12 Ways to Prevent Breast Cancer that Women Need to Know

Breast cancer is the type of cancer that causes the most deaths in women. Even so, you don’t need to worry because there are ways to reduce the risk of cancer cell growth. Check out the various tips in the following review.

Ways to Avoid Breast Cancer

The following are some ways you can prevent breast cancer, including:

1. Exercise Routine

Exercise is an easy way to keep your body healthy. Studies have found that women who exercise regularly have a 2 times lower risk of developing breast cancer than women who don’t exercise.

It is recommended that you do moderate intensity exercise for 150-300 minutes per week

In addition, exercise can also help women with breast cancer recover more quickly after surgery and overcome the side effects of the treatment they are undergoing. Breast cancer sufferers are advised to exercise 150 minutes per week.

Some of the sports you can do are walking, running, swimming, or dancing. Choose a physical activity that you like to make exercise fun.

Also, don’t force yourself to exercise if you have breast cancer. Be sure to consult a doctor first before starting to exercise.

2. Maintain Ideal Body Weight

Maintaining body weight within the normal range is one way you can do to maintain overall health and reduce the risk of cancer.

Having excess body weight generally indicates that a person has a higher amount of body fat than is recommended. Excessive amounts of body fat in the abdominal area can interfere with hormones so that it can increase the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Therefore, you are advised to maintain an ideal body weight by adopting a healthy lifestyle and eating a balanced nutritional diet.

3. Quit Smoking

Smoking is known to have adverse effects on health, including increasing the risk of breast cancer.

Toxins in cigarette smoke can weaken the immune system so that it becomes difficult for the body to kill cancer cells. In addition, tobacco smoke can also damage and cause DNA mutations in body cells. As a result, cells will grow abnormally and form tumors.

Not only smoking actively, you also need to avoid cigarette smoke so you don’t become a passive smoker.

Also Read: 8 Foods That Can Help Prevent Breast Cancer

4. Limit consumption of alcoholic beverages

Your risk of developing breast cancer will increase as the frequency and amount of alcohol consumption increases.

Alcohol will increase the amount of the hormone estrogen and cause DNA damage in the body. Therefore, you need to limit alcohol consumption to no more than 1 time a day.

Alcohol consumption even in small amounts can increase the risk of cancer.

5. Avoid Radiation Exposure

Women who have received radiation therapy to the chest before the age of 30 have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

You may have to consult a doctor about what are the side effects of using radiation therapy for treatment. Precautions are needed to reduce the risk of breast cancer.

6. Consumption of Balanced Nutritional Foods

Balancing a healthy diet and daily physical activity is recommended. A healthy diet may play only a small role but can still prevent breast cancer and is significantly effective in maintaining overall body health.

Avoid high-fat foods and start consuming vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. Consider regularly eating foods high in antioxidants.

Also Read: Regular Yogurt Consumption Lowers Breast Cancer Risk?

7. Control of Hormone Therapy Use for Menopause

If you are using hormone therapy to treat menopausal symptoms, talk to your doctor about side effects. The reason is, using combination hormone therapy for more than 3-5 years can increase the risk of breast cancer.

You may need to use the lowest dose of hormone therapy or only use it in the short term. Use hormone therapy according to doctor’s advice.

8. Avoid birth control pills in special conditions

Use of birth control pills at the age of more than 35 years can increase the risk of breast cancer.

Therefore, before deciding to prevent pregnancy with birth control pills or IUDs that contain hormones, you are advised to consult with your doctor first, especially if you have a family history of breast cancer.

9. Breastfeeding

Apart from building an emotional connection with the baby, it turns out that breastfeeding has an important role in preventing breast cancer. The longer you breastfeed, the risk of breast cancer will also decrease.

During breastfeeding, there will be hormonal changes that delay menstruation. At this time, estrogen levels will remain stable and reduce the risk of cancer cell growth in the breast.

10. Enough and quality sleep

Quality sleep with sufficient duration cannot prevent breast cancer, but it can maintain a healthy body.

Sleep can affect the brain, immune system, hormone production and regulation, metabolism, and body weight. In addition, sleep will also affect cell function.

You are advised to get 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep every night to make your body function properly.

11. Undergoing Early Detection Regularly

The most effective way to prevent serious breast cancer is to have regular early detection, especially if you have a family history of breast cancer.

There are several ways you can do to do early detection and prevent breast cancer, including:

• Examining Your Breasts (BSE)

BSE is highly recommended for all women from the age of 20 and older to identify early signs of breast cancer. Do BSE about 7-10 days after menstruation. Through this examination, you can notice changes in the breast.

• Examining Clinical Breasts (SADANIS)

If you find anything unusual in your breasts, you should immediately check with your doctor. If the doctor finds indications of cancer, the doctor will suggest doing another examination.

Mammography is an examination that uses x-rays to get pictures of the inside of the breast. It is recommended that you do this check every year. Consultation with a doctor is needed to determine the right time to undergo this examination.

12. Reducing Stress

Stress can have an adverse effect on health, including for those of you who already have breast cancer. Stress can change the amount of hormones in the body. This condition can increase the risk of cancer, including breast cancer.

You can reduce stress by meditating, exercising, or engaging in other hobbies. Reducing stress can improve the quality of life for breast cancer sufferers. In addition, the side effects of treatment can be reduced by making yourself less stressed.

Several risk factors for breast cancer are related to lifestyle. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle can help reduce the risk of developing this condition.

Also Read: Is it true that frequent use of deodorant triggers breast cancer?

Breast Cancer Risk Factors

Until now, the exact cause of breast cancer is not known with certainty. There are some risk factors that are out of your control, but there are also risk factors related to lifestyle that you can prevent, including:

1. Pregnancy factor

Pregnancy has a big role in breast cancer. Women who have never been pregnant or are pregnant for the first time over the age of 35 will have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

2. Age factor

A person’s risk of developing breast cancer will increase with age. Most cases of breast cancer are found in women over the age of 50.

In addition, women who experience menstruation before the age of 11 and women who experience menopause after the age of 55 have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

3. Genetic Factors

Genetic factors contribute to the growth of cancer cells in the breast.

Women have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, if a family member has breast cancer, then a person’s risk of developing this cancer also increases.

4. Other Factors

Conditions that can increase a person’s risk of developing breast cancer include; have special breast conditions, larger breast size, have had breast cancer in one breast, and have received radiation treatment to the chest area.

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