Breast cancer - causes, symptoms and prevention

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that forms in the mammary gland. According to statistics, one fifth of women all over the world have this disease. Most often, the disease overtakes those of the fair sex who turned 50 years old.

Causes

Over the past decades, breast cancer was the first cause of death of women 35-55 years. There are several reasons for this. The first is a bad ecology of the whole planet. The second is the reluctance of many women to give birth and feed the baby with breast milk, and, as is known, breastfeeding reduces the risk of this disease.

Very often breast cancer is the consequences of mastopathy and fibroadenoma. In addition, it was proved that the risk of developing the disease is increased at times if a woman abuses smoking and taking alcoholic beverages.

Serious injuries of the breast are another reason that could cause breast cancer, the photo of which you will see below. It is also known that women who have got rid of their first pregnancy are much more likely to suffer from this disease.

Symptoms

• Formation of densification in the mammary gland.
• Isolation of red from the nipples.
• Changing the contour and shape of the breast.
• The change in the shape of the nipple is sunken or retracted.
• Swollen lymph nodes in the armpits, under and above the clavicle.
• Change in the structure, color and general appearance of the skin of the breast.
• Strong sensitivity of mammary glands.

Treatment

Depending on the stage of the disease, the methods of its treatment may be different. Typically, a set of measures are applied, which include: surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy. At the same time, they try to carry out organ-preserving measures, but each case is individual. Therefore, sometimes the removal of the mammary glands is the only measure that can overcome breast cancer. The operation allows you to prevent the formation of metastases in other organs.

Prevention

To prevent the occurrence of such an insidious disease, like breast cancer, every woman needs to have a regular (every month) breast examination. And you can do it yourself as follows:

1. Standing in front of the mirror, the woman should look at the appearance of the breasts and nipples - whether their shape has changed.
2. Then she needs to raise her hands and examine the chest again - first in front, and then left and right.
3. In the next stage, in the standing position, the woman needs to press on the upper outer quarter of the breast with middle fingers and with gentle movements to probe the gland down clockwise. If there is any change, consult a doctor.
4. Next, you need to squeeze between the index and thumbs of the nipple on one, and then on the other breast, and check whether there is any of them excretions. If there is, it is worth to see the doctor.
5. Then in the supine position, conduct a survey of each quarter of the breasts in a clockwise direction.

At the last stage of self-examination, performing which can prevent breast cancer, a woman should determine whether the lymph nodes are enlarged - if yes, then by running to the doctor.