Early Signs of Breast CancerWhen your observation power Saves your life

It’s hard for breast cancer to lurk these days. Everyone knew about it and became open to talk about it, And an announcement against it fills the media to alleviate the awareness and guide people to detect the early signs of breast cancer to capture it and uproot it before it settles its seeds and spreads.

Breast cancer starts as a tiny pump sneaking in the armpit or the breast itself, And grows eagerly to conquer the breast and invasively spreads inside it making it harder to get rid of.

That’s why early detection of it and monthly checking on it is vital; observation of any small change could be a life saving sign letterly.

What are Breast cancer signs?

It is really hard to detect cancer early. So if the woman does not care to check herself and commits to a monthly check, she would have only a little chance to detect it, and she will discover it in late stages unfortunately!

And that early signs includes:

1- Changing in the shape of the breast itself or losing its cylindrical outline, especially if the two breasts lose their identical look.

2- Variation in the shape of the nipples or their color.

3- Clear or bloody secretions from the niplles.

4- Sensing a painless small pump in the armpit or any part of the breast.

5- Alteration of the smoothness of the skin that resembles orange zest.

6- Redness or itchy feeling of any part of the breast.

7- Tenderness and swelling of the breast.

8- If these symptoms are painless, the diagnosis is likely a breast rather than a benign tumor.

Breast cancer diagnosis:

For a woman to be diagnosed with this cancer, she should pass through 3 steps; to avoid unneeded, worrying, or late diagnosis of the tumor.

3 Diagnostic Steps For this Cancer:

1- First self observation (monthly check):

Every lady should know the steps of a regular monthly check of this cancer and it is very easy, Yet vital to save her life or at least ensure that her breast is healthy and clear of any signs of cancer.

The monthly check steps are:

Check the armpits and under arm area for any pumps or color changing.
Examine the breast area and around it with circular gentle pressure.
Observe the nipple shape and color.
See if there are any charges from the nipples.
Compare the two breasts against each other in terms of shape and size.

If you find any changes or clumps that may indicate this cancer you should head to gynecology clinics, or one of the institutes that follows the president’s initiative to detect early signs of breast cancer.

2- Second the gynecologic examination:

Doctor precisely examines both breasts and surrounding lymph nodes, and pays attention to any clumps either superficial or deep in the tissues that are hard to detect at home.

If there is a sign that it may be breast cancer and especially if the patient has a family history of cancer, The patient should go through further examination by mammogram.

3- Third specific examination:

That examination includes x-rays (mammogram) to have a full picture of any hard masses inside the breast.

That test is preferred to be performed every month for any lady that passed her 40 years old, especially if she has cancer family history.

In some cases doctors may need to take a biopsy of the breast for lab examination to assure the diagnosis of breast cancer.

Risk factors of breast cancer:

Due to the difficulty of early examination of breast cancer, and having some people in categories that have more risk of being attacked by breast cancer. They should be awarded and listed.

These in risk categories includes:
Sex:

Women have a higher tendency to have breast cancer than men. Yes some men surfers breast cancer but in a lower percentage than women.
Inherited factors:

If the patient has a family history of cancer there is greater risk to suffer breast cancer, And risk is multiplied if there are more than one family member with cancer.
Age:

Age is directly proportional with cancer risk; So as old as the patient gets she has greater opportunity to breast cancer.
Late pregnancy:

There are studies that link late pregnancy after the mother passes 30 years old and women that don’t give birth at all with a high tendency to breast cancer.
Baby bottle feeding:

Natural breastfeeding has a great impact on breast health and protects it from breast cancer so by bottle feeding for the baby the mother loses that support.
Fertility window deviation:

It’s stated that the fertility range for women starts with the first period and until the menopause period. So if a girl had her first period earlier than normal or a woman has late menopause; The fertility window increases and there is a great chance that they have cancer.
Obesity:

Increased weight with lack of mobility leads to clear hormonal disorders and that is a general role that applies in this case as well.

Also overweight makes it harder for the lady to observe the changes and small pumps that she may have and obstacle her monthly check overall.
Hormonal contraceptives:

Hormonal contraceptives include: Hormonal loops, Patches, Injections and contraceptive pills.

And they all contains hormones that affect the women gental hormonal balance and that increase the risk of breast cancer.

Also a famous side effect of these drugs is breast tenderness and swelling and that hesitates and confuses the woman during her monthly check.

Also there are some studies that linked cancer to Diabetes, Alcohol intake and being exposed to x-rays.

Benign breast cancer signs:

Symptoms of malignant and benign breast cancer are pretty much similar. Except that in benign tumors the pump is almost soft and moves upon touching it while in malignant tumors it is often stiff and hard.

But the causes of benign breast cancer is completely different from malignant breast cancer in that almost all women suffer from benign cancer especially pregnant and breastfeeding women!

As breast milk clumps in mammary glands causing inflammation that leads to a soft tumor that the woman feels pain upon pressing it.

Benign breast cancer is often nothing to worry about. Yet if a woman suffers from it several times it may be a sign that she has a tendency to breast cancer.

Summery:

In this article we discussed breast cancer and its symptoms, Causes and its early signs. Also how you can observe the first signs of it with regular check.

Beside that we cleared the difference between benign breast cancer and malignant breast cancer and how they may have similar symptoms but different reasons.