In the month of breast cancer awareness at CanaryDoctor we want to echo the importance of prevention. Cancer prevention is the steps taken to reduce the chance of getting cancer. By preventing cancer, the burden of cancer will be reduced and the number of deaths caused by this pathology will decrease.
Cancer is a group of related diseases. Our genes, lifestyle, and the environment around us all work together to increase or decrease our risk of getting cancer. Each person's cancer risk is made up of a combination of these factors.
Anything that increases the chance of developing cancer is called a cancer risk factor; Anything that lowers the chance of developing cancer is called a cancer protective factor.
Some cancer risk factors can be avoided (smoking, sedentarism, etc), but many cannot (genetic predisposition). A healthy diet and daily exercise can help protect against some types of cancer. Avoiding risk factors and increasing protective factors may lower your risk, but that doesn't mean you can't develop the disease.
Different ways to prevent cancer are being studied, including:
- Changes in eating habits and lifestyle.
- Avoid things that are known to cause cancer.
- Taking medicine to treat a precancerous condition or to prevent cancer from starting.
- Risk-reducing surgery.
What are the key points to prevent breast cancer in Canary Islands?
Basically it is essential to avoid risk factors and increase protective factors to help prevent cancer. Talk to one of the exceptional specialists about how you might reduce your risk of cancer.
From CanaryDoctor We tell you several of the risk factors for breast cancer:
Advanced age:
Besides being a woman, older age is the main risk factor for breast cancer. The chance of getting breast cancer increases as a woman ages.
Personal history of breast cancer or benign (noncancerous) breast disease
Women with any of the following histories are at increased risk of breast cancer: Personal history of invasive breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), and personal history of benign (noncancerous) breast disease ).
Hereditary risk of breast cancer:
Women with a family history of breast cancer in a first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter) are at increased risk of breast cancer. Women who have inherited changes in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes or in certain other genes have an increased risk of breast cancer.
Dense breast tissue:
Having dense breast tissue on a mammogram is a risk factor for breast cancer. The level of risk depends on the density of the breast tissue. Women with very dense breasts have a higher risk of breast cancer than women with low breast density. Increased breast density is often an inherited trait, but it can also occur in women who have not had children, have a first pregnancy late in life, take postmenopausal hormones, or drink alcohol.
Reproductive history resulting in increased exposure to estrogens.
Estrogen is a hormone produced by the body that helps build and maintain female sexual characteristics. Long-term exposure to estrogen can increase the risk of breast cancer. Estrogen levels are highest during the years a woman is menstruating.
The following reproductive factors increase the time a woman's breast tissue is exposed to estrogen and may increase her risk of breast cancer:
-Early menstruation: Starting to have menstrual periods before the age of 12 increases the number of years that breast tissue is exposed to estrogen.
-Begin menopause at a later age: the older a woman menstruates, the longer her breast tissue is exposed to estrogen.
-Older age at the time of the birth of the first child or never having given birth: Pregnancy reduces the number of menstrual cycles in a woman's lifetime. Breast tissue is exposed to more estrogen for longer periods of time in women who become pregnant for the first time after age 35 or who never become pregnant.
Taking hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms: Hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, can be made into pills in a laboratory. Estrogen, progestin, or both may be given to replace the estrogen that the ovaries no longer make in postmenopausal women or women who have had their ovaries removed. This is called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or hormone therapy (HT). Women who take estrogen-only menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) have an increased risk of breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer does not decrease after women stop taking estrogen. Combined HT is estrogen combined with progestin. This type of MHT increases the risk of breast cancer. Studies show that when women stop taking estrogen combined with progestin, the risk of breast cancer decreases.
Radiation therapy to the chest or chest
Radiation therapy to the chest for cancer treatment increases the risk of breast cancer, beginning 10 years after treatment. The risk of breast cancer depends on the dose of radiation and the age at which it is given. The risk is higher if the radiation therapy was used during puberty, when the breasts are forming. Radiation therapy to treat cancer in one breast does not seem to increase the risk of cancer in the other breast. For women who have inherited changes in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, radiation exposure, such as from chest X-rays, can further increase the risk of breast cancer, especially in women who had X-rays before the 20 years.
Obesity:
Obesity increases the risk of breast cancer, especially in postmenopausal women who have not used hormone replacement therapy.
Alcohol consumption
Alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer. The level of risk increases as the amount of alcohol consumed increases.
The following are protective factors against breast cancer:
Reproductive history resulting in lower exposure to estrogens.
A woman's reproductive history can affect the amount of time her breast tissue is exposed to estrogen. Early onset of menstruation, later onset of menopause, later age at first pregnancy, and never giving birth have been linked to increased estrogen exposure and breast cancer risk. The following reproductive factors decrease the amount of time a woman's breast tissue is exposed to estrogen and can help prevent breast cancer:
Early pregnancy.
Estrogen levels decrease during pregnancy. Women who carry a full-term pregnancy before age 20 have a lower risk of breast cancer than women who have not had children or who give birth to their first child after age 35.
Breastfeeding:
Estrogen levels can stay lower while a woman is breastfeeding. Women who breastfed have a lower risk of breast cancer than women who have had children but do not breastfeed.
Taking estrogen-only hormone therapy after hysterectomy.
Selective estrogen receptor modulators or aromatase inhibitors and inactivators. Estrogen hormone therapy can only be given to women who have had a hysterectomy. In these women, estrogen therapy only after menopause can lower the risk of breast cancer. There is an increased risk of stroke and heart and blood vessel disease in postmenopausal women who take estrogen after a hysterectomy:
Tamoxifen and raloxifene belong to the family of drugs called selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). SERMs act like estrogen in some body tissues, but block the effect of estrogen in other tissues. Tamoxifen treatment reduces the risk of estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ in premenopausal and postmenopausal women at high risk.