What is your Breast Cancer IQ?

Breast cancer awareness can save your life.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the US.  The American Cancer Society estimates that over 210,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the coming year.

What’s my risk?
Women at every age are at risk for breast cancer, but your risk increases as you age. About 1 in 8 invasive breast cancer diagnosis are among women younger than 45, while about 2 out of 3 women with invasive breast cancer are 55 or older when they are diagnosed.

Growing older is a risk factor for breast cancer, but there are other risks as well.  Other factors include family history of breast cancer or genetic predisposition, age of first birth, starting menstruation early, beginning menopause later in life, postmenopausal obesity, use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), taking birth control pills, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity. 

How do I reduce my risk?
While there is no definite way to ensure that you won’t develop breast cancer, there are ways to reduce your risk. The first is to minimize risk factors by avoiding obesity and weight gain. Regular exercise has been proven to reduce breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women. You should also avoid alcohol, foods high in animal fat, and combination estrogen and progestin HRT.

Schedule an annual mammogram starting at age 40 and perform self-breast exams monthly. Using both screening methods gives you the best chance of catching cancer early….the earlier it is found, the more curable it is.

Information taken from American Cancer Society