{"id":6202,"date":"2020-10-14T16:48:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T16:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/?p=6202"},"modified":"2020-10-14T16:48:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T16:48:27","slug":"october-is-breast-cancer-awareness-month-are-you-at-risk-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/october-is-breast-cancer-awareness-month-are-you-at-risk-2\/","title":{"rendered":"October Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Are You At Risk?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Breast Cancer awareness campaigns have empowered women to take a pro-active approach to early detection of the disease. While regular check ups greatly help in prevention for any illness, individuals with specific risk factors should pay extra close attention.<\/p>\n

Common Risk Factors<\/strong>
\nThere are risk factors that you cannot change or control such as:
\n\u2022\u00a0Gender: Just by being a woman you are placed at risk.\u00a0 Male breast cancer is not common but it isn\u2019t unheard of. Men are less likely to be affected by breast cancer because they have less of the female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, which can promote breast cancer cell growth.<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong>\u00a0A woman\u2019s chances of developing cancer increase as she gets older. Statistics reflect a woman\u2019s median age of breast cancer diagnosis to be 61.\u00a0 This means that half of women who develop breast cancer are 61 or younger at the time of their diagnoses.<\/p>\n

Family History:<\/strong>\u00a0Women who have had a \u2018close blood\u2019 relative diagnosed with breast cancer are at higher risk of developing breast cancer. \u2018Close blood\u2019 relative is defined as a first degree relative such as mother, sister, and\/or daughter.<\/p>\n

Race and Ethnicity:<\/strong>\u00a0Caucasian women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than African-American women.\u00a0 However, African-American women under the age of 45 are more commonly diagnosed with breast cancer. The American Cancer Society has statistically noted Asian, Hispanic and Native American women are at less risk from developing breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally speaking, an early first period or delayed menopause can also be associated with an increase risk for breast cancer,\u201d states Dr. St. John, Director of the Breast Clinic at Flushing Hospital Medical Center.\u00a0 \u201cThese are things that we cannot control, but knowing your risk factors and raising your awareness can increase your chances of early detection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lifestyle Related Factors<\/strong>
\nIn addition to certain genetic predispositions, certain lifestyle choices can be contributing factors in developing breast cancer.\u00a0 \u201cLifestyle related\u201d factors can increase a woman\u2019s chances for breast cancer.\u00a0 Some of these factors can include:<\/p>\n

Having Children\/ Breastfeeding:<\/strong>\u00a0Having several pregnancies and becoming pregnant at a young age reduces the risk of breast cancer. Studies have shown that women who have no children or had their first child after age 30 have a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer.\u00a0 Some studies have suggested that breastfeeding may slightly lower breast cancer risk, especially if it is continued for 1 \u00bd to 2 years of age.<\/p>\n

Hormone Therapy after Menopause:<\/strong>\u00a0Women who receive Hormone Therapy (HT) to relieve the symptoms of menopause can possibly be at an increased risk of breast cancer if used for a prolonged amount of time. This can be due to the dual dosing of progesterone and estrogen administered. However, a woman\u2019s risk of breast cancer seems to return to normal within five years of stopping the combined treatment.<\/p>\n

Drinking Alcohol\/ Smoking:<\/strong>\u00a0Women who consumed more than 2 to 5 drinks daily increase their risk of breast cancer as opposed to non-drinkers. Although there have been limited studies, smoking has been linked to increasing a woman\u2019s chances of developing with breast cancer.<\/p>\n

Being Overweight or Obese:<\/strong>\u00a0 women who are overweight tend to have higher insulin levels, which has been linked to some cancers, including breast cancer.<\/p>\n

Some lifestyle changes that can help lower your risk are, limiting alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, as well as\u00a0 managing your weight. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, exercising and conducting regular self examinations can be helpful to preventing breast cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flushing Hospital\u2019s Ambulatory Care Center has a variety of services including a dedicated breast clinic.\u00a0 Our clinic can help you take your first steps to prevention and provide peace of mind.<\/p>\n

For more information or to schedule and appointment, please call 718-670-5487.<\/p>\n

All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter. PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.<\/strong> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Breast Cancer awareness campaigns have empowered women to take a pro-active approach to early detection of the disease. While regular check ups greatly help in prevention for any illness, individuals with specific risk factors should pay extra close attention. Common … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6202"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6205,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202\/revisions\/6205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}