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Health -
Breast Cancer
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While not all cases of breast cancer are caused by genes, there may be certain factors that put you at a predisposed risk for developing the disease. Cancer types are very different and each has a different set of risk factors. For instance, if you spend too much time in the sunlight then you may be predisposing yourself to skin cancer. Those who smoke run a much higher risk of developing lung and mouth cancer.
You should understand that just because you have certain risk factors this does not necessarily mean that you will get breast cancer. Virtually all women have at least one risk factor for developing the disease yet they never do. Other women who have no apparent risk of developing the disease do get breast cancer. It becomes difficult to determine just how the risk factors contribute to breast cancer and there are different types of risk factors that you need to be aware of.
Things such as your age and race are factors that cannot be changed no matter how you try. Other risk factors for breast cancer come from your environment. Others are linked to personal lifestyle and behaviors such as eating habits and overall diet, smoking and drinking. Your specific risk factors for developing breast cancer can change drastically over time and there are some factors that may put you at a much higher risk than other factors. The key is in balancing the things that you can control such as unhealthy habits and your diet against those that you cannot control like your age.
Gender is of course a factor that you cannot change. By simply being a woman in the first place you are more at risk for developing breast cancer. Women have more breast cells than men but this is not what typically causes the risk to increase. The main reason is because a woman’s breast cells are exposed continuously to female hormones progesterone and estrogen which promote growth. While men can and do develop breast cancer, women are 100 times more likely to be diagnosed with the disease.
Another risk factor for developing breast cancer that cannot be changed is your family history of the disease. Those who have family members, close blood relatives that is, that have been diagnosed with breast cancer are at a much higher risk for developing the disease themselves. If you have just one close relative such as your sister, mother or daughter who has had breast cancer then your risk for developing the disease nearly doubles. If you have two or more relatives who have breast cancer, and remember these are blood related immediate family members, then your risk factors increase by three times the normal rate.
Women who have had a father or brother with breast cancer are also at an increased risk for developing the disease, although the exact risk has not been concluded. Less than fifteen percent of all women with breast cancer actually have a family member who has also had the disease. So most women who are diagnosed with the disease do not have a family history of it and it is not genetic, at least in these cases anyway.
A personal history of the disease puts you at a nearly four time increased risk for developing it again. If you have had breast cancer in one breast then your risks for developing it in the other breast are high. This is not a spreading or return of the cancer that you had in the first breast. It is a different development and may be caused by certain factors that caused your first diagnosis.
Your ethnicity and race are factors that also cannot be changed and certain ethnic backgrounds may put you at a higher risk for breast cancer development. Caucasian women are at a slightly higher risk for developing the disease than women of other races such as African American women, although statistics show that African American women are much more likely to develop fatal cases of the disease. Women of African American backgrounds tend to have much more aggressive tumors. Those of Asian, Native American and Hispanic backgrounds are at a much lower risk of developing the disease.
Your doctor can help to shed more light on your specific risk factor and give you information on various ways to change things that you can control such as your diet and environment. If you have unhealthy habits like excessive drinking and smoking, he or she may recommend treatments that can help you to live a healthier overall lifestyle and lower your risks for developing breast cancer.
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Health & Beauty 
