Saturday, January 26, 2008

are you aware?!

BREAST CANCER:
Breast cancer which occurs most often in females, is a leading cause of death in women. however, men can also get breast cancer. one in every 8 women will develop this serious, often fatal disease. symptoms of this disease include leakage or puckering of the nipple and changes in skin texture of the breast. early detection is crucial to survive this cancer. women should perform self-examinations on regular basis. mammograms should be done every 2 years between 40 to 49 years old ad once a year thereafter.


Mammography
uses low intensity x-rays to detect tumors in the soft tissues of the breast. this procedure detects tumors less than 1 cm that are too small to be detected by self-examination.
if a tumor is detected ,a biopsy is performed to determine whether it is malignant or benign. fortunately, most tumors of the mammary glands are benign.
however, those that are malignant can
spread to other parts of the body and eventually lead to death. yet early detection of breast cancer can lead to effective treatment and survival.


What is the difference between benign and malignant lumps/tumors?

Breast lumps or tumors can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). A benign tumor can be removed and in most cases will not come back. A malignant tumor, on the other hand, is a collection of cells which grow and can affect nearby tissues or can break away and travel to distant parts of the body. It is important to note that most breast lumps or tumors are not cancerous.

What causes breast cancer?

Only five to ten percent of breast cancers are hereditary; this is, they are caused by a faulty gene that has been passed down from generation to generation. The vast majority of breast cancers are caused by something else - we are still not po
sitive on a specific cause for the disease. There are many risk factors linked to breast cancer, some that are controllable and some that are not. We ask that you think critically about the ones you can control and do not stress about the ones you cannot.
self-examination:


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the importance of breast self examination. With the proper use of a Breast Self Examination Pad, one could magnify the feel of the breast lumps in hope to detect it while it is still small.