There are several risk factors for breast cancer, and not all of them have been studied enough. Age and gender, however, are risk factors that cannot be helped.
Breast cancer strikes 1 out of every 8 women in a lifetime; the older a woman is, the higher the risk for breast cancer.
Estrogen, a female sex hormone, is believed to be the primary risk factor; it promotes the growth of tissue cells in various parts of the body.
Chronic and severe stress has been found to increase the risk of breast cancer. Stress releases the hormone cortisol, which in turn raises estrogen levels.
Too much estrogen, in report to progesterone, raises the risk that breast cancer cells will develop and grow. The more estrogen there is in the body, the greater the risk of breast cancer.
There are, however, some known risk factors of breast cancer that have been proven wrong. It was believed that a woman giving birth after the age of 35 increases her risk for beast cancer.
Research has now shown that women over 40 years old who carried more than one full-term pregnancy have reduced breast cancer risk by 14% with each child.
Drinking alcohol, even just a glass was thought to significantly raise a woman’s risk for breast cancer, primarily because alcohol raises estrogen levels.
However, it takes daily drinking of at least 3 bottles of beer or 3 glasses of wine or 2 shots of liquor to significantly increase breast cancer risk. Taking less than 5 drinks a week does not raise the risk for breast cancer.
Not everything we hear it’s ultimately true and breast cancer risk can be fought with calm and laughter and also the belief in our body’s ability to fight the danger.
