October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Know your risk factors, be able to identify symptoms, and get tips to reduce your risk.
Who Is Most At Risk?
Women who:
- Began their menstrual periods before age 12 or entered menopause after age 55.
- Are currently using or have recently used birth control pills.
- Have never had children or had their first child after age 30.
- Have used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen and progesterone for more than 10 years.
- Have mutations of BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2 genes.
- Have family histories of breast, colorectal or ovarian cancer.
Women or Men who:
- Are overweight or obese.
- Are not physically active.
- Are over 40.
- Have had high-dose radiation on their chests.
- Have family histories of breast or ovarian cancer.
- Have already had cancer in one breast.
Symptoms:
If you notice any of the following symptoms, take action & talk with your health care professional:
- A lump, hard know or thickening in the breast
- A lump under your arm
- A change in the size or shape of a breast
- Nipple pain, tenderness or discharge, including bleeding
- Itchiness, scales, soreness or rash on nipple
- A nipple turning inward or inverted
- A change in the skin color and texture such as dimpling, puckering or redness
- A breast that feels warm or swollen
Reduce Your Risk
- Breastfeeding may lower a woman’s risk
- Never smoke. If you do, quit.
- Exercise at least 30 minutes, at least 5 days a week
- Drinking alcohol is linked to breast cancer and several other cancers. If you drink, limit your drinking to one drink a day if you are a woman or two a day if you are a man. Even drinking small amounts may increase your risk of cancer.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
Please contact Althea Moser at amoser@highlands.edu for further information. This wellness initiative is courtesy of the Dept. of Kinesiology and Wellness, the Faculty Grant Scholarship, & the Prevent Cancer Foundation©