These facts are not there to paralyze you, but to empower you to move forward with strength, and knowledge, to help you overcome an obstacles that may come your way. Take care of yourselves ladies.

What Is Breast Cancer?

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, “Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast.”

Some facts around the U.S

• Each year it is estimated that over 252,710 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,500 will die.
• 1 in 8 women in the united states will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in women.
• Over 3.3 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today.
• According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of women each year and affecting countries at all levels of modernization.

Breast Cancer Facts in the UK

• According to breast cancer now.org, “Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in the UK.
• Over 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK, including around 4,700 in Scotland.
• Each year, around 7,400 additional women are diagnosed with an earlier, non-invasive form of breast cancer. These are confined to a specific area of the breast (usually milk ducts) but may later develop the ability to spread.
• One in eight women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime.
• Around 350 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK, including around 30 in Scotland.”

Signs and Symptoms

Breast lump

According to Cancer Research UK, The first symptom of breast cancer for many women is a lump in their breast. But 9 out of 10 breast lumps (90%) are benign. That means they are not cancers. But if you spot a lump, see your doctor straight away. Remember often it can be to do with hormonal changes so don’t panic.

Change in shape and size

If your breasts look bigger or change in shape or size, this can be many things, often when women are about to get their period their breasts can feel lumpy, increase in size,  or have a different shape than usual. “Many healthy women find that their breasts feel lumpy and tender before their period.” It is important that you get to know the size, feel, and shape of your breasts and report to your doctor if anything changes.

Breast pain

Having a pain in the Breast is very common and is not normally due to cancer. You might get pain in one or both breasts for a while, which goes after a time. Often there might not even be a leading reason, for this pain, even if you have a lot of tests. See your doctor anyway.

Skin changes

If your skin texture changes quite dramatically, this can include puckering, dimpling, rashes redness if the skin, it may even feel like orange peel. Get your doctor to check out anything that is not normal for you.

Change in the position of your nipple

If your nipple sinks into her breast more, or looks a little different than usual, report it to your doctor.

Fluid leaking from your nipple

If there is fluid leaking from the nipple, and you are not breastfeeding, this can be a sign of cancer. There are other medical conditions it can be, do not panic but do get in contact with your doctor.

Inflammatory breast cancer symptoms

There are rare types of breast cancer that is worth looking, inflammatory breast cancer can have different symptoms to other types. It may feel quite hard, or feel like orange peel, it may look red and inflamed, and feel a little sore.

See your doctor if you have any of these symptoms.

Paget’s disease of the breast

This is the rarest form of breast cancer, and if you have these symptoms it may be an underlying breast cancer.

•  red, scaly rash on the breast.
• The area can be itchy and looks a bit like eczema.
• It is sometimes mistaken for eczema at first.

See your doctor if you have any changes in the skin of your breast.

Some tips to live a little more healthily

• Move more
• Monitor and manage your weight
• Eat more veg
• Consume less sugar-sweetened drinks
• Limit consumption of red and processed meat
• Avoid High-calorie foods
• Don’t rely on Supplements