Contributed by Brenda Rosson
There is no way to prevent breast cancer 100% of the time for 100% of the population. For a woman in the United States, the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer at current rates is 1 in 8. Although being female and getting older are the two greatest risk factors in developing breast cancer, there are things that you can do to help reduce your risk. This means taking an active role in your health and health care.
Taking an active role in your health and health care involves the following:
- Knowing your risk factors
- Making healthy lifestyle choices
- Performing monthly breast self-exams
Know your family health history and personal risk factors
About 20% of breast cancers are due to genetic causes. Talk to your family to learn about your family health history. It is important to know of any breast, ovarian or prostate cancer history in both your mother’s and father’s families.
Next, talk to your health care provider about your personal risk factors for developing breast cancer, such as dense breast tissue, certain benign breast conditions, onset of menstruation before age 12 and menopause after age 55.
For women who are at higher risk of breast cancer, a healthy lifestyle, as described in the next section, is especially important. Also, additional breast screenings may be necessary. Only a healthcare provider can make the decision to recommend additional breast screening for a woman at higher risk of breast cancer. These additional screenings may include regular mammograms before age 40, MRI or contrast-enhanced MRI in addition to mammogram, more frequent clinical breast exams by a qualified health care professional and regular monthly breast self-exams.
Make healthy lifestyle choices
Make lifestyle choices that improve your overall health and reduce your risk for developing cancer:
- Maintain a healthy weight throughout life
- Be physically active (e.g., walk briskly 30 minutes 5 times per week)
- Limit lifetime alcohol use
- When ready to start a family, breastfeed the baby
- Eat a healthy diet that emphasizes plant-based foods. Include 5 servings of fresh vegetables and fruit every day, especially cruciferous vegetables and dark-colored berries. Limit red meat and add cold-water fish, such as sardines, farm-raised trout and wild-caught salmon. Choose whole grains.
For more information about cancer prevention foods, see Dr. Robert Pendergrast’s cancer prevention diet.
Perform monthly breast self-exams
In addition to having the clinical breast exams and mammograms recommended by your healthcare provider, do a breast self-exam (BSE) every month. It is important that you learn the normal look and feel of your breasts so that you can detect changes.
If you notice any of these breast changes, contact your healthcare provider right away:
- Lump, hard knot or thickening
- Swelling, warmth, redness or darkening
- Change in the size or shape of the breast
- Dimpling or puckering of the skin
- Itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple
- Pulling-in of the nipple or other parts of the breast
- Nipple discharge that starts suddenly
- New pain in one spot that does not go away
Our December post, Most Women Find Their Own Breast Cancers, goes into much more detail about the importance of BSE.
The Bottom Line
Taking the above actions will not guarantee the prevention of breast cancer. However, we owe it to ourselves and our families to try to reduce the risks while improving our overall lifestyle at the same time.
