October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

elenamammas
Oct 29, 2020
3 min read

Hi everyone! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease.

What Is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer starts in the cells of the breast. A cancerous tumor is a group of cells that can grow and destroy tissue. Also, it can spread to other parts of the body. Changes in the cells in breasts can lead to breast cancer. Usually, breast cancer begins to form in the cells that line the ducts, which are the tubes that carry milk from the glands to the nipple. This type of breast cancer is called ductal carcinoma. To add, another type of breast cancer is lobular carcinoma, which is when the cancer begins to form in the cells of the lobules. Furthermore, there are many other different types of breast cancer, however the two most common types are lobular carcinoma and ductal carcinoma.

Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Symptoms of breast cancer usually appear when the tumor grows large enough to be felt as a lump, or when the cancer spreads to surrounding tissue. Breast cancer symptoms include:

a firm or hard lump that feels very different from the rest of the breast
a lump in the armpit
changes in the shape or size of the breast
changes to the nipple, such as a nipple that suddenly starts to point inward
discharge that comes out of the nipple without having to squeeze it
bone pain
weight loss
nausea
loss of appetite
shortness of breath
cough
headache
double vision
muscle weakness
jaundice, which is when the skin and the whites of the eyes become yellow and urine becomes dark yellow

Where To Get Tested for Breast Cancer

If you experience any of the symptoms of breast cancer, you can get tested for the disease at a clinic, hospital, or doctor's office.

Screening tests help find some types of cancer before you have any symptoms. It's important to have these tests, even if you feel fine and have a healthy lifestyle.

Moreover, it's important to talk to your doctor to learn more about your risk of cancer and what screening tests you should have.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is every October, helps to increase attention and support for the awareness and early detection of the disease.

There are approximately 1.38 million new cases and 458,000 deaths from breast cancer each year! Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, The majority of the deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, where women with breast cancer find out about the disease in late stages.

Ways to Promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Wear a pink ribbon!
Donate the bras that you don't use anymore.
Share/post about Breast Cancer Awareness Month on social media.
Raise money and donate the money to a fundraiser. Donating money helps fund research to find a cure.
Talk to your friends, family, classmates, co-workers, etc. about breast cancer.

Raise your own awareness! :

Learn more about breast cancer.
Learn more about your personal risk.

Nonprofit Organizations

Here are some great and well-known nonprofit fundraising pages that raise breast cancer awareness:

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation: https://www.bcrf.org/events#/events/calendar/2014-10
National Breast Cancer Foundation: https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-fundraising
Susan G. Komen: http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR?fr_id=8186&pg=entry

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope that you have learned more about breast cancer and that you're motivated to raise awareness.

Sources:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/breast-cancer/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352475

https://www.who.int/cancer/events/breast_cancer_month/en/#:~:text=The%20Breast%20Cancer%20Awareness%20Month%2C%20marked%20in%20countries,as%20well%20as%20palliative%20care%20of%20this%20disease.

https://www.nature.com/collections/hbfhgegjac?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=NPJS_USG_HD01_GL_BCANCER_BCAM_Bing&utm_term=Breast%20Cancer%20Awareness%20Month&utm_content=BCAM%20collection

https://www.healthline.com/health/breast-cancer