Chronic Disease

Amanda Mason

SCI/ 162

3- 17- 2013

Dorothy Bailey

One in eight women will develop breast cancer, a serious disease, over their lifetime. Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that can grow into surrounding tissues or spread to distant areas of the body. Breast cancer mostly occurs in women, but men can also get it. There are a few risk associated with this disease.

Approximately five to ten percent of breast cancers are caused by genetic factors,(family), according to the Mayo Clinic. Other risk factors associated with breast cancer includes, obesity, drinking alcoholic beverages, using hormone replacement therapy medications for menopause, developing menstrual periods before the age of twelve and having your first child after the age of thirty-five.

My results shown that I am very much below average, which means I have few or no risk factors for developing breast cancer. Since I answered, I drink less than one alcoholic beverage a day, I am already reducing my risk of breast cancer. Limiting alcohol can also decrease the risk of colon cancer, hypertension, stroke and osteoporosis. I also do not take birth control pills, which lowers my risk of breast cancer.

My recommendations are to keep up my current healthful behaviors, adopt additional healthful behaviors when I am ready and get a screening for breast cancer, even though I am at a low risk of getting breast cancer. My recommendation to myself is to talk to my family about what diseases run in the family, so I can do my best to avoid getting them.

I would definitely make lifestyle changes in my life because I do not want to be at risk of getting breast cancer. I will try and do my best to lose weight. My weight is pretty high when combined with my height. My results stated that fat tissue produces estrogen and may cause breast tissue to become malignant. Being overweight is related to other...