Nearly 40,000 women die of breast cancer every year; and an estimated 6,000 women, in their 40s, unnecessarily die from breast cancer. An estimated 1 percent of women and 1 percent of men will develop breast cancer in their life time. As a result, women in their 40s should have a mammogram every years, reports the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. Breasts are not part of the internal or external female genitalia. Instead, they are secondary sex characteristics (physical characteristics other than genitals that distinguish male from female). In physically mature women, the breasts are composed internally of fatty tissue and mammary, or milk, glands. There is little variation from woman to woman, in the amount of glandular tissue present in the breast, despite differences in size. This is why the amount of milk produced after childbirth does not correlate to the size of the breasts. Variation in breast size is due primarily to the amount of fatty tissue distributed around the gland. Breasts are a multitude of size and shapes, and it is common for one breast to be slightly larger than the other. Surgeries to enlarge or reduce breast size reflect the dissatisfaction many women or their spouse feel because the woman’s breast do not fit the cultural idea, as some believe that cleavage is in style. Many women like to have their breast well-displayed, in danger of busting out of their designer gowns. Breast augmentation practices may or may not be on the rise, data indicates that women are becoming more satisfied with their natural bodies. Not all women are meant to have huge or even moderate breast, some women are very petite, and that is normal. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with having huge or moderate breast.

The nipple is in the center of the areola, the darker area of the external breast. The areola contains sebaceous (oil producing) glands that help lubricate the nipples during breast-feeding. The openings of the mammary glands are in the nipples. Some nipples point outward from the breast, others are flush with the breast, and still others sink into the breast. The nipples become erect when small muscles at the base of the nipple contract in response to touch, sexual arousal or cold. Breast and nipple stimulation may be an important part of self-healthcare for women. Some women find breast and nipple touching neutral or unpleasant. However, others believe nipple and breast stimulation are an important source of pleasure and arousal during self-love or sexual interaction, as it builds the passion and sexual intensity that leads to a climax. A monthly breast examination is an important part of self-health care for women. This exam can help a woman know what is normal for her own breasts. She can do the breast exam herself and can teacher her partner to do it. However, many breasts normally feel lumpy, once a woman becomes familiar with her breasts, she can notice any alarming changes. If there is a change, it is recommended that one consults a medical doctor.

Nonetheless, this is reassuring, 90 percent of breast lumps, most of which are found by women, are not malignant. In addition, women should also have a mammography, which is a highly sensitive X – ray screening test to help detect cancerous breast cells and lumps. It uses low levels of radiation to create an image of the breast, called a mammogram, on film or paper. Mammography can often detect a breast lump up to several years before you can feel it manually; it can also sometimes find cancerous cell changes that occur even before a lump develops. You take such good care of your job, car and house, so be sure to perform the necessary maintenance on your body, when you are 40, that are when you should start having your mammograms, but if you are 50 or older, it is still not too late. With earlier detection of cancer, there is a dramatic decrease in mortality and a huge increase in breast-conserving treatments. The mammographic image also provides information about the type of tumor and the kinds of treatment needed. And lesbians need to pay special attention to their breasts because they tend to be screened less often than heterosexual women because they typically do not have birth control medical appointments.

 Three types of breast lumps can occur. The two most common are cysts, which are fluid-filled sacs; and fiboradenomas, which are solid, rounded tumors. Both are benign (not cancerous or harmful) tumors, and together they account approximately 80 percent of breast lumps. In some women, these lumps can create breast tenderness, ranging from mild to severe discomfort, which is called fibrocystic disease. The cause of fibrocystic disease is unknown, but believed to be hormonal related. Caffeine in coffee, tea, cola drinks, and chocolate may contribute to the development of benign breast lumps. Dietary changes that have helped some women reduce their symptoms include a diet high in green vegetables, milk, water, fruit, fish, chicken, and grains, and low in red meat, pork, fired foods, salt, processed foods, and avoid foods high in fats. Vitamin supplements of 600 units of vitamin E and vitamin B complex in 110-mg daily doses have also helped some women. And there is a third type of lump, which is known as a malignant lump or tumor (made up of cancer cells). In 2014, approximately 232,670 new cases, of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed, in women, in the United States, along with 62,570 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. That is a huge increase because back 2002, there were a reported 180,000 cases, so perhaps women are being more proactive about their healthcare. (Men can also get breast cancer, but it is very rare, only 1 percent of men ever actually suffer from the disease.) The risk of breast cancer rises with age; however, women in their 20 and 30s can still be hit with aggressive breast cancers with a high mortality rate. However, the good news is that since the 1950s, the number of deaths, from breast cancer, is steadily declining because of early detection.

Unfortunately, the five-year survival rate is lower for African American women than it is for European American women. Only 50 percent of African American women, diagnosed with breast cancers have early-stage and more treatable tumors compared to 62 percent of European American women. Hispanic women, on average, also have lager tumors, at diagnosis then European American women. Socioeconomic characteristics leading to differences in preventative health care probably account for the differences, especially in light of research that show physicians are less likely to refer women of lower incomes for mammograms, but the affordable health care act has granted everyone access to quality medical care, saving countless lives and preventing the spread of cancer. Certain risk factors increase a woman’s chance for breast cancer. Women who have lifetime cumulative estrogen exposure, menstruation before the age of 13, no pregnancies, first child after the age of 30 and subsequent children later in life, never breast fed a child, menopause after the age of 55, obesity, intact ovaries, family history of breast cancer, cancer in one breast, sedentary lifestyle, more than 14 alcoholic drinks a week and a high fat diet will greatly increase chances of having breast cancer. Exposure to environmental pollution, pesticides, chemicals, and radiation is a marginal cause of breast cancer, which is not really researched, but a contributing factor. Growing evidence indicates that some synthetic chemicals found in plastics, detergents, and pharmaceutical drugs mimic estrogen’s effects on the body and can cause cells to grow out of control and form tumors. Can we get an Ice Bucket challenge to bring more attention to breast cancer and spinal bifida?

