Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis amongst women in the U.S. Nearly one out of every eight women today will develop invasive breast cancer (NIH, 2020)!
Most of us either know women who are going through breast cancer treatment, know survivors, know women who have died from breast cancer, or are personally experiencing this devastating disease. This is a topic that hits close to home for many.
Some facts about breast cancer:
The risk is doubled for women who have a mother, sister, or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer. However,
85% of breast cancer occurs in women with NO family history of breast cancer.
Only 5% to 10% of breast cancer is linked to inherited gene mutations (BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the most common). This is more common in younger women.
Women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations have a 69% to 72% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.
Nearly 45,000 women in the U.S. will die from breast cancer this year!
As women get older, the risk significantly increases.
Although rare, men can get breast cancer too.
The frequency of death from breast cancer since 1990 has declined, in part, due to less hormone replacement therapy for women after menopause and improved treatment options. But the rate of breast cancer diagnosis has increased from under 10% in the 1970s to 13% today (Breastcancer.org, n.d.).
Roll of the Dice?
Breast cancer screening methods help identify cancer early and improve treatment options, but do we really have to accept that one out of every 8 women will be diagnosed with this deadly disease? Current research indicates that is not so! We can improve these odds by making healthy lifestyle choices.
What can you do to avoid breast cancer?
There are several prevention strategies you can do to reduce your risk of developing breast cancer (Park & Yeom, 2022, & Lester et al., 2022):
Increase green and yellow vegetable intake.
Get plenty of rest each day.
Eat more plant-based foods, more fruits, and vegetables.
Eat fewer animal products.
Reduce alcohol intake.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Engage in regular physical activity.
Making lifestyle changes are difficult. But reducing the risks of breast cancer is a strong motivator. I hope you will join me in my quest to reduce the risk of breast cancer and other lifestyle related disease. To get started, consider focusing on one or two of the prevention strategies above. Making small changes are easier, and even small changes make a difference!
Resources:
BreastCancer.org. (n.d.). Breast cancer facts and statistics. Breastcancer.org. Retrieved on March 19, 2023, from https://www.breastcancer.org/facts-statistics
Lester, S. P., Kaur, A. S., & Vegunta, S. (2022). Association between lifestyle changes, mammographic breast density, and breast cancer. The Oncologist, 27(7), 548–554. https://doi.org/10.1093/oncolo/oyac084
NIH: National Cancer Institute. (2020, December 16). Breast cancer risk in American women. Retrieved on March 20, 2023, from https://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/risk-fact-sheet#
Park, S-J., & Yeom, H-A. (2022). Do lifestyle factors influence risk of breast cancer recurrence in Korean women?: a cross-sectional survey. Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing, 28(2), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2022.06.08
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