Are All Women at Risk for Getting Breast Cancer?

Breast Cancer Risk

All women are at risk for getting breast cancer. As you get older, your risk increases. Assuming you live to age 90, your risk of getting breast cancer over your lifetime is about 12%. That might sound scary, because it means that an average of about 1 out of every 7 women will get breast cancer over a 90-year life span.


Lowering Breast Cancer Risk

A new study finds that breastfeeding significantly reduces the incidence of breast cancer among premenopausal women who have a family history of breast cancer, a factor that places them at especially high risk for the disease.

According to the American Cancer Society, women who have one first-degree relative (mother, daughter, sister) with breast cancer have about a twofold increased risk of getting the disease. The increased risk rises to fivefold for women who have two first-degree relatives with breast cancer.

The study evaluated information from 60,075 women who had participated in the second Harvard Nurses’ Health Study. Tamoxifen, which has been used for about thirty years to treat breast cancer and for about ten years as a preventive approach for women at high risk, is associated with several serious side effects, including blood clots, stroke, uterine cancer, and cataracts. For women, breastfeeding has been associated with a reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Breastfed infants generally have a lower risk of developing common infant problems, including diarrhea, bacterial meningitis, and ear infections.

The study’s researchers noted several curious findings from the study. One was that the reduction in breast cancer risk did not change among women who had breast-fed exclusively or for longer periods of time. Clearly there are many unanswered questions about the association between breastfeeding and breast cancer risk, and further research is needed.

The other research in China found The study, of more than 2,000 Chinese women, found that the more fresh and dried mushrooms the women ate, the lower was their breast cancer risk. The women who ate the most fresh mushrooms — 10 grams or more per day — were about two thirds less likely to develop breast cancer than non-consumers of mushrooms. Meanwhile, women who ate 4 grams or more of dried mushrooms per day had half the cancer risk of non-consumers.
Source : breastandbeauty

After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger

Cancer Treatment Series: This is a very important information on cancer treatment. The topic of cancer treatment on this occasion is about the a doctor who suffered breast cancer sharing her own cancer journey and offering a step-by-step plan for physical healing. This is an important cancer treatment information that you need to understand if you care about your health. The complete information is as follows:

At age 36, Julie Silver was enjoying an exciting career as a physician at the Harvard Medical School and a rewarding personal life as a mother, wife, and award-winning writer. But she had the sense that something was wrong. Two years and multiple doctors later, she was diagnosed with the breast cancer she had suspected all along and was catapulted into the role of cancer patient.

Like many cancer patients who experience serious side effects from treatment, Dr. Silver emerged from therapy feeling not better, but exhausted and physically devastated. As she worked to heal herself, she became determined to write a book to help others recover after cancer treatment.

Here Dr. Silver shares her own cancer journey and offers a step-by-step plan for physical healing, including exercise and diet recommendations and instructions for fighting fatigue, monitoring mood, and overcoming setbacks. Dr. Silver's advice comes from the heart -- and from her experience as both a cancer survivor and a doctor who has spent her career helping people heal from serious illnesses and injuries. No matter where they are in their own journey with cancer, readers will find After Cancer Treatment a personal, practical, and powerful guide to recovery.

Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul: Stories to Inspire, Support and Heal (Chicken Soup for the Soul)

Your support group in a book, filled with boundless strength and profound hope - until the fight is won.

Along with the shock, fear and loss many women face upon a breast cancer diagnosis comes unexpected strength, wisdom, and strong networks of sharing, support and healing. In Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul, survivors and their family members talk openly about how difficult their fight with breast cancer has been and how they made it through the dark times with a belief in a higher power and the support of those closest to them.

Find strength in the encouraging stories of how family members confront their fears and show genuine affection for one another through gestures such as a granddaughter cutting the hair off of all her dolls so that they will look more like her grandma, who is bald from chemotherapy, and the gentle touch of a three-year-old son on his mother's back giving comfort to his sick mommy, and a husband who shows his wife the depth of his love during a weekend getaway after she heals from a total mastectomy.
Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivors Soul will show you the beautiful side of the human spirit and spark the optimism sometimes lost in the mist of an illness. It is for everyone with breast cancer and everyone who loves someone touched by the disease.

Choices in Breast Cancer Treatment: Medical Specialists and Cancer Survivors Tell You What You Need to Know (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Miller, an oncologist and director of the Yale Cancer Center Survivorship Program, presents a unique and indispensable book for women facing breast cancer, which features individual chapters written by medical experts and breast cancer survivors. Asserting that knowledgeable people make different choices, for different reasons, Miller's overarching message is that each woman is unique, as is her experience with this life-threatening disease.

Because there are so many potential scenarios—based upon the tumor's size, the stage of cancer, etc.—treatment options vary, and women must decide which route to take in a timely fashion while simultaneously confronting their fears. Miller's approach provides the reader with the sense that she's had a private and unhurried consultation with each specialist: medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgeons. In addition the book includes personal accounts of survivors who have faced an array of experiences, from the woman whose mammogram reveals a lump just weeks before her wedding to the breast cancer statistician who is diagnosed with the very disease she is studying. This collection will help to fortify women making tough choices, offering invaluable information along with hope. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"An indispensable resource for any breast cancer patient or a patient's friends and family." -- Olivia Boler, Foreword


"Miller's approach provides the reader with the sense that she's had a private and unhurried consultation with each specialist: medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgeons... This collection will help to fortify women making tough choices, offering invaluable information along with hope." -- Publishers Weekly


