In our blog we often mention the importance of self care, and to make sure looking after ourselves is part of our daily schedule. Checking for breast cancer is one of those things many of us are guilty of letting slip! Breast Cancer Awareness is so important!
The month of October is dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness. This month’s blog acts as a reminder to be screened in the hope that early detection will lead to more positive outcomes in the fight against breast cancer. Although more women are diagnosed earlier and surviving breast cancer diagnosis, it is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among Canadian women. Early detection is as easy as follows:
LOOK, using a mirror check for changes or abnormalities
FEEL, use your hand to check for lumps or knots
FEEL AGAIN, lie down and repeat above
If you find something don’t panic, make an appointment and get checked out!
It is estimated that about 1 in 8 Canadian women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime and 1 in 33 will die from it. With these kind of stats there shouldn’t be any question as to the importance of early detection! Screening tests can help find cancers before symptoms might be noticed. It’s important to pay attention to changes in your body and get them checked out. Early detection through regular mammograms should be on the calendars of all women!
The causes of cancer are complex and often many risk factors might be involved. Cancer risk factors can play varying factors in the start of cancer and aiding in its growth. Are you uncertain as to what risk factors are? Here are a few risk factors associated with cancer:
- not eating a healthy diet, your diet should include oily fish, beans & lentils, drink green tea
- being overweight, relates to above
- not getting enough physical activity, relates to above
- excessive alcohol intake, never a good thing
- not protecting from the sun, easy to forget but easy to follow
- getting older, this is going to happen, we can all take better care of ourselves.
Make better informed decisions about your health. Do what you can to prevent, beat it if you have it and diminish any chance of reoccurrence.
What if a bra could detect breast cancer, Dr. Van Elijah Van Houten believes it can! He and his team are working on the development of wearable that could detect small tumors to find breast cancer sooner. This interesting technology would be used in addition to regular mammograms. To read more about this fascinating new development look on the Canadian Cancer Society website,
This October share and talk with the women in your family and circle of friends about how important it is to partake in early detection of breast cancer.
Statistical information is provided by the Canadian Cancer Society.