Breast cancer is a killer. It is highly treatable in its early stages, but unfortunately, a lot of people only notice it after it metastasizes and spreads throughout the body’s lymphatic system. The best way to identify breast cancer is to perform regular checks and learn about the condition. The more that you know about it, the easier it’ll be for you to fight it if it ever does come your way. If you do discover a lump when you are checking yourself, then you should make an appointment with your doctor immediately.
This post will tell you about some breast cancer facts and statistics that might interest you.
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Surviving Cancer
As mentioned in this post’s introduction, breast cancer is highly treatable when it’s caught early. Unfortunately, a lot of women don’t check their breasts regularly and as a consequence miss it early on. If you have been fortunate enough to catch it early, then breast cancer surgery can cut out the cancer tissue before it begins spreading through your body. Once it spreads through your body, your treatment options are limited. Survival is almost guaranteed if you identify breast cancer before it spreads.
Affects Men
A lot of women think that breast cancer only affects them, but this isn’t the case. Around 1% of all breast cancer cases are in men. The symptoms of breast cancer in men are more or less the same as they are in women, and include a lump in the breast, fluid oozing from their nipple, a sore or rash around their nipple, or their nipple turning inwards. Men do not tend to check their breasts for cancer, which is why a lot of men diagnosed with the condition leave it until other symptoms become manifest (i.e., those associated with cancer spreading) before they seek medical help. Encourage your male loved ones to check themselves regularly.
Causes of Cancer
There is no one fixed cause of breast cancer. Research suggests that there are many factors that contribute to breast cancer, from the way that people live their lives to their genes. If the women in your family have a history of breast cancer, then it is very important for you to get yourself screened regularly. Anywhere from 5-10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary. This occurs when a parent passes on a mutated gene to their child.
Risk Reduction
If you are concerned about breast cancer, then you need to do everything in your power to start living a healthy life. The healthier your life is, the less likely it will be for you to develop the condition. While it is very common for people who lead extraordinarily healthy lives to develop it, it is a lot rarer. The condition tends to affect people who don’t eat well or exercise often more. It also affects people who smoke, consume drugs, or regularly consume alcohol. Again though, living an unhealthy lifestyle just increases your risk of the condition—perfectly healthy people can still contract it, too.
Annual Cancer
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. A study in the United Kingdom discovered that every year, over 50,000 women develop the condition, and around 370 men do. The same is also true in the United States, with it being one of the leading causes of cancer. Because it is so common, it is extremely important to get yourself checked (and to check yourself) every so often. Shockingly, in the United Kingdom around one in every seven women will develop the condition.
Patient Age
Typically, breast cancer affects older women. Around eight in every ten cases is in women over 50. With that said, it still does affect younger women (and men), too. Out of the over 50,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United Kingdom each year, around 10,000 are under the age of 50. A lot of young women seem to think that because they are young they are immune to the condition, but as these statistics show this is not true. It is important for both young and old women to regularly check themselves for the condition.
Survival Rates
Around nine in ten women survive breast cancer for at least five years after their diagnosis. Over the course of the last 40 years, breast cancer survival rates have doubled. One of the main reasons that the survival rate is up is because more people are aware of the disease and check themselves for it. The push in society for people to check themselves for breast cancer is what’s pushing the survival rate even further. Again, it can be reiterated enough, but make sure that you check yourself, encourage your loved ones to check themselves, and tell your male loved ones about how breast cancer can also affect them too.
Annual Deaths
Going back to the United Kingdom, every year around 11,500 women die from the condition. In addition to that, 85 men die from it, too. Most of the people who die from this condition die from secondary breast cancer, which is incurable. When a person is dying from cancer they are typically moved to a hospice. Hospices are places that focus on an ill person’s pain and help them to manage their symptoms. Hospices are usually free for people to move into if they are terminally ill. They are usually run by charities.
Secondary Breast Cancer
As mentioned in the previous section, when cancer spreads, it becomes secondary breast cancer. Unfortunately, secondary breast cancer is incurable. However, the symptoms can be managed. State-of-the-art technology and science have helped to ensure that people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer are able to live for as long as possible. Some people are able to survive for many years after they are diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. If you are diagnosed with this, then you will be referred to a specialist treatment center that will be able to help you to live with and manage your condition.
Breast cancer is treatable when it’s caught in its earliest stages. The best way to catch it early is to check yourself every day and go to breast cancer screening appointments with your doctor every once in a while. Breast cancer screening is usually free.