Risk Factors for Breast Cancer

While breast cancer is a terrible disease that can strike with little provocation, there are some ways in which you can decrease your risk factors for breast cancer becoming afflicted. Some risk factors are unchangeable, but it is helpful to know them nonetheless so that you can fully understand the chance you have of getting breast cancer.

Unfortunately, many of the risk factors for breast cancer are unchangeable. However, if you are familiar with these risks, you can pay more close attention to your body and ensure that you catch any problems before they develop into bigger issues.

Risk Factors for Breast Cancer – Gender and Age

Gender denotes one of the leading risk factors when it comes to breast cancer.

Women run a far greater risk of getting breast cancer; this is not due to the fact that they have more breast cells, but instead because their breast cells are commonly exposed to the women hormones estrogen and progesterone, which may cause the breast cells to unusually grow and form cancerous entities. Age is another leading, unchangeable risk factor for breast cancer.

The risk for breast cancer grows as you age, with roughly eighteen percent of all breast cancer diagnoses occurring in women in their forties and a full seventy seven percent of all cases being diagnosed in women older than fifty.

Hereditary Factor

Hereditary is another factor that cannot be changed when it comes to a risk of breast cancer. Approximately five to ten percent of all breast cancer cases are hereditary, due to changes in genes. If you have two or more relatives that have breast or ovarian cancer, you are considered to be at a heightened risk for breast cancer. In addition, your own history with breast cancer plays into your risk for developing a new case. Women who have experienced breast cancer are three to four times as likely to develop another case of it.

Fortunately, there are some factors in relation to breast cancer that can be changed in your life style.

• One reason that women may develop breast cancer is a lack of children. Women who have no children, or who had their first child at age 30 or later face a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer.

• Use of birth control pills is another reason that women may face a heightened risk.

• The use of alcohol is a clear-cut reason for an increased chance of breast cancer. Women who drink two to five alcoholic beverages per day face a fifty percent increase in risk of breast cancer.

• Obesity is another factor that can play into a risk of breast cancer. High fat diets also contribute to a higher risk.

If you can change some of these factors, you stand a better chance of not becoming a victim to this terrible and often deadly disease. Remember that early detection is the key – if you seem to have a number of these risk factors, it is important to regularly be screened for breast cancer via a mammogram. Your health is your own responsibility, and you owe it to your body to keep safe.