Early detection key to managing breast cancer |23 October 2010
We all know someone who has had breast cancer, a friend or a relative. Last year alone, 15 new cases were diagnosed in Seychelles.
On Breast Cancer Awareness Day we must all make an effort to know more about this terrible yet manageable disease. Let us all find out more about how we can prevent it from causing more suffering and deaths among our friends and relatives.
Knowing more about the disease is the best way that we can protect ourselves and people who are near and dear to us and, by so doing, prevent deaths from it. The factors that affect our risk of developing breast cancer are known to doctors; the evidence is found in every scientific publication. In women, these factors are:
• Getting older;
• Not having children, or having our first child later in life;
• Having our first menstrual period at an early age;
• Having our menopause at a late age;
• Having a personal history of breast cancer or certain benign breast diseases;
• Having close family relatives (such as a mother, sister, father, or daughter) who have had breast cancer;
• Having been treated with radiation therapy to the breast or chest;
• Being overweight, particularly after the menopause;
• Using hormone replacement therapy for a long time;
• Using oral contraceptives for a long time;
• Drinking alcohol;
• Being physically inactive.
Some of these factors we can avoid. If a person limits, to a minimum, the factors that can contribute to breast cancer, their risk of getting the disease will diminish considerably.
Breast cancer screening programmes have been available in Seychelles for many years now. The Ministry of Health recommends the following examinations to detect lumps in the breast as early as possible: breast self-examination, clinical examination by a doctor or a nurse, having a mammogram.
Mammograms are the best way to detect breast cancer early. Detected early, before the lump is big enough to feel or cause symptoms, breast cancer is easier to treat.
Having regular mammograms will lower the risk of dying from breast cancer. If we are aged 50 to 74, we need to have a screening mammogram every two years. If we are aged 40-49, we should talk to our doctor about when and how often we should have a screening mammogram.
If we are younger, let’s talk to our doctor or our nurse about breast self-examination, clinical examination and the mammogram.
Breast cancer kills. It is killing too many women around the world. It does not have to be that way. We can detect it early through breast self-examination, clinical examination by a doctor or nurse, and having a mammogram.
When detected early and managed properly, breast cancer will not kill.