Breast Cancer Facts

While Breast Cancer Awareness Month winds down, the fight to find a cure wages on. Here are some facts about breast cancer risk, which are also posted on the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation website.

• There is a known link between bone density and breast cancer risk. High bone density is associated with elevated blood estrogen, which is a risk factor for breast cancer.
  
• Having one's first child at 35 or younger tends to provide some protection from breast cancer. Women who have their first child at later ages seem to face an increased risk of breast cancer, versus having the first child at younger ages.
  
• Studies report an association between body weight and breast cancer risk, though the relationship is complex. Being a bit overweight seems to lower a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer before menopause, but after menopause, being overweight increases the risk anywhere from 20 to 60%.
  
• Even though nearly 80% of breast cancers occur in postmenopausal women, there are many women who succumb to the illness because detection did not occur early enough and they did not feel at-risk due to their youth.
  
• A woman with an immediate family member (mother, sister, daughter) who has had breast cancer faces an increased risk by about 2 to 3 times that of a woman with no family history.
  
• Women who begin menstruation prior to age 12 seem to experience a 20% increase in risk, compared to women who report menarche after age 14. This is because breast cancer risk is elevated by a high lifetime exposure to estrogen. The earlier a girl starts menstruating, the longer her estrogen released during the menstrual cycle has to affect her breast tissue.

These are just some of the important points for women to understand about breast cancer risk. The Komen Foundation provides a fantastic summary table of these and other risk factors.

While public health statistics are critical educational tools that hopefully raise awareness and personal prevention efforts, I think an equally essential component of prevention requires fundamental changes in how women think about their bodies. Case in point, to avoid being a total hypocrite, I just went for my gynecological exam for the first time in almost two years; I had not been tested for cervical cancer since my 6-week check-up after Henry was born.

Likewise, I only just started taking calcium supplements, even though I know the hereditary nature of osteoperosis and am aware that my mother and grandmother both have this condition. I know the women's health statistics and my own risk for cancer, given my family history, and yet, I was not making my health a priority. This is not to say I wasn't making my body a priority; I exercise, I (try to) eat well, and like many women, I dwell on my physique more than I should. It has required effort and the serious illness of Lyme Disease to instruct me that my health should not be seen as important only when I am in pain or ill. It is who I am because it makes the rest of my life possible. My health enables me to take care of my son and to teach and to create art. Without a sound body, I am pretty much absent. I am only just starting to see the prevention of illness as health and self care. But it has been an important lesson to learn and one that might prolong my life and its quality.