11 Things Cancer Researchers Wish You Knew About Breast Cancer Prevention
As everything turns pink in October for breast cancer awareness month, it’s important for women to remember this: breast cancer isn’t prevented, treated, nor survived in just one month out of the year. More than 250,000 new cases of “invasive” breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2019, and almost 70,000 cases of “non-invasive.” One in eight women, or 12%, will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, meaning the cancer is in the surrounding breast tissue and accounts for about 80% of all breast cancer diagnoses.
With only 10% of breast cancer cases being inherited, or genetic, it’s important to know, understand, and practice preventions that could very well save your life.
While there are dozens of ways to prioritize your health to prevent disease, here are 11 things we think every woman can attain in her effort to prevent breast cancer.
Know Your Roots
We’re not talking original hair color (who even knows what that is)...we’re talking about your mom, grandmothers, aunts, even uncles and grandpas. Did they have breast cancer? Do you carry the BrCa gene? Talk to your family about your history, and talk to your doctor about genetic testing (especially if you can’t access that information).