How to Reduce Your Risk for Breast Cancer

Unfortunately, most Americans have a friend, family member, or work colleague whose life has been affected by breast cancer. 

Though identifying and limiting your chances of developing breast cancer doesn’t guarantee the disease won’t touch your life, you can take numerous steps to reduce your risks.

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Diana Heard and nurse practitioner Nicola Maurer of Glendale OBGYN in Glendale, Arizona, are using this blog to educate women on how they can help prevent this disease, which though more treatable now than ever, still claims more than 42,000 lives in our country annually.

Know your personal risk factors

In its initial stages, the signs and symptoms of breast cancer are often subtle, which makes early detection and treatment difficult. 

Identifying your odds of developing breast cancer may help motivate you to schedule routine screening exams with your physician, follow self-exam guidelines carefully, and decrease your risks by modifying negative habits as necessary.

Numerous factors increase your risk of developing breast cancer, some of which you can’t change, such as a family history of breast cancer. However, you can lower other risks through confident diet, exercise, and daily routine choices.

Watch your weight

A healthy weight provides numerous physical and emotional rewards, including diminishing your risks of developing breast cancer. 

Individuals who are overweight, especially when they’ve accumulated excess pounds as an adult or following menopause, are more likely to develop breast cancer and other serious health concerns. 

Excess weight, for instance, often leads to insulin resistance and higher blood sugar levels, which increases your risk of developing breast cancer as well as diabetes.

Eat healthy

Diets that include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich legumes (beans and peas), whole grains, and lean proteins help you maintain a healthy weight and provide critical nutrients your body requires for optimal health. 

We also recommend that you avoid or limit processed meats, sugary beverages, and highly refined grain products (such as white bread). These foods contain huge quantities of sugar, salt, and other substances that negatively affect their nutritional value and can increase your risk of developing cancer. 

Excessive alcohol use also increases your risk of breast cancer.

Stay active

An overall active lifestyle that limits sedentary pastimes and includes routine exercise can effectively reduce your risk of developing breast cancer.

For your exercise regimen, choose an activity you enjoy and aim for a goal of 150-300 minutes per week that combines moderate exercise with periods of vigorous movement. 

For the most balanced benefits, include flexibility and strengthening exercises and cardiovascular training in your workout.

Stay connected

Detect changes in your breast tissue early by scheduling routine exams and including a monthly breast self-exam on your calendar. 

During your self-exam, include these checks:

Appearance

Stand in front of a mirror and check for unusual dimpling or other changes in your breast size, skin texture, shape, or appearance. Now, do the same with both arms raised above your head.

Feel

Lie down, and raise your left arm comfortably above your head. This positioning helps spread the breast tissue evenly and makes it easier to feel abnormalities. 

Use the first three fingers of your right hand to gently palpate the left breast in a quarter-size circular motion, varying the pressure from light to firm as you systematically palpate the entire breast. Then, raise your right arm and repeat the process on the right breast.

In the shower

Next, check your breasts while standing, often best accomplished in the shower. Raise one hand and then the other above your head and palpate your breasts as described above.

If you aren’t sure about proper technique, recall and mimic your physician’s movements during a previous visit and/or ask your provider for a quick lesson on breast self-exam during your next appointment.

Rest assured that most lumps and bumps in your breasts are benign (noncancerous). However, early detection of precancerous changes and/or cancerous tumors is often crucial to successful treatment outcomes.

Get a mammogram

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that women between 40 to 74 years old who have an average risk for breast cancer get a mammogram every two years. Different screening recommendations may be used for women at higher than average risk.

For more information regarding breast cancer prevention, call Glendale OBGYN at 602-298-8977, or request an appointment online.