Women’s health should start with lifestyle changes
There are about 170,000 new cases of breast cancer in China every year, and breast cancer has ranked first in the incidence of malignant tumors among women in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and other cities. Every year, October is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which aims to advocate women to take breast health as their responsibility, expecting more women to pay attention to their breast health, and at the same time to pass love and hope to more and more women. Experts pointed out that the characteristics of breast cancer in China are getting closer to those of developed countries, but the age of prevalence is smaller than that of developed countries, and the so-called “leftover women”, older single women and dinkies are more prone to this disease. This is closely related to the lifestyle habits of the urban population, such as the risk of breast cancer is higher for women who have their first child over 30 years old or who have not given birth or breastfeeding than for other people.
Every year, October is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which aims to advocate women to take breast health as their responsibility and expect more women to pay attention to their breast health, while passing love and hope to more and more women.
In China, breast cancer is the most common cancer in the female population, and there are many famous people we are familiar with, such as Li Ting and Ah Sang, among the patients. This year, the movie “The Breast Cancer Diaries”, which created a myth in TV ratings, was a silent and silent show about the battle against cancer. The diary of the fight against cancer – “this life is not finished”.
The incidence of breast cancer in China is about 170,000 new cases per year, and breast cancer has been ranked the first in the incidence of malignant tumors among women in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and other cities. At present, the characteristics of breast cancer in China are getting closer to those of developed countries, but the age of incidence is smaller than that of developed countries, and older single women “leftover women” and Dinky family are more likely to suffer from this disease. This is closely related to the living habits of the urban population.
Only 5% of breast cancer is hereditary, stress, personality and bad habits are all triggers
The official website of the American Cancer Society has a noteworthy information that “about 5-10% of breast cancers can be attributed to hereditary constitution.” It is true that family history of breast cancer is a key consideration for doctors when diagnosing, but this data tells us that family genetics is not an absolute factor in breast cancer, and the majority of breast cancer patients develop the disease from themselves. With the premise that breast cancer is getting younger, older unmarried women who have not had children are at high risk of breast cancer.
Experts point out that there is no definite cause of breast cancer, but many current studies on patients show that the risk of breast cancer is higher for women who have their first child over the age of 30 or who have not given birth and are not breastfeeding than for other people, while other factors closely related to the development of breast cancer include work-life stress, personality, eating habits, exercise habits and even maintenance habits. These are the common living conditions of urban “leftover women”.
When reflecting on the cause of her illness, Yu Juan said, “Because of her competitive personality, she likes to do her best in everything, and in order to become an associate professor as soon as possible, she has never slept before 12 pm. Despite the achievement in her career, she owed it to her body.” This situation is common in the group of breast cancer patients.
Regarding the causes of breast cancer incidence, the unified view of domestic experts is that the high protein, high nutrition, high fat and high hormone diet of urban women is a major factor in the elevated incidence of breast cancer. Many experts have hinted that obese people have a far higher incidence of breast cancer than thin people, especially women who like to gorge on meat. Experts believe that fat is the soil for producing estrogen, and excessive fat interferes with the level of estrogen in the body, and the disruption of estrogen level is closely related to women suffering from gynecological tumors such as breast cancer and cervical cancer.
There are also high estrogenic factors, such as excessive use of high protein and high hormone content health products, which may also cause breast disease attacks. Some women use breast enlargement products, which contain estrogen that will inevitably bring about endocrine disruption and the risk of cancerous breast tissue. For example, many women who love beauty like to take snow clams to achieve younger skin and fuller breasts, but excessive intake of such estrogen-rich supplements can cause metabolic disorders.
Women should pay attention to their own body first and develop the good habit of monthly self-examination and regular medical check-ups.
The three key words of breast cancer are “early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment”, and nowadays the cure rate of stage I breast cancer can reach over 90%. In fact, there are various forms of breast cancer, and its external manifestation may not be just a lump or a small pit as we think. Yao Bei Na initially found a dimple-like pit on her left breast when she looked in the mirror. Her intuition told her that it was not good, so she went to the hospital where doctors operated on her and the pathology section proved that she had breast cancer. Due to early detection, her disease was still in the early stage. After surgery and chemotherapy, she is now as healthy as before.
Nowadays, many women are very conscious of health care and have regular mammograms. If detected in time, the cure rate of early breast cancer is very high. For women in different age groups, there are different considerations for self-examination. For women aged 20 to 40, they should develop the habit of self-examining their breasts every month; for women over 20, it is recommended to have an annual breast ultrasound; for those who have a family history of breast cancer or are over 30, they should have an annual mammogram in addition to the breast ultrasound.
