11 Major Causes & Risk Factors Of Breast Cancer

One important way to stay healthy is to have the required information to avoid certain diseases.

The high rate of women dying from Breast Cancer in Nigeria yearly is alarming, and today, I’d like us to enlighten ourselves on the risk factors of breast cancer.

While we do not yet know exactly what causes Breast Cancer, we do know that certain risk factors are linked to the disease. A risk factor is something that affects your chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For instance, did you know that the older you get, the higher your chances of getting breast cancer?

I found these causes and risks of breast cancer on NHS.UK and just had to share it here:

Age
The risk of developing breast cancer increases with age. The condition is most common among women over 50 who have been through the menopause. About 8 out of 10 cases of breast cancer occur in women over 50.

Family history
If you have close relatives who have had breast cancer or ovarian cancer, you may have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Previous diagnosis of breast cancer
If you’ve previously had breast cancer or early non-invasive cancer cell changes in breast ducts, you have a higher risk of developing it again, either in your other breast or in the same breast again.

Previous benign breast lump
A benign breast lump doesn’t mean you have breast cancer, but certain types of lump may slightly increase your risk of developing it.

Breast density
Women with dense breast tissue may have a higher risk of developing breast cancer because there are more cells that can become cancerous.

Exposure to oestrogen
Your risk of developing breast cancer may rise slightly with the amount of oestrogen your body is exposed to. For example, if you started your periods at a young age and experienced the menopause at a late age, you’ll have been exposed to oestrogen over a longer period of time. In the same way, not having children, or having children later in life, may slightly increase your risk of developing breast cancer because your exposure to oestrogen is uninterrupted by pregnancy.

Being overweight or obese
If you’ve experienced the menopause and are overweight or obese, you may be more at risk of developing breast cancer.

Being tall
If you’re taller than average, you’re more likely to develop breast cancer than someone who’s shorter than average. The reason for this isn’t fully understood, but it may be due to interactions between genes, nutrition and hormones.

Alcohol
Your risk of developing breast cancer can increase with the amount of alcohol you drink.

Radiation
Certain medical procedures that use radiation, such as X-rays and computerised tomography (CT) scans, may slightly increase your risk of developing breast cancer.

Takin Contraceptive pills
Research has shown that women who use oral contraception (the pill) have a slight, but significant, increased risk of developing breast cancer. However, the risk starts to decrease once you stop taking the pill, and your risk of breast cancer is back to normal 10 years after stopping.

So ladies, do you think you fall into the category of any of these risk factors? What steps have you been taking to protect yourself?

Stay healthy ladies!