Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Germany, it is reported Center for Cancer Registry Data of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) to. According to the Center for Cancer Registry Data, more than 70,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. It occurs more often in young women than other cancers.
Doctors therefore recommend that women examine themselves regularly from the age of 25. Breast cancer is tricky because it lasts for a long time without any noticeable symptoms. A tumor often only becomes apparent when women feel their breasts. It is only possible to detect a tumor if it is one centimeter in diameter.
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You should pay attention to these seven breast cancer symptoms
- nodular densities or hardenings in the breast or armpit
- Differences in shape or size of the breasts
- Retraction of a nipple
- clear or bloody discharge from a nipple
- Retractions of the breast skin in one place, orange skin or small dimples in the skin
- Skin redness or scaling
- one-sided burning pain or pulling
Breast cancer: These are the risk factors
Although the risk increases, of breast cancer to become ill, increases continuously from the age of 25. According to statistics from the Robert Koch Institute, women aged 65 to 69 have the highest risk. There are also a number of other factors that influence the risk of a tumor.
These include:
- hormones,
- personal lifestyle and
- the predisposition.
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1. This is how your hormones affect your risk of breast cancer
The female sex hormones estrogen and gestagen often play a decisive role in the development of breast cancer. The longer the hormone levels fluctuate each month, the higher the likelihood of illness.
Therefore, according to the Robert Koch Institute, an early first menstrual period and a late onset of menopause increase the risk of breast cancer.
Hormone replacement therapies can also increase the risk. Mothers who also breastfeed their children have a lower risk than childless women. The more children and the longer the breastfeeding period, the lower the risk of illness.
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2. A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of breast cancer
Lack of exercise and being overweight also increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Exercise is fundamentally a factor that helps prevent breast cancer.
According to the medical organization GenoGyn, women who are physically active for 30 to 60 minutes a day have a 20 to 25 percent lower risk of breast cancer than women who are not physically active. It also helps not to smoke and to reduce alcohol consumption as much as possible. Women should therefore have a maximum of one glass of wine per day.
Diet also has a significant influence on the risk of cancer. A balanced diet consisting of lots of berries, fruit and vegetables, especially cabbage, has a positive effect. Whole grain products, legumes and nuts should also be on the menu – but meat and sausage should only be included two to three times a week.
You can also support your health if you replace animal oils with vegetable oils. According to the experts, this not only helps reduce the risk of breast cancer, but also prevents other types of cancer.
According to the gynecological cooperative, the female body needs folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, pre- and probiotics and phytoestrogens. These are contained in soy, for example. Women should also avoid chronic stress and ensure healthy and restful sleep.
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3. This is the role genes play in breast cancer
There are also risk factors that we have no influence on, such as age or genetics. About five to ten out of 100 breast cancer patients have so-called risk genes that trigger breast cancer. The best known are BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA: Breast Cancer Gene).
Approximately 50 to 80 percent of women with such a gene mutation will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. Therefore, the disease cannot be avoided despite all preventative measures.
In recent years, survival times and the chances of recovery from breast cancer have improved significantly. One of the reasons for this is that breast cancer is now usually discovered earlier. Health insurance companies regularly pay for early detection examinations.
According to the German Cancer Society Women between the ages of 30 and 49 and over 70 can have a physical examination once a year. Women between the ages of 50 and 69 can also have mammography screening done annually.
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How good are the chances of recovery from breast cancer?
All of these innovations drastically improve the prognosis for breast cancer. “In all stages, the chance of survival after ten years is on average 80 percent,” says Olaf Ortmann. If breast cancer is diagnosed early and is less than two centimeters in size, over 90 percent of patients are still alive after 15 years.
The treatment of breast cancer is becoming more effective: gentler on the patient, but more effective against the cancer cells. “The biology of this heterogeneous disease is playing an increasingly important role,” summarizes the oncologist. Doctors determine an individually tailored treatment plan for the patient based on the molecular characteristics of the tumor.
She is in ideal hands in one of the breast cancer centers certified by the German Cancer Society. Here, doctors work hand in hand on an interdisciplinary basis. New scientific findings and innovative therapies are quickly implemented and made accessible to every patient. In the OncoMap from the German Cancer Society you can find breast cancer centers near you.
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