"There is a great deal of very detailed information in this book." -- Sheila Thomas, Consumer Connection


"More than a standard reference guide... this book arms readers with knowledge, confidence, and hope as they begin their journey from sickness to health." -- American Journal for Nurse Practitioners


"This step-by-step guide offers newly diagnosed patients a path through the complex and often overwhelming array of information and decisions... helpful charts and illustrations accompany clearly presented medical information, all conveyed in an inclusive, supportive tone." -- Jody Rosen Knower, MAMM


"This is a useful book for patients and their families as it provides a good description of treatment options as well as tips from breast cancer survivors." -- Heidi H Richardson, MD, Doody's Review Service


"Appropriate for all women, their family members and friends, physicians, and other care providers... Recommended." -- Choice


"Highly recommended to every woman... and for community library health shelves in general." -- Midwest Book Review


"This fine book achieves the goal of providing clear and relevant medical information and guidance from specialists in order to help patients make treatment decisions. In addition, through the narratives of both patients and physicians, it will likely provide inspiration and hope to women who are confronting the challenge of breast cancer." -- Christina I. Herold, M.D., Informa Healthcare


"Finally -- one-stop reading for any woman facing breast cancer." -- Health for Women

Breast Cancer Survival Manual, Fourth Edition: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Woman With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer (

Amazon.com Review
In a valuable guide for women who have just been diagnosed with breast cancer, Dr. John Link helps sort through the confusion and the fear, by explaining such things as how to get a second opinion and how to understand a pathology report.

Particularly valuable is Link's step-by-step description of how breast cancer is characterized, or staged, according to tumor size, hormone receptors, and other factors--and how that affects prognosis. As a breast cancer specialist at Long Beach and Orange Coast Memorial hospitals in Southern California, Link knows the medical jargon and what it means. Although his writing style is at times a bit jargony and difficult to read, a breast cancer patient will willingly read and reread every word. The book also includes useful chapters on diet, exercise, herbs, and vitamins; managing the side effects of treatment; healing's mind-body connection; and organizing medical records and keeping a personal journal or log.

Ending on an encouraging note, Link writes, "You should know that most women today are cured of breast cancer. They undergo treatment, become survivors, and go on with their lives. But having breast cancer is certainly a wake-up call to many and may be for you. Life now has added uncertainty." This step-by-step manual helps you navigate the uncertainty and become a survivor, both physically and psychologically.

Review: By E. A. Lovitt "starmoth"

Dr. Link has written exactly what his title promises: a manual that will educate women on how to survive a diagnosis of breast cancer. He teaches us how to pick a team of specialists, how to make adjuvant therapy choices, management of side effects, diet. etc. Dr. Link is a practicing internist and oncologist, founder of the Breast Center in Long Beach, California, and also director of the Pacific Coast Breast Center in Torrance, California.

The author treats women with breast cancer, rather than having survived the disease himself, so the `Survival Manual' is a less personalized account than, say, "The Breast Cancer Companion" by Kathy Latour. It is written with one degree of separation, and teaches rather than consoles.

For example, he writes, "I think it is helpful to understand the mechanism of hair loss with these drugs so you realize its true temporary quality," rather than, "When our hair starts to fall out, it is yet another violation of our bodies and one that most women felt was much more visible and hard to conceal than the loss of a breast." (quoted from "The Breast Cancer Companion" by Kathy Latour.)

Dr. Link's writing style is very much exemplified by his introductory quotation: "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood---Marie Curie."

This is a very direct, honest book that can help women with newly-diagnosed breast cancer, "understand their situation and develop a plan to optimize a cure." It contains questions at the end of each chapter (called `checkpoints') that women should ask themselves during each stage of diagnosis and treatment, e.g. "Who is in charge of my surveillance after the end of treatment?" at the end of the chapter entitled, "Fear of Recurrence."

There is a good list of further breast cancer resources at book's end, including an Internet site with Dr. Link's continuing updates to this manual (breastlinkcare).

Breast Cancer Detection: - Primal Elements - Two Wick Color Bowl Candle (Breast Cancer Awareness)

Description
A sparkling pink glittered floating ribbon. Our ribbon Awareness products carry our popular Facets of the Sea aroma. Twelve-ounce Color Bowl Candles have an approximate burn time of 45-50 hours. Reusable glass bowl. Primal Elements donates 10% of the profit to Breast Cancer Awareness!

Features

* Hand-poured in small batches for optimum design and fragrance
* Only the highest quality wax and fragrances are used
* Translucent gel creates a stained glass window effect
* We use only cotton, lead-free wicks
* Long lasting fragrance

Breast Cancer Awareness : - Psi Bands, Drug-Free Wrist Bands for the Relief of Nausea

Description
Psi Bands (pronounced "Sigh Bands") are drug-free wrist bands for the relief of nausea due to morning sickness (pregnancy), motion sickness/travel, chemotherapy, and anesthesia. Psi Bands fit wrists measuring 5 ¼ inches up to 8 ¼ inches in diameter. Wear two at a time (2 come per package). Breathe a "Psi" of relief.


Important Information
Safety Information
Keep out of the reach of young children. This is not a toy. The dial, button, and collar are chocking hazards if removed. Use only as directed. Please see complete list of warnings on the package label and labeling, or visit the Psi Bands web site.

Directions
Place one band on the inside of each wrist, 2 1/2 finger widths above the center of your wrist crease between the wrist tendons. This area is known as the Nei-kuan acupressure point. Please check packaging for complete instructions.