Member Articles

Supporting Cancer Awareness, Giving a Voice

I thought I knew a lot until I was briefed with together with the great NSA Family at a Cancer Facility.

There are some Cancer types, and it will be good for you to know that the only part of the body that does not get cancer is the hair! The rest are prone to disease attack. Now, what is this thing called cancer? At first, I thought I knew, however, I discovered that I knew nothing beyond the name “cancer” and that it is a deadly disease as the society has made me know.

Cancer is abnormal growth of cells in the body. This happens at a faster rate compared to how old cells die making the body unable to “release” the dead cells. This leads to accumulation of the dead cells in the body leading to abnormal “tumours”.

Today I will focus on breast cancer. Now individuals both male and female can get this disease. However, it is common to ladies due to the exposure they get that renders them more vulnerable to obtaining cancer. What are some of these predisposing factors that may make them get cancer? What we wear! Our lifestyles! The perfumes and oil that we use. These cause the body react differently and makes the breast develop cancerous cells that make breast produce abnormal cells.

Causes of breast cancer

Experts are not definitively sure what causes breast cancer. It is hard to say why one person develops the disease while another does not. We know that some risk factors can impact on a woman's likelihood of developing breast cancer. These are:

Getting older

Genetics

A history of breast cancer

Having had certain types of breast lumps

Dense breast tissue

Estrogenic exposure

Obesity

Height

Alcohol consumption

Radiation exposure

HRT (hormone replacement therapy

Certain Jobs-Examples include bar/gambling, automotive plastics manufacturing, metal-working, food canning and agriculture.

The anatomy of a female breast

1. Chest wall. 2. Pectoralis muscles. 3. Lobules (glands that make milk). 4. Nipple surface. 5. Areola. 6. Lactiferous duct tube that carries milk to the nipple. 7. Fatty tissue. 8. Skin.

A mature human female's breast consists of fat, connective tissue and thousands of lobules - tiny glands which produce milk. The milk of a breastfeeding mother goes through small ducts (tubes) and is delivered through the nipple.

The breast, like any other part of the body, consists of billions of microscopic cells. These cells multiply in an orderly fashion - new cells are made to replace the ones that died.

In cancer, the cells multiply uncontrollably, and there are too many cells, progressively more and more than there should be.

Cancer that begins in the lactiferous duct (milk duct), known as ductal carcinoma, is the most common type. Cancer that starts in the lobules, known as lobular carcinoma, is much less common.

Symptoms of breast cancer

The first signs of breast cancer are usually an area of thickened tissue in the woman's breast or a lump. The majority of lumps are not cancerous; however, women should get them checked by a health care professional.

Women who detect any of the following signs or symptoms should tell their doctor

• A lump in a breast
• Pain in the armpits or breast that does not seem to be related to the woman's menstrual period
• Pitting or redness of the skin of the breast; like the skin of an orange
• A rash around (or on) one of the nipples
• A swelling (lump) in one of the armpits
• An area of thickened tissue in a breast
• One of the nipples has a discharge; sometimes it may contain blood
• The nipple changes in appearance; it may become sunken or inverted
• The size or the shape of the breast changes
• The nipple-skin or breast-skin may have started to peel, scale or flake.

 No to predisposing factors that may lead to abnormal production of cells.

By: Duncan Mnyogha