Cancer Data Base

Breast Cancer Awareness Pt 1 - Tips For Breast Cancer Prevention

Breast cancer is a terribly frightening illness, that is why taking cautious steps to breast cancer prevention is very important. Worldwide, 1 woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 29 seconds and every 75 seconds 1 woman in the world dies from breast cancer. This is the condition most women fear more than any other disease. This is largely because they think there is nothing they can do about it; they feel powerless and do not understand the power of today's prevention strategies.

Most women know if they want to reduce their risk of osteoporosis they can get enough calcium in their diet they can get some exercise or get enough vitamin D; if they want to reduce the risk of a heart attack they can make sure their cholesterol is not too high and they can also get some exercise. But most women do not think there is anything at all that they can do to help prevent breast cancer but the good news is that is there heaps they can do in efforts to breast cancer prevention. For example make sure that you get enough vitamin D in your body. Vitamin can help reduce the risk of several types of cancers, such as Prostate cancer, Colon cancer, Lung cancer.

Every time our skin is exposed to sunlight the cholesterol in our skin is converted into vitamin D, but for the average person who works indoors they do not manufacture enough vitamin D in their body. You can ask your doctor to do a blood test on you to measure the amount of vitamin D and most people are actually deficient.

If you have dark skin you are going to need to spend more time outdoors than a fair-skinned person will to receive enough sunlight to produce and efficient amount of vitamin D. if you use sun screen this will inhibit your body from being able to produce vitamin D. It is important not to get sun burned, however please remember that some sunlight is vitally important for good health because of vitamin D.

Women who are vitamin D deficient at the time of being diagnosed with breast cancer are 94% more likely to have their cancer spread and they are 73% more likely to die from breast cancer in the next 10 years than women who are not vitamin D deficient. So vitamin D is a vital instrument when it comes to protecting yourself against this disease.

Interestingly, overweight people are commonly vitamin D deficient because it is a fat soluble vitamin; this means the vitamin ends up being stored in their body fat and not their bloodstream where they need it.

Environmental chemicals are a known potential cause of this condition. According to the Silent Spring Institute, in the USA a total number of 216 different chemicals and radiation sources are internationally recognized as causing breast cancer. Have a look at the kind of chemicals you have around your home and chemicals you put on your body; moisturizers, perfumes, shampoo, cosmetics, toiletries, personal care products, insecticides, and cleaning chemicals. A lot of these things contain chemicals called endocrine disrupters or oestrogen mimics. They actually behave like oestrogen in your body; they have a very powerful effect. Oestrogen in excess can fuel the growth of breast tumors.

When it comes to breast cancer prevention you have to stay on top of your game. Not knowing can how to reduce the risk is no excuse because the information is widely available.