found to make sure it’s not malignant.
Breast cancer causes and factors
There are many myths and beliefs about cancer. Most people think that breast cancer staging and severity of the condition depend on the size of the lump, which is sometimes not exactly true. Although small lumps and tumors are less likely to travel to other parts of your body, it all depends on the particular type of cancer. While large lumps can be less serious as the cells are unable to spread, smaller ones may spread with a great speed.
The immune system plays a major role in the probability of developing breast cancer. It is thought that the tumor can exist in the body for several years, but as long as the immune system is strong, the risk is low. As the defense powers of your body get weaker, that probability increases, and the tumor is able to develop and produce cells that ale likely to travel to other parts. At some point the immune system is not able to handle numerous malignant cells and gives up.
Therefore, the concept of cancer treatment has the objective of decreasing the number of malignant cells by surgically removing the lump and eliminating cells that managed to spread. This gives your body the chance to overcome the disease.
As it was mentioned before, aging increases the probability of developing breast cancer. When a girl is 20 years old, the risk is minimal; when the woman’s age is 50 and over, the incidence grows with every year and the disease can affect one woman in 36.
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