Happy October! Fasten your pink ribbon because it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! This dreaded disease really hits home for me because my grandmother suffered from it. She is a survivor, so no worries here, but I still like to spend the month spreading awareness for all of those going through treatment now.
Andrew has said, time and again, correlation does not equal causation. When it comes to Breast Cancer, this is very true, that is why a cause and a cure has yet to be found. The best scientists and researchers have been able to do is propose precautions that people can take to diminish their chances of getting the disease, and if you do get the disease, they have proposed different methods to take to, not cure it, but to go into remission. Scientists propose these precautions because they hope to rule out any confounding variables that may contribute to the developement of Breast Cancer. I did a little research in honor of the time of the year, and I have decided to share my findings with all of you.
So, we all know that Breast Cancer is a tumor where cells begin to grow uncontrollably and then spread to surrounding tissue or other areas of the body. However, some of the main precautions that doctors suggest people take have to do with their lifestyle choices. For example, reducing one’s intake of alcohol, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight have all produced correlations with “lower risk,” but again, just because a person abides by these principles does not mean that they won’t extract the disease. In addition, some women who are of “high risk” of getting breast cancer due to hereditary reasons may lower their risks by digesting tamoxifen or raloxifen, which are “estrogen blocking” drugs.
stay active!
Unfortunately, just because you are of “low risk” doesn’t mean Breast Cancer won’t sneak up on you. Therefore, your next best option is early detection. The American Breast Cancer Society, says that the detection process, for women, should start in their 20’s. 20-years old should start breast self-examinations and report any changes to a health care provider. Then, once women are in their 30’s they should start seeing a doctor every three years for a clinical breast exam. Lastly, women who are 40 years old or older should go and have their doctors perform monograms once a year. If Breast Cancer is found early, for instance, in stage one, the National Cancer Institute, reports that there is 100% survival rate. There are so many different treatment options for patients to take advantage of like breast conservation surgery, mastectomy, and removal of the lymph nodes under ones arms. Not to mention, radiation, hormone, and chemotherapy. So, while it may be disheartening, there is always hope! All in all, the National Cancer Institute stresses the fact that, “many other factors may affect a person’s outlook, such as your age and health, the presence of hormone receptors on the cancer cells, the treatment received, and how well the cancer responds to treatment.” So, in the end, due to the multiple confounding variables that contribute to this disease, in the end, chance is a major factor that we can’t control.
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Websites Used:
Click to access breastcancerpdf.pdf
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-what-is-breast-cancer
http://d3vsdfvkxh87qp.cloudfront.net/articles_images/t3/1413832539533/image.jpg
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-survival-by-stage
http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/files/2014/04/shutterstock_155269400.jpg
The comment above brings up an interesting point. However, the redness, irritation, swelling, or lumps are symptoms that show that a patient may have Breast Cancer already. The confounding variable that may be causing the redness, or other symptoms are the lifestyle factors that doctors advice against. Also, you cannot “catch” Breast Cancer because it is not a contagious disease.
As you mentioned in your post that there is no known cause, we do know ways to catch it. Other than visiting your doctor once a year which you said was recommended, there are signs any women should look out for. Some of these are swelling of the breast, redness or irritation, and pain in the breast just to name a few. With this information, and no cure, maybe scientists need to take a step back. It is great that if breast cancer is found during its first stage there is a 100% chance of survival, but what if it can be prevented all together. I believe scientists need to know what causes symptoms such as the ones I listed above, as well as any other symptoms doctors know of. For example, redness is a sign but maybe the redness is actually a sign of what causing the the cancer. Instead of cancer causing the symptoms maybe it is reverse causation and several symptoms can be causing the cancer. This is just something to think about and maybe scientists will put more research into this one day. You never know what causes what in science until it is actually proven.