Breast Cancer and Your Breasts

As October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, it is timely for me to discuss breast cancer and your breasts.

There are many factors that contribute to the development of cancerous cells in the body, and hormones do play a pivotal role in the entire cancerous cell development process, but how this exactly happens is a question still unanswered.

A noteworthy fact per the recent survey conducted is that 20% to 30 % of women have a family history, but the majority, 70% to 80%, have NO family history! Early detection is the watch word when it comes to any kind of cancer and more applicable particularly in case of breast cancer.

It becomes crucially important for every woman to do breast self-exams on a monthly basis, to keep yourself informed and identify any bodily change. It's highly believed that breast cancer is incurable, but this is so untrue. The earlier you detect, the chances of recovery are much greater.

If any of these signs or symptoms is noticed on your breast, I strongly recommend you to get to the doctor, get a mammogram quickly:

* Development of a new lump or mass on the breast or on areas around the breast.
* Swelling on all or part of the breast
* Breast or nipple pain
* Nipple retraction
* Redness or thickness of the nipple or breast skin
* Discharge other than breast milk

A thorough examination of your breasts will find any lumps or areas suspicious because of their texture, size, relationship to the skin and chest muscles, changes in nipples, enlargement or firmness of lymph nodes.

Any of this could indicate chances of or spread of breast cancer. A woman with cancer in one breast has 3 to 4 fold increased chances of its spread and development in the other one too.

However, with the increasing growth in technology and development of medical sciences, dedicated researchers and health professionals, this disease is much more survivable.