by JennM

Created on: July 24, 2009   Last Updated: May 23, 2012

There are many myths floating around about breast cancer. One of the most common myths is that only women with a family history of breast cancer are at risk for the disease. Although it is true that if there is family history of breast cancer, then your risk is higher, not having a family history does not completely take you out of the running for getting it.

Basically, if you have or have had breasts, you could one day develop cancer of the breast. Having a parent, sibling, or child with breast cancer doubles your risk of developing it and having two of those relatives with cancer even increases your chances more.Having other family members such as grandparents and aunts from both the mother and father's side can also increase a woman's chance of developing it.

A second myth is that there is little you can do if you are found to be at a high risk for breast cancer. Actually, there are several things that can be done to possibly lower the risk. If you are obese, losing weight by getting regular exercise and eliminating alcohol consumption is suggested. Quitting smoking, exploring chemoprevention treatments, and having a prophylactic mastectomy are other options to lower your risk. Doing all of these does not completely free you from all risks, but will likely put you in a lower risk category.

Another myth is that breast cancer always comes in the form of a lump. Not true. Swelling, dimpling, breast or nipple pain, nipple retraction, redness, scaliness, or nipple discharge could also be signs of breast cancer. Actually, IBC (inflammatory breast cancer) rarely results in a breast lump. The cancer could also be positioned within your breast, such as under your areola, that makes it difficult or impossible to notice or feel.

You may have also heard the myth that wearing antiperspirant or underwire bras can increase your risk of developing breast cancer. While there has been a small study which found small traces of parabens, a preservative found in some antiperspirants, in a tiny sample of breast cancer tumors, there has not been any proven evidence linking antiperspirants to the development of breast cancer.

The study was unable to identify the source of the parabens found in the tumors. Underwire bras have been claimed to cause toxins to accumulate and cause breast cancer but there is no scientific proof of this. Neither the type of bra a woman wears or the tightness of her clothes has any connection to breast cancer risk.

A fifth myth is that breast cancer is preventable. Unfortunately, it is not. It is possible to identify risk factors and make lifestyle changes than can lower your risk, but there is no way of completely eliminating all possible chances of developing it. Because of this, women should get regular breast exams and mammograms annually when reaching the age of 40 or sooner of you are at a higher risk level. If cancer is identified during one of the mammograms, there is the chance that it was caught early enough to be treatable.

The bottom line is that every woman does have the risk of developing breast cancer. Many different factors play into each individual woman's risk such as age, weight, family history, and so forth and those risks do increase as you get older. The chance of being diagnosed while in your 30s is about 1 in 233 and by the time you are age 85 the chance increases to 1 in 8.

Although this article is about breast cancer in women, men can get breast cancer too. It is rare and about 100 times more common in women than men, but it is something to not be overlooked for either men or women.

All information herein was obtained from Health.com at http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,202 15573,00.html

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