Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant cells form in the tissues of the breast. Almost everyone reading this blog knows of someone who has had breast cancer whether their currently battling it, are in remission, or have been healed completely in Heaven. This doesn’t take into account the many relatives (or friends) that are suffering along with their loved ones.
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The most
significant risk factors for breast cancer are being female and aging. About
95% of all breast cancers in the US occur in women 40 and older.
The most
significant risk factors for breast cancer are being female and aging. About
95% of all breast cancers in the US occur in women 40 and older.
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A woman’s risk of breast cancer nearly doubles if she has a
first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with
breast cancer. Less than 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family
member diagnosed with it.
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Although breast cancer in men is rare, an
estimated 2,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 440
will die each year.
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Breast cancer
deaths have been declining since 1990 thanks to early detection, better
screening, increased awareness, and new treatment options.
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Each year it is
estimated that over 246,660 women in the United States will be diagnosed with
breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die.
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On average, every
19 seconds a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 woman will die of
breast cancer every 13 minutes.
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One in eight
women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast
cancer in her lifetime.
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Over 2.8 million
breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today.
Breast cancer
has a unique history attached to it. Here are some of the more fascinating
highlights:
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In 1810, the daughter of John and Abigail Adams,
Abigail “Nabby” Adams Smith (1765-1813) was diagnosed with breast cancer. She
underwent a grueling mastectomy—without anesthesia. Nabby eventually died from
the disease three years later.
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Breast cancer was one of the first cancers to be
described by ancient physicians. For example, physicians in ancient Egypt
described breast cancer more than 3,500 years ago. One surgeon describes
“bulging” tumors in the breast of which “there is no cure.”
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Breastfeeding has consistently been shown to reduce
breast cancer—the greater the duration, the greater the benefit.
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In 1882, the father of American surgery, William
Steward Halstead (1852-1922), introduced the first radical mastectomy (the
breast tissue underlying chest muscle and the lymph nodes are removed) in the
U.S. at Roosevelt Hospital in New York. Until the mid- 1970s, 90% of women with
breast cancer were treated with this procedure.
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Insect feces featured heavily in ancient remedies
for breast cancer. An Egyptian papyrus recommended a mixture of cow’s brain and
wasp dung to be applied to breast tumors for four days. Insect feces were still
considered one of the most advanced treatments for breast cancer up until the
Middle Ages. Thankfully, treatments have advanced a great deal since then.
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It is not only humans who suffer from breast
cancer, some animals do too. It is more common in dogs than cats, but tends to
be more aggressive in cats than dogs.
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Lifelong nuns, like all women who never have
children, are at an increased risk of dying from breast, ovarian and uterine
cancers, compared with mothers. A woman's risk of getting these cancers
increases with the number of menstrual cycles she experiences. Breast cancer has
been called the “nun’s disease” because of the high number of nuns affected.
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Mammography was initially used in 1969 when the
first specialized X-ray units for breast imagining were developed.
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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
(NBCAM). The first NBCAM took place in October 1985.
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The first recorded mastectomy for breast occurred
in A.D. 548 on Theodora, Empress of Byzantine, and the wife of Justinian.
Theodora died on June 28, AD 548 at the age of 48.
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The International Agency for Research on Cancer
recently concluded that women who worked night shifts for 30 years or more were
twice as likely to develop breast cancer. However, women who work nights are
advised not to panic. It’s worth noting that no link was found between higher
breast cancer risk and periods of night work which were shorter than 30 years.
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The left breast is 5 - 10% more likely to develop
cancer than the right breast. The left side of the body is also roughly 5% more
prone to melanoma (a type of skin cancer). Nobody is exactly sure why this is.
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The youngest known survivor of breast cancer is
Aleisha Hunter from Ontario, Canada. At only three years old, Aleisha underwent
a complete mastectomy in 2010 to treat her juvenile strain of breast cancer.
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There are a number of misconceptions about what can
cause breast cancer. These include using deodorants or antiperspirants, wearing
underwire bras, having a miscarriage or induced abortion, or bumping/bruising
the breast tissue.
“Breast cancer is not just a
disease that strikes at women. It strikes at the very heart of who we are as women:
how others perceive us, how we perceive ourselves, how we live, work and raise
our families-or whether we do these things at all.” (Debbie Wasserman Schultz) [i] [i] Sources used:
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”11 Facts about Breast Cancer” (https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-breast-cancer)
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“52 Important Facts about Breast
Cancer” by Karin Lehnardt
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“From Nuns to Night
Shifts:
8 Interesting Facts about Breast Cancer” (http://www.roche.com/research_and_development/what_we_are_working_on/oncology/8-facts-about-breast-cancer.htm)
8 Interesting Facts about Breast Cancer” (http://www.roche.com/research_and_development/what_we_are_working_on/oncology/8-facts-about-breast-cancer.htm)
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“U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics” (http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics)
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