How can a woman prevent breast cancer?

Question

How can a woman prevent breast cancer?

Answer 1

impossible.

Answer 2

Steps to Prevent Breast Cancer

1. Maintain a healthy body weight (BMI less than 25) throughout your life. Weight gain in midlife, independent of BMI, has been shown to significantly increase breast cancer risk. Additionally, and elevated BMI has been conclusively shown to increase the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer.

2. Minimize or avoid alcohol. Alcohol use is the most well established dietary risk factor for breast cancer. The Harvard Nurses’ Health study, along with several others, has shown consuming more than one alcoholic beverage a day can increase breast cancer risk by as much as 20-25 percent.

3. Consume as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Eat seven or more servings daily. The superstars for breast cancer protection include all cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) ; dark leafy greens (collards, kale, spinach) ; carrots and tomatoes. The superstar fruits include citrus, berries and cherries. Note: it is best to eat cruciferous vegetables raw or lightly cooked, as some of the phytochemicals believed to offer protection against breast cancer are destroyed by heat.

4. Exercise regularly the rest of your life. Many studies have shown that regular exercise provides powerful protection against breast cancer. Aim for 30 minutes or more of moderate aerobic activity (brisk walking) five or more days a week. Consistency and duration, not intensity, are key!

5. Do your fats right! The type of fat in your diet can affect your breast cancer risk. Minimize consumption of omega-6 fats (sunflower, safflower, corn and cottonseed oils), saturated fats and trans fats. Maximize your intake of omega-3 fats, especially from oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, lake trout and herring). Consume monounsaturated oils (canola, olive oil, nuts/seeds, avocados) as your primary fat source, as these foods have potential anticancer properties. Specifically, canola oil is a good source of omega-3 fats; extra virgin olive oil is a potent source of antioxidant polyphenols, including squalene; and nuts and seeds provide you with the cancer protective mineral, selenium.

6. Do your carbs right! Minimize consumption of the high glycemic index, “Great White Hazards” - white flour, white rice, white potatoes, sugar and products containing them. These foods trigger hormonal changes that promote cellular growth in breast tissue. Replace these “wrong” carbs with whole grains and beans/legumes. Beans/legumes because of their high fiber and lignan content are especially special.

7. Consume whole food soy products regularly, such as tofu, tempeh, edamame, roasted soy nuts, soy milk and miso. Only consume organic, non-GMO (genetically modified) soy. Epidemiologic studies have shown a positive association between soy consumption and reduced breast cancer risk.

8. Minimize exposure to pharmacologic estrogens and xeno-estrogens. Do not take prescription estrogens unless medically indicated. Lifetime exposure to estrogen plays a fundamental role in the development of breast cancer. Also avoid estrogen-like compounds found in environmental pollutants, such as pesticides and industrial chemicals. Buy organic produce if you can afford it; otherwise, thoroughly wash all non-organic produce. Minimize exposure to residual hormones found in non-organic dairy products, meat and poultry.

9. Take your supplements daily. A multivitamin, 500-1,000 mg of vitamin C in divided doses, 200-400 IUs of vitamin E as mixed tocopherols, and pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Also take 200 mcg of the mineral selenium or eat one to two Brazil nuts as an alternative. If you have a chronic medical condition or take prescription drugs, consult your physician first.

10. Maintain a positive mental outlook. Engage in self-nurturing behaviors regularly. Develop rich, warm and mutually beneficial relationships with family and friends. Get adequate sleep (7-8 hours per night). The mind-body associations with breast cancer are significant.

Answer 3

To my understanding there is no significant etiology and or prevention of Cancer as a whole. The American Cancer Society reports that there is no Sure Way to prevent breast cancer. However, early detection is critical and can mean the difference between life and death. What you can be sure of when it comes to cancer prevention is that making small changes to your everyday life might help reduce your chances of getting cancer. Although these measures provide no guarantee that you would not develop the disease, they will give you a start for breast cancer prevention, barring the certain risks over which you have no control - your age and genetic makeup.

For prevention of Breast Cancer, if at all we can do anything, it starts with our own Lifestyle choices and healthy habits - such as staying physically active, limiting alcohol and eating right. Among the easiest things to control are what you eat and drink and how active you are. Here are some strategies that may help you decrease your risk of breast cancer:

- Limit alcohol. A strong link exists between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. The type of alcohol consumed - wine, beer or mixed drinks - seems to make no difference. To help protect against breast cancer, limit alcohol to less than one drink a day or avoid alcohol completely.

- Maintain a healthy weight. There is a clear link between obesity and breast cancer. This is especially if you gain the weight after menopause. Excess fatty tissue is a source of circulating estrogen in your body. And breast cancer risk is linked to how much estrogen you are exposed to during your lifetime.

