Risk Factors For Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women after skin cancer, and the second leading cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer). While no one knows exactly why breast cancer develops, certain factors are known to increase your risk of this disease. It's also important to realize that some women with many risk factors never get breast cancer, and that the majority of women who do get the disease have few or no risk factors.
A woman can change some of her risk factors, but not others. For example, eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise may lower you risk of breast cancer. On the other hand, just getting older and a family history of breast cancer cannot be modified.
The following table lists some of the factors that are recognized to increase or decrease your risk of breast cancer:
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Mother or sister had breast cancer at a young age
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Large Increase
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Mother or sister had breast cancer after age 70
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Moderate Increase
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Both mother and sister had breast cancer at any age
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Large increase
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Personally carrying a known breast-cancer gene such as BRCA1 or BRCA2
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Very large increase
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Medical Treatment
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Previous high-dose radiation exposure to the chest
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Large increase
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Current use of hormone-replacement therapy
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Moderate increase
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Current or recent use of birth-control pills
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Slight increase
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Lifestyle And Habits
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Having 2 or more drinks of alcohol per day
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Moderate increase
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Getting regular exercise
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Slight decrease
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Breast-feeding your children
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Slight decrease
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Being overweight
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Moderate increase
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