Yahoo Lifestyle 12 Breast Cancer Myths Debunked!
Shutterstock
This month is breast cancer awareness month and the topic is surrounded by so many rumours and so much controversy - what really causes it, what really prevents it - that it can be hard to know what to believe.
Just because a friend swears that wearing a bra can cause breast cancer doesn't mean it's true. And if you think you're not at risk because there's no breast cancer in your family, you might be mistaken. The truth? Scientists still don't know what causes breast cancer - only that certain factors, such as obesity or drinking too much alcohol, may increase the risk.
Read on to separate breast cancer fact from fiction.
1. Myth: Breast cancer is largely genetic.
Fact: Just five to 10 per cent of cases are due to genetics
Even in women who have a family history of the disease, many cases are due not to specific gene mutations, but to a combination of shared lifestyle factors and genetic susceptibilities, according to the Australian Breast Cancer Network. However, if you do have a strong family history -two or more first-degree (mother, sister, daughter) or second-degree (grandmother, aunt, niece) relatives on the same side of the family who have been diagnosed with breast cancer - talk to your GP or head to a family cancer clinic for advice.
2. Myth: Small-chested women have a lower risk.
Fact: Your bra size doesn't play a role in whether or not you get breast cancer.
All breast cancers develop in the cells that line the ducts or lobules - the parts that make milk and carry it to the nipple - and all women have the same number of these, regardless of their breast size. What makes breasts bigger or smaller is generally the amount of fat and stroma (fibrous tissue), which research shows have little impact on cancer odds.
3. Myth: Breast cancer always appears as a lump.
Fact: Approximately 10 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no lumps, pain or other signs of a problem in their breasts. And among lumps that are detected, 80 to 85 per cent are benign - they’re often cysts or noncancerous tumours called fibroadenomas. That said, if you have a lump or breast symptom (especially from the list below) that does not go away, you should have a doctor check it.
-A change in how the breast or nipple looks or feels
-A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area
-Breast pain or nipple tenderness
-A change in the size or shape of the breast
-A nipple or area of skin that turns inwards into the breast
-An area that feels warm to the touch
-Scaly, red or swollen skin of the breast, areola or nipple, perhaps with ridges or pitting that resembles an orange peel
- Nipple discharge
4. Myth: Mammograms prevent or reduce your risk.
Fact: Regular mammograms will not prevent or reduce your risk of breast cancer.
Mammograms simply detect existing breast cancer, thereby reducing deaths among breast cancer patients by approximately 16 per cent. By the time they appear on mammograms, most breast cancers have been present for six to eight years, and screening misses up to 20 per cent of all tumours. That's why it's important for all women to have a healthcare professional perform an annual breast exam, and to pay close attention to their own bodies to spot potential changes as soon as possible.
Getting a high-quality mammogram and having a clinical breast exam on a regular basis are the most effective ways to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages.
More: Exercise lowers risk of breast cancer recurrence
5. Myth: Mammograms cause breast cancer.
Fact: The risk of harm from radiation is minuscule compared to the huge benefits of early detection.
The radiation dose from a mammogram is fairly low - equivalent to the amount the average person receives from naturally occurring sources over three months. BreastScreen Australia recommends that women aged 50 and over have a mammogram every two years.
As each case of breast cancer is different, every woman should talk with her doctor about her personal risk factors for the disease. Those at high risk may need to start getting mammograms before age 50.
6. Myth: Birth-control pills cause breast cancer.
Fact: Doctors say the evidence isn't strong enough for them to recommend that women stop taking birth-control pills to avoid breast cancer.
Some studies from the mid-90s showed that birth-control users had a slightly increased risk, but researchers caution that pill formulations have changed since then (most now contain much lower doses of the hormones that experts have linked to breast cancer risk). This research also found that the risk returned to normal 10 years after women stopped taking the pills. In addition, some research suggests that risk may depend on ethnicity or age, while other studies find no association between pills and cancer whatsoever.
More: Find the right bra
7. Myth: Young women don't get breast cancer.
Fact: Though it's true that the disease is more common in postmenopausal women, breast cancer can affect people of any age.
In fact, women under 50 account for 25 per cent of all breast-cancer cases. Also, younger women tend to have denser breasts, which makes it harder to spot lumps during mammograms. It's a good idea to examine your breasts monthly from age 20. If you have a family history of breast cancer, speak to your doctor about your options.
8. Myth: Deodorants and antiperspirants cause breast cancer.
Fact: Skipping these toiletries won't keep your breasts cancer free.
One email rumour claimed that antiperspirant prevents you from sweating out toxins, which can then accumulate in the lymph nodes and cause breast cancer. But in 2002, US researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center conducted a study to address this rumour - and found no link between deodorant or antiperspirant and breast cancer.
A second rumour speculated that certain chemicals in antiperspirants, such as aluminium and parabens, may cause breast cancer because there’s a lower prevalence of the disease in developing countries where women don't use these products. However, toxins are not usually expelled through sweat.
Finally, although a 2004 study found parabens in the tissue of breast cancer tumours, so far no studies have shown that these or any other chemicals in deodorants and antiperspirants cause breast cancer.
9. Myth: Wearing a bra increases your cancer risk.
Fact: There is no good scientific or clinical basis to support the claim that plain or underwire bras cause breast cancer.
This rumour appears to have started after a book called Dressed to Kill suggested that bras obstruct toxin-laden lymph fluid from flowing out of the breast. However, this was speculation based on a survey rather than scientific evidence. Since then, major medical institutions, such as the National Cancer Institute in the US, have refuted the claim.
10. Myth: Drinking from a plastic water bottle left in a hot car can cause cancer.
Fact: This rumour falsely claims that dioxins—a group of toxic chemicals associated with an array of health problems, including breast cancer—leach from the heated plastic into the water.
Plastics do not contain dioxins, and sunrays are not strong enough to create them, says Michael Trush, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Urban Environmental Health in the US. Most single-use beverage bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a substance that experts have extensively tested for safety.
There is some evidence that heat can cause bisphenol A (BPA), a compound that's been shown to have oestrogenic effects in animal studies, to leach from plastic bottles into the water, but most single-use water bottles are made from BPA-free plastic. And there's no proven link to breast cancer in women, anyway.
11. Myth: I had a normal mammogram, so I don't need to worry about breast cancer.
Fact: Mammograms offer our best means of early detection - but they're not perfect.
Research shows that mammograms can miss up to 20 per cent of breast cancers in women who don't have any symptoms. Mammography reduces a woman's risk of dying from breast cancer by only 16 per cent, according to the Dr Susan Love Research Foundation in the US.
And just because one exam comes back normal doesn't mean breast cancer won't develop later. To be safe, examine your breasts regularly, paying particular attention to any changes in how your breasts look or feel.
More: Study finds no link between wearing a bra and breast cancer risk
12. Myth: Breast cancer is preventable.
Fact: Although you can certainly address certain risk factors such as obesity and inactivity, there's not enough information about what causes breast cancer for women to prevent it completely.
"There’s a difference between things that are associated with a higher risk of breast cancer, such as alcohol and postmenopausal obesity, and what actually causes cancer," says Love.
"It is likely that these are not the cause, but that they either promote it or are in some way linked with it."
