We’re midway through October and our breast cancer awareness campaign. So far we have raised £4716 for Breast Cancer Now!
Here are a few key facts about breast cancer…
Breast cancer isn’t caused by one single factor. It is a combination of our lifestyle, our genes and the environment we live in. Someone in the UK is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes and it affects around 55,000 women every year.
Factors That Can’t Be Changed
There are some factors related to breast cancer that unfortunately we can’t change. Being a woman is one of them. Although men do get breast cancer it is much rarer in a man than a woman.
Your family history can also be a decisive factor. If you have a family history of breast cancer then you might be more at risk of developing the disease than someone who has no family history of breast cancer at all.
Age also influences breast cancer. 80% of breast cancer happen to women over the age of 50. In men, it is 60.
Lifestyle and Diet
Lifestyle changes can help reduce the risk of breast cancer.
If you are overweight try and come down to a healthy weight. You can do this by eating fewer convenience foods and adding more vegetables and fruits to your diet. Cooking for yourself from scratch is a good way of getting to know how much fat and sugar is in your diet. Read food labels and try and reduce your intake of sugar and saturated fat.
Cut down smoking and keep to safe alcohol levels. Alcohol is known to raise oestrogen levels as well as folic acid and other hormones which are thought to increase the risk of cancer. It’s not certain that smoking causes breast cancer, but there is no doubt that it does cause other cancers and there could be a link between the two.
Get more exercise. Even if it’s just a stroll in the park every day, it’s better than doing nothing. If you like swimming try and arrange to go with a friend a couple of times a week or get your old bike out of the shed. You never know, as well as helping you reduce your breast cancer risk, you might also have some fun.
The Good News
Over the past 40 years, the survival rate for breast cancer has doubled. 87% of women with breast cancer survive for 5 years or longer. Faster diagnosis and treatment is helping more than 600,000 people to stay alive after a breast cancer diagnosis. SkinBase is helping to raise awareness during October as well as raising money to help with important research.
How to Help
Share our posts on Facebook to spread awareness, early detection is really important and knowing how to check your breasts could make all the difference. Or simply lie back and relax –Book a SkinBase treatment during October and £1 from your treatment will be donated to Breast Cancer Now.
