Risk factors for breast cancer
A risk factor is defined as anything that increases your likelihood of getting a particular disease. Some of the most common risk factors are age, family history, or poor health. While some risk factors can be changed by improving healthy living habits, there are other risk factors that cannot be changed. Risk factors are by no means a sure bet that you are going to get a particular illness or disease. You could have all of the risk factors possible for a particular cancer or illness and still live a long healthy life, having never gotten diagnosed with anything related to those risk factors. While it is not wise to jump to drastic conclusions if you do have risk factor s for a disease, it is wise to look into your other factors and possible symptoms that you might have for a particular disease so that you are doing everything that you can to avoid that disease or to diagnose it as early as possible to as to improve the chances that you have for a full recovery.
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When speaking specifically of breast cancer risk factors, many women think that the biggest risk factor for getting breast cancer is simply being a woman. While it is much more likely that a woman will get breast cancer, there are some instances when men too suffer from this cancer. In addition to simply being a woman, there are a number of other breast cancer risk factors that you should be aware of. These risk factors are listed below:
Age - Chances of developing breast cancer increase with age. About 80% of breast cancers occur in women older than age 50. If you are in your 30s, you have a one in 233 chance of developing breast cancer. By the age of 85, your chance is one in eight. The age risk factor is the main reason why women are encouraged to have more regular breast cancer screenings as they age.
Personal and family history - If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast, you have an increased risk of developing cancer in the other breast. Family history risk factors for breast cancer include having a mother, sister or daughter with breast or ovarian cancer or having a male relative with breast cancer. In short, the more relatives you have who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and especially those who have been diagnosed before menopause, your risk factors are greater.
Genetics - Between 5 percent and 10 percent of breast cancers are inherited. This risk factor is one of those mentioned earlier that cannot be prevented, you are simply born with the risk.
Radiation exposure - If for some reason you received radiation treatments to your chest as a child or young adult you have a greater risk factor for developing breast cancer.
Early onset of menstrual cycles - If you had your first period at an early age (younger than 12) you have a greater risk factor for developing breast cancer. Experts attribute this increased risk to early exposure to estrogen (and having that increased level of estrogen in the system for longer).
Late menopause - If you enter menopause after age 55, you're more likely to develop breast cancer. Again, this is due to prolonged exposure of the breast tissue to estrogen.
Pregnancy age - You have a greater chance of developing breast cancer if your first pregnancy (full-term) occurs after the age of 30 or if you never become pregnant.
Other risk factors for breast cancer that you can look into more fully are: race, hormone therapy, the use of birth control pills, smoking, excessive use of alcohol, changes in the breast (these include discoloration, development of a lump, etc.), and your mammographic breast density.