The golden time for self-examination is within one week after menstruation, when the hormone level in the body drops and the state of the breast is most relaxed, which is conducive to mammography. The best choice is to take a bath, after applying the bathing liquid on your body, follow the order from inside up – outside up – outside down – inside down, stroking with a little force, and find any abnormal protrusions or other abnormalities should promptly go to the hospital for examination. During the self-examination, you should pay special attention to the upper outer area of the breast, where more than half of the breast cancers occur. However, self-examination cannot detect all early breast cancers, because not all breast cancers manifest as abnormal lumps.
In the face of breast cancer, we all need the courage to face the disease and change our lives
”In the 10 years since the Pink Ribbon was introduced to China, the mortality rate caused by breast cancer is decreasing year by year because of the promotion of the concept of “early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment”. The theme of this year’s “Pink Ribbon” campaign is “Courage”. We all need courage to face breast cancer.
”One of the significant differences between breast cancer and other cancers is the enormous damage to a woman’s psyche; no one will be indifferent once they learn they are going to lose their breast.” Currently, the main treatment options for breast cancer are surgery, radiotherapy, molecular targeted therapy and endocrine therapy. Among them, surgery is the process that most patients must go through. As an oncologist, I can understand the psychology of female patients, but in the actual surgery, whether a patient can “breast conserve” or not is based on the condition rather than the patient’s request. If the tumor is large, the boundary is unclear, and the calcification point is large, the breast needs to be removed under normal circumstances.
Nowadays, for breast cancer patients, they can choose to have breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Every year, more than 1000 breast cancer patients in China have their breasts reconstructed, and the result of the surgery can reach the level that “when you take off your clothes and stand in front of the mirror, nothing can be seen except the surgery scars”. Breast cancer patients can have a new breast reconstructed at the same time as the mastectomy, and the repair surgery can be performed immediately after the mastectomy, which can reduce the time of hospitalization and result in a better shape of the reconstructed breast and shorter recovery period.
In the face of breast cancer, we also need to have the courage to change our lives. Many breast cancer patients summarize the reason for their illness by saying that they are too strong. Although they cannot be labeled indiscriminately, breast cancer can indeed be defined as a lifestyle disease. Relying on doctors’ treatment can only relieve the immediate threat.
Learn from the good example of celebrities, health starts from changing lifestyle
Jiang Wenli, 43 years old, bravely acted as the spokesperson of the “Pink Ribbon” campaign this year and showed her body for the “Pink Ribbon” annual photo shoot, because the actress Li Ting, who just died of breast cancer, was her college classmate.
The woman should learn to love and cherish herself, learn to find happiness and joy for herself, and pay attention to the foundation of good health for her body. The first thing is to pay attention to the regularity of diet. Her experience is to eat less food containing estrogen and to eat lightly. When she is not working, she chooses not to wear a bra as much as possible.
Jiang is also a practicing breastfeeding mother who believes that breastfeeding will make both mother and child healthier. She recommends that women add some cheese to their diet, and her own private snack is mash. In addition, Jiang Wenli also recommends women to have breast massage before and after their period because it is common for women to have swollen and painful breasts or slight lobular growths before and after their period. Using shower gel as lubrication and massaging the breasts inward in a circular motion in the shower can help reduce lumps and swelling.
Star Chen also recommends breast massage. She said that using the opportunity to do self-massage in the shower not only does breast health care, but also does breast self-examination, killing two birds with one stone. Her maintenance experience is to eat regularly and sleep well. Chen believes that women with good qi and blood will have a healthier body, and minor problems such as breast enlargement will gradually decrease.
Hai Qing is often involved in health-related public welfare activities, in life is more careful and thoughtful. Although it is difficult to have a regular life as an entertainer, she still requires herself to go to bed at least two-thirds of the time before 10:30 a.m. and get up at 7 a.m. She usually chooses organic food as much as possible in her diet. Every morning she wakes up with a glass of warm water on an empty stomach, drinks soup before meals, and usually takes care to drink as much water as possible.
When she is busy with her work, she pays attention to vitamin supplementation and never forgets to keep exercising. She usually stews herself some iced sugar snow pear, red bean barley and other soups to do maintenance, which she said is much healthier than taking health care drugs.
”Leftover women, care for your breasts and breast cancer, start from changing your lifestyle!