Symptoms and causes of breast cancer

Cancer! The word enough is enough make someone chill to the spine. This fatal disease is a terror for people. There are various types of Cancer few of which the doctors have managed to find a cure in initial stage, but most of them are incurable. Oral cancer, blood cancer, breast cancer, bone cancer etc are to name a few. Breast cancer though is mostly curable, yet life-threatening. Mostly people have a wrong notion that it occurs only in female. Though the majority numbers of affected persons are female but it occurs in males too.

Breast cancer originates from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Survival rates for breast cancer vary greatly depending on the cancer type, stage, treatment, and geographical location of the patient. Surgery, chemotherapy or medication is require is determined by the type and stage of the cancer for its treatment. Breast cancers are sensitive to the hormone estrogen as estrogen causes the breast cancer tumor to grow. Breast cancer risk is low before age 30 and increases with age.

Mammogram, Ultra-Sonography, Surgical Biopsy, Aspiration are few of the procedures of DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST CANCER. Prior history of breast disease, reproductive and menstrual history, dietary Factors, radiation exposure, age, race etc are the few factors that increases the risk of developing this disease.

There can be several causes for breast cancer, and there are symptoms to recognize them. These symptoms must be known to everyone so that if ever anybody finds anything wrong can immediately contact a doctor. Few of the symptoms and causes are listed below:

Symptoms of Breast Cancer:

1: The first apparent symptom of breast cancer is a lump on the breast, usually visible on a mammogram long before they can be seen or felt. Breast lumps are usually painless, although some may cause a prickly sensation.

2: Change in the size, shape, or feel of the breast or nipple like having redness or dimpling or puckering that looks like the skin of an orange can be the symptoms of cancer.

3: Another serious complication of breast cancer is metastasis i.e. cells from a tumor break off and move to other areas of the body, either through the blood or the lymphatic vessels, the tissue at new, possibly distant sites like in this case it’s most commonly to the lymph nodes, lungs, liver, bones, brain, and skin.

4: Unusual discharge from the nipple that may be bloody, clear or of another color, usually caused possibly due to cancer.

5: Symptoms of advanced breast cancer may include breast pain or discomfort, swelling of in the armpit present next to the breast, skin ulcers, weight loss, bone pain etc.

Causes of Breast cancer:

1: Menstrual cycle: Women who get their periods early i.e. before the age of 12yrs or goes through late menopause i.e. after the age of 55yrs increases the risk of developing breast cancer.

2: Childbirth: Women who had children after age 30 have or who have never had children gets an increased risk of breast cancer.

3: Oral contraceptives if used over many years increase risks slightly,

4: Genes — Some people have genetic mutations that make them more likely to develop breast cancer. The most common gene defects are found in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

5: Dietary Factors: Alcohol or sometimes overcooked meats might be the reasons of acquiring breast cancer. Even obesity is a reason for getting cancer.

6: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT):  risk this increases the risk of getting breast cancer to a great extent if you have received hormone replacement therapy with estrogen for several years or more.

These are few points that will hopefully help in creating awareness among people against breast cancer and help decreasing the death rate caused due to this