Women’s health & fitness guide

All women and girls from the age of around 20 should learn to perform a self breast examination, by getting to know what your breasts feel like, the shape, weight and texture of the skin you will be able to detect if anything feels wrong and this can catch diseases such as breast cancer early. The earlier you catch it the more likely you are to be cured of it, though it is important to note that not all changes to the breast are caused by cancer, there are several other factors which can cause changes most of which are harmless.

Women’s health & fitness guide

The exact cause of breast cancer isn’t fully understood and the risk of developing breast cancer increases with age with more than half of the cases diagnosed occurring in women over the age of 65. There are thought to be certain factors which do increase the risk of getting breast cancer and these are listed below:

• If you have suffered from certain types of non benign breast problems in the past.
• If you are taking hormone replacement therapy.If you are taking the contraceptive pill.
• Women who have never had children.
• Women who had children but didn’t breast feed them.Being overweight, particularly if you have been through menopause.
• Drinking a lot of alcohol over many years.

A very small number of people who develop breast cancer are thought to have inherited it through genes, though this is a very small percentage. However should the following relate to you and your family then you might wish to talk it over with your doctor.