For every disease there are some risk factors it is same with breast cancer. There are some risk factors which are not under the control of a person and some risk factors are those which depend on the life style of a person.

First I want to write about the factors which cannot be changed, if you are a woman your risk of getting breast cancer is automatically increased. Women are at a greater risk of getting breast cancer as the breast cells are persistently exposed to hormones like estrogen and progesterone. Men can also suffer from breast cancer but breast cancer in men is a very rare case.

The female hormones progesterone and estrogen are responsible for breast cancer. Female who takes hormone therapy after menopause have a higher risk of breast cancer.

A history of breast cancer also leaves women at a greater risk of developing the same cancer. This happens when the cancer cells spread to the lymph glands. There is a great risk that the cancer will develop in the opposite breast. When breast conservation therapy is used as treatment for the cancer, there is a risk of cancer redeveloping in the same breast.

Some hormonal factors increase the risk of breast cancer. A woman who started her menstrual period before the age of 12 has a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer. This is also true of women that have menopause after 55, women who have a first child after age 30, and women that have never had children.

You have a higher risk of suffering breast cancer if you have one or more family members who have developed breast or ovarian cancer themselves. The more members of your immediate family suffering from breast cancer, the greater your risk of developing the disease. If this is the situation, be keen on doing monthly self examination.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 8:09 am and is filed under Cancer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.