– Findings reveal that out of every 100, 000 Nigerian women, at least 116 will come up with breast carcinomas in their lifetime
– Diet and parental factors play major roles in predisposing a person to all types of cancers
A woman’s two breasts are one of her major assets and natural endowments. These are what attract the men folk. Scientific research has dismissed the notion that women are the reason for having only female children. However, the same science, has also proven that a woman could come up with breast cancer, by not having children, either male or female.
Cancers occur as a result of abnormal division and proliferation of cells in the body. It is sad and pathetic, to know that some Nigerian women still come up with breast cancer at later stages of their life, despite breast cancer education and public health awareness. Share on Facebook
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| A woman checking her breasts |
1. Heredity
Heredity is the transmission of parental characters to their offspring (child). For instance, a child who is said to be a chip off the old block, is a child, who looks exactly like his father. It means such a child inherited all the features of his father.
For breast cancer likewise, as in other diseases, a woman can inherit the genes (traits) responsible for breast cancer from her mother, if her mother had the disease. Even if her mother does not have the disease, but her grandmother had it, there is a probability of her coming up with breast cancer
2. Frequent abortion
This practice is common among some young girls, when they are still actively involved in sexual affair with a particular man, or with more than two or three men. There have been reported cases of ladies, who have gone for abortion more than 13 times.
The reason frequent abortion could cause breast cancer is that, when a lady is pregnant, at a particular stage, her breasts would begin to secrete milk, rich in lactose. As this milk is not used to feed any baby, they are unused, and in turn, will have an adverse effect on the two breasts.
3. Childlessness
It is also known as null parity. A woman who does not have a child in her lifetime faces a high risk of having breast cancer. This is so, because, the major function of her breast, which is milk production to feed a child, is not achieved.
4. Early exposure to menstrual flow
The first menstruation of a girl-child is known as menarche. Due to the diet some girl-children are exposed to at an early stage of their lives or other environmental factors, they start menstruating very early. A child who starts menstruating between age nine and 10, faces a greater risk of breast cancer, when she becomes an adult.
5. Large breasts
Although, the size of a woman’s breasts could determine how men are attracted to her. However, women with large breasts as a result of obesity, may come up with breast cancer. Obesity itself, is a predisposing factor to many other diseases.
6. Hormone replacement
Some women meet surgeons, who carry out the replacement of some sexual hormones in them. Also, hormone therapy may make a woman look more adorable, but the therapy creates another health hazard for the woman’s breasts.
7. Absence of exclusive breastfeeding
In a nursing mother, immediately after she delivers her baby, the traditional birth attendants or the midwives, who took charge of her delivery, will put the nipples of her breasts into the mouth of her new-born baby to suck milk.
Exclusive breastfeeding means, a nursing mother must feed the new born baby, with only milk from her two breasts, without any additional food supplements, for the first six months, after giving birth to the child. It is a disservice to the child and the mother herself, if she does not practise this six months mandatory exclusive breastfeeding.
8. Late marriage
Apart from the risk of coming up with fibroid, a form of cancer, which women who do not marry early face, breast cancer is another type of cancer, they may have. The thought of career, taken over every thing in the lives of women, is what should be given a second thought. Why do women who marry late come up with breast cancer? The simple scientific proof and answer to this is that, when the breasts are not producing milk, for a baby to suck, there will be accumulation of body substances, which will trigger abnormal multiplication of cancer-causing cells in women. The result being is breast cancer.
9. Prolonged use of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs)
Oral contraceptive pills are taken to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant. This may sound nice for a lady. OCPs are taken by advocates of family planning. However, extensive and prolonged use of OCPs create other problems for a woman. Extensive public health findings have shown that, there is strong association between the use of OCPs and risk of coming up with breast cancers.
10. Late menopause
When a woman does not get to menopause after some years of not giving birth again, this also poses a high risk of her, having breast cancer. A woman, who is still menstruating, when she is beyond 50 years old, has a high risk of coming up with cancer of the breast.
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