- Stay physically active. Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight and in lowering your risk of breast cancer. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise daily.

- Consider limiting fat in your diet. Results from the most definitive study of dietary fat and breast cancer risk to date suggest a slight decrease in risk of invasive breast cancer for women who eat a low fat diet. A low fat diet may protect against breast cancer in another way if it helps you maintain a healthy weight.

- Avoid hormone replacement therapy if possible. Studies have shown a link between long time hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer. This link suggests that combined HRTs (estrogen and progesterone) raise the risk factor. HRT also make mammograms less effective. If you need to take hormone replacement therapy, talk to your doctor about the risk and your personal condition.

- Check your b*****s every month. Checking your b*****s every month may not reduce your risk of developing breast cancer, but it may help detect breast cancer early. The earlier breast cancer is found, the less aggressive the treatment.

- Don't forget to get a mammogram - it's not a choice. Like the breast self exam, a mammogram would not prevent the development of breast cancer, but it can detect cancer. Sometimes it can be difficult to feel a lump in the breast, and a mammogram is likely to detect any lumps that cannot be felt.

- Have children earlier in life, if possible. Having no children or having your first child in your mid-thirties or later increases the risk.

- Consider breastfeeding instead of formula feeding. Researchers believe that the months without a period during pregnancy and breast feeding may reduce a woman's risk of breast cancer.

- Be cautious about Pesticides. Breast cancer incidence are linked to pesticide exposure. The molecular structure of some pesticides closely resembles that of estrogen. This means they may attach to estrogen receptor sites in your body.

- Avoid taking Unnecessary Antibiotics - Scientists recently found a link between antibiotic use and breast cancer - the longer antibiotics were used, the greater the risk of breast cancer.

- Nothing you do can guarantee your life will be cancer free. But if you practice healthy habits and consult your doctor about extra measures you can take, you may at least reduce your risk of this potentially fatal disease.-

Answer 4

There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer. But a woman might reduce her risk somewhat by changing those risk factors that can be changed (see the section, "What Are the Risk Factors for Breast Cancer?"). If you avoid alcohol, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy body weight, you are decreasing your risk of getting breast cancer. Breast-feeding for several months also seems to reduce breast cancer risk. Likewise, not using PHT will avoid increasing her risk.  

Answer 5

Nobody knows what causes breast cancer, therefore it isn't possible to tell you how to prevent it. 5 - 10% of breast cancer cases hereditary, but the rest are random.

There are recognised risk factors but they are only risk  factors, not causes. Most people with all these risk factors don't get breast cancer.

The greatest risk factor for breast cancer is being female -over 99% of those diagnosed are women.

The second greatest is getting older - 80% of those diagnosed are over 50.

The other known risk factors are:

*Having children at an older age or not at all. The more children a woman has may also slightly lower her risk. Breast-feeding helps protect against the disease. The longer a woman breast feeds her children, the more she lowers her risk.

*Starting periods at a younger than average age (under 12) or having a late menopause (after 55)

*Taking the contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) causes a small increase in risk. However, the risk gradually returns to normal after you stop taking them.

*Being overweight (especially after the menopause).

*Regularly drinking more than 1 unit of alcohol per day slightly increases the risk of breast cancer.

*Having a previous diagnosis of breast cancer increases the risk of developing a new cancer in the other breast.

As you see, some are avoidable, some are outside your control.

Any claims that eating certain foods or following a certain diet will prevent or help prevent breast (or any) cancer reflect the fears and prejudices of the person making the claims. It's often less scary for someone who hasn't had cancer to 'blame the victim' - that is to put cancer down to avoidable lifestyle factors - than it is for them to accept that cancer is a largely random disease that strike anyone at any time.

No food or diet has been proven to prevent (or cause, or treat or affect the progress of) breast or any other cancer.

I once thought - when I thought about cancer at all - that my healthy, largely organic vegan diet, coupled with the facts that I exercised regularly and have never smoked, would protect me from cancer.

An advanced, aggressive breast tumour proved me wrong.

One in nine women will develop breast cancer at some time in their lives. I'm sorry, but there is no known way to prevent it. The biggest risk factor of all is bad luck.

.

Answer 6

Start eating nutritious foods and avoid junk foods. Eat a lot of foods with antioxidants like lycopene,(tomatoes, ketchups, dietary food supplements, etc) etc. They help prevent breast cancer. Another thing is exercise- repeated exercise, not just when you are in the mood or you feel like doing it- make it a routine daily.

Summary: Have a healthy lifestyle.

Note:Sometimes, if it is really in your genes, you cannot stop cancer from getting to you even if you are healthy, rich, etc. Hope and pray that you will find peace within your physiological/Physical being..