Top 10 Tips to Prevent Breast Cancer

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and its clinical care partner, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, are offering

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and its clinical care partner, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, are offering research-based tip sheets related to breast cancer, including breast cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment, and survivorship.

The series launches today with '10 Tips for Breast Cancer Prevention' provided by Anne McTiernan, director of the Hutchinson Center's Prevention Center, a member of the Center's Public Health Sciences Division, and author of "Breast Fitness" (St. Martin's Press).

Quiz on Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women. It is often said that a woman who breast-feeds is at a lower risk of developing cancer compared to another who does not .Are these mere old wives tales or is there some truth in it? This quiz on breast cancer has all the details.

10 tips for breast cancer prevention

1. Avoid becoming overweight. Obesity raises the risk of breast cancer after menopause, the time of life when breast cancer most often occurs. Try to maintain a body-mass index under 25.

2. Eat healthy to avoid tipping the scale. Embrace a diet high in vegetables and fruit and low in sugared drinks, refined carbohydrates and fatty foods. Eat lean protein such as fish or chicken breast and eat red meat in moderation, if at all. Eat whole grains. Choose vegetable oils over animal fats.

Breast Cancer - Prevention and Management with Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle choices may or may not cause breast cancer but healthy lifestyle changes can open up avenues beyond breast cancer. Good habits will allow one to fight breast cancer and to live with dignity.

3. Keep physically active, even when begun later in life. It reduces overall breast-cancer risk by about 10 percent to 30 percent. All it takes is moderate exercise like a 30-minute walk five days a week.

4. Drink little or no alcohol. Alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

Interesting Facts About Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and in 2020 and nearly 2.3 million breast cancers were diagnosed globally.

5. Avoid hormone replacement therapy. Menopausal hormone therapy increases risk for breast cancer. If you must take hormones to manage menopausal symptoms, avoid those that contain progesterone and limit their use to less than three years. "Bioidentical hormones" and hormonal creams and gels are no safer than prescription hormones and should also be avoided.

6. Consider taking an oestrogen-blocking drug. Women with a family history of breast cancer or who are over age 60 should talk to their doctor about the pros and cons of oestrogen-blocking drugs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene.

Breast Lumps Screening
Breast lumps must never be neglected but instead be subjected to medical examination to rule out cancer.

7. Don't smoke. Research suggests that long-term smoking is associated with increased risk of breast cancer in some women.

8. Breast-feed your babies for as long as possible. Women who breast-feed their babies for at least a year in total have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer later.

9. Participate in a research study. The Hutchinson Center is home to several studies that are looking at ways to reduce the risk for breast cancer.

10. Get fit and support breast cancer research at the same time. Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. Ascend some of the world's most breathtaking peaks while raising vital funds for and awareness of breast cancer research by participating in the Hutchinson Center's annual Climb to Fight Breast Cancer.

Source-ANI