Breast Cancer Awareness + Self Examination Guide

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Breast Cancer Awareness + Self Examination Guide

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October is a month set aside to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. Globally there is a yearly death toll of 41,400 people, out of which 40,920 are women and 480 are men.

This blog post highlights some key questions that people have regarding Breast Cancer.

What it means, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, risk factors, and preventive methods.

What is breast cancer?

Cancer is an uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells which can destroy body tissues.

Breast cancer is a type of cancerous growth that affects breast tissues.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

It can be diagnosed through a number of ways, some of them are:

Screening: a Self examination and/or Clinical examination, this can either be done at home or in the hospital by a qualified professional.

Biopsy : In this type of diagnosis, a tissue from the suspicious area is collected and tested for cancerous cells.

Mammogram: an X-ray viewing of the breast.

Self Examination

Self Examination should be done once every month, at least 3 – 4 days days after your menstrual cycle. After which if you notice any changes or issues, you should visit your doctor.

The proper way to do a Breast Self Examination

Risk Factors

Some of the factors that increase your risk are:

Being a woman
Getting older, research shows that women who are above 50 have a higher chance of getting breast cancer.
Hereditary; family history of cancer can increase your risks.
Personal history of cancer; if you have previous cancer history, you will be at more risk of getting any type of cancer.
Exposure to radiation
Late pregnancy: Women who give birth after 30, do not breast feed and have never had a full term pregnancy are more at risk.
Lack of physical activity; staying fit is important as it boost your immune system and helps reduce risk of cancer.
Not maintaining a healthy diet
Smoking and alcohol consumption
Taking hormones and birth control pills.

Symptoms

Inversion of the nipple
Nipple discharge
Swelling and irregular sized breasts
Skin irritation or dimpling
Breast or nipple pain
Visible Lymph nodes
Redness, thickening of the nipple or breasts.
Lumps in the breast

Note: Some of these symptoms can be caused by other health conditions, so it is important to see a doctor for proper diagnosis.

Is Breast cancer treatable? How?

Yes it can be treated, early detection is very important to surviving cancer.

Some of the possible treatment are :

Surgery
Radiation therapy
Chemotherapy
Hormonal therapy
Systemic therapy

For more research on how treatments click here

How can one prevent?

Eat whole foods.
Avoid over processed foods
Maintain a healthy weight and diet
Don’t Smoke
Reduce your alcohol consumption
Lessen the dosage and duration of hormonal therapy
Limit use of oral contraceptives
Avoid exposure to radiation and environmental pollution
Use the right gear when being exposed to chemicals and UV rays.

Cancer support groups in Ghana

Some of the organizations in Ghana that help provide financial aid, support and assistance to patients are:

Cancer Support Network of Ghana – @cancersupportnetworkghana

Pink for Africa – @pinkforafrica

Save Ghana Cancer Foundation

Cancer Society of Ghana

Run for a Cure Ghana

Note

Let’s make a conscious efforts to examine our breasts constantly as this helps increase early detection. It is also necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

It is also important that we are supportive of people who are going through the pain of cancer.

If and when you can, donate to organizations that work to provide care and relieve for cancer patients.