Breast cancer is one of the tumors that produces the highest number of deaths in the world per year. One million breast cancers are discovered and around 400,000 women die, despite to scientific and technological advances that allow us to detect them early.
Any woman can develop this disease, but some studies have shown that there are certain factors that are related to a greater probability of suffering from it, including a history of early menarche, late menopause, pregnancy in advanced age, family history (mother-sisters-aunts ), a high fat diet, high sugar intake, and alcohol consumption and smoking. Also, the age of the woman may be a risk, due to hormonal changes associated with advanced age.
To date, early detection is the main tool against this lethal disease, with knowledge of the risk factors mentioned above and the preventive actions that we can take playing an important role.
As tasks to prevent it, it is considered essential to have a mammogram periodically, especially women who are over 40 years old; apply the breast self-examination on a monthly basis, which is a simple and practical way that allows us to investigate any anomaly; and apply the physical examination of the breast, which allows us to find early signs of the disease.
The strategies to improve the results related to this disease depend, considerably, on health education, since this helps to improve the knowledge of the signs and symptoms, and to give importance to early detection. It is of utmost importance to continue working with the communities in the promotion and prevention to generate an active search for users with the symptoms and thus refer them to the centers of specialization.
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