Meanwhile, if a lump in found in your breast, further testing is necessary. I know a cancer scare might make you feel uneasy, but we have such great medical technology, and most problems can be corrected. Needle aspiration involves inserting a fine needle into the lump to determine if there is fluid inside. If so, it is usually a cyst and can be drained. Conversely, if not a cyst, a surgical biopsy of the tissue of any lump can be analyzed for cancer cells. This is reassuring, 75 percent of breast lump biopsies are negative for cancer. There is also a possible association between breast implants and a form of lymphoma that may develop tumors at a later stage. The researchers conclude that breast implants can cause a new subtype of the rare, yet malignant lymphoma known as Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL). Nearly, 147,000 women in the United States of America and Canada receive breast implants, and many ill have complications. Worldwide there have been 71 documented cases of patients with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) in which researchers suspected breast implants to be the cause. ALCL is normally found in the lymph nodes, as well as in skin, lung, liver and soft tissue, but not usually in the breast. Cases in which ALCL developed in the breast region almost exclusively involved patients who have had breast surgery.

 In these cases, ALCL developed around ten years after the operation. The tumors grew in the scar tissue around the implant. Even if implants do not cause cancer, 73 percent of women with saline implants experienced side effects and 27 percent of women had their implants removed within three years because of an infection, a broken or leaking implant, or painful scar tissue. In general, on any woman or in some rare cases men, once breast cancer is detected, several forms of treatment may be used and others are being developed. Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, lumpectomy (only the lump and small amounts of the surrounding tissue removed), mastectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the breast), or a combination of these procedures may be performed. In some cases, chemotherapy may be the first intervention used, in the hopes of reducing the tumor to allow more conservative surgery. With mastectomy, the amount of the breast and surrounding tissue that is removed by surgery varies from radical mastectomy (the entire breast, underlying muscle, and lymph nodes are removed) to simple mastectomy (breast tissue, the nipple and areola, and a sample of lymph nodes are removed) to lumpectomy. If the cancer is small, localized, and in an early stage, a lumpectomy with chemotherapy or radiation may provide as good a change of cure as a mastectomy. Breast-conserving surgeries have become a more common intervention in the last ten years.

 The loss of one or both breast is usually very signification and devastating to women, they are losing parts of their body they came to know and love and have grown up with (and to think, some women hide their breast to appear more rugged, and do not realize how grateful they are to be healthy women). Breast symbolizes many aspects of femininity and can be an important aspect of self-image. One journalist, who had a mastectomy, describes the many meanings her breasts symbolized during her life. “I remember the joy and power I felt as a young woman, I always enjoyed my breast, they were petite, but I was sexy and everyone knew it, they loved my legs, eyes, lips, hair, waists, and I was proud of my small breast because there was so much more to me. Even though my breasts were not as large as Tyra Bank’s or Pam Anderson, men still appreciated them. I even wanted them to be noticed under my sweaters, so I would wear shirts and dressed to display what I had, clothes that made me feel good as a woman. What pleasure I had nursing my children, rocking and being suckled by their small mouths, while their small hands patted my breast.” For this woman, she really enjoyed her breast, they were not only ornaments, but provided food for her children and helped her bond to her babies. (Some doctors recommend after about three months, putting children on formula like Gerber Rice Cereal because it has lots of vitamins and will help your baby stay well balanced. Also, breast feeding too long may cause breasts to sage, and it could expose your baby to hormones or chemicals in your system, which the baby may not need).

Furthermore, breast cancer and its treatments may adversely affect a woman’s sexuality. Women should not have to parade around like Lady Godiva to get you to understand that they are humans and have feelings, too. The stimulation of a woman’s breast, during love making, by massaging, licking or sucking—and the stimulation her partner receives from doing these things and from simply looking at her breasts—are often important components of sexual arousal, for both women and her partner; consequently, surgical removal of one or both breasts may create challenges in sexual adjustment for the couple. And some men might question why some women choose not to have implants after having their breasts removed, but it is not as simple as changing the tires on your car, the process and procedures are very emotional; for a man, it would like cutting your genitals off, and replacing them with something synthetic, might be appealing to some, but may not be something others want to experience. A mastectomy presents unique issues, for a woman, who is not in a long-term relationship. She may have difficulty deciding when to tell someone she is dating about her surgery. Her own feelings of acceptance and her judgment about timing are also important. In addition, she needs to understand that her partner will require some time to adjust to the information about her mastectomy. Still, it may help her to keep in mind that a loving relationship is based on more than just physical characteristics. Here is a fact that I want to leave you with, Aaliyah an American entertainer, was a member of American Cancer Society and advocate for Breast Cancer research because her aunt and grandmother had Breast cancer.