Breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, striking 1 in 7.5 women during their lifetime in America, where the rate is among the highest in the world. Breast cancer is the most fatal cancer for women after lung cancer. The number of cases has significantly increased in America since the early 1970s, when abortion was legalized. Although it is far less common in men, breast cancer can also affect them.

Risk factors

Many factors affect the incidence of breast cancer in any given population of women including:

• diet
• racial grouping
• obesity
• abortion
• family history if such a history involves having several generations affected by breast cancer or having many relatives diagnosed with breast cancer at less than 50 years old
• prolonged uninterrupted exposure to estrogen (e.g. by having an early menarche and late menopause or by having no full-term pregnancies).
• age: increasing age increases the risk that at some point in her life a woman will contract breast cancer, rising from 1 in 231 (0.5% risk) aged under 40 to 1 in 7 at age 90.

Ways of reducing the risk

Having children reduces the risk of breast cancer. If a woman breastfeeds her babies she greatly reduces her risk of breast cancer.

Maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy diet reduces the risk.

Breast self-examination carried out every month, ideally one week after beginning a menstrual period, is a common-sense measure to aid early detection of suspicious changes. For women over the age of 40, mammogram screenings are another measure that can detect cancer earlier, when it is easier to treat. However, not all medical authorities agree on whether there is any benefit from having annual mammograms below the age of 50.