Other Risk Factors of Breast Cancer
Apart from genetic transfer of mutated genes, other risk factors of breast cancer should be watched out for, these factors are:
- Body weight/obesity: Adding weight after menopause may increase the risk of this health condition due to an increase in estrogen levels. High consumption of sugar also leads to obesity.
- Alcohol consumption: Regular intake of high levels of alcohol by women increases the risk of this health condition compared to women who take it moderate or avoid it completely.
- Radiation exposure: Taking radiation treatments of the chest as a child may increase the risk of breast cancer as an adult.
- Postmenopausal hormone therapy: Taking medications that combine estrogen [3] and progesterone [4] to tackle menopause signs also increases the risk of breast cancer. When women stop these drugs, the risk reduces.
- Age and being female: Females have a high risk of this health issue, especially as they grow older.
- Never being pregnant: Women who have never been pregnant are also at high risk of breast cancer compared to women that have had more than one pregnancy.
Types of Breast Cancer
- Invasive ductal carcinoma: This is the most common type of breast cancer which begins at the milk ducts before spreading to the entire breast and other nearby organs.
- Ductal carcinoma in situ: In this case, the cancerous cells are confined to the milk ducts alone. It is a noninvasive condition.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma: This develops firstly in the breast globules before spreading to the entire breast.
- Paget’s disease of the breast.
- Recurrent breast cancer.