Breast Cancer Disease

The world is filled with terrible things, many of which are health problems. These problems can be fatal, damaging, and can change lifes. This specific disease, breast cancer, affects more than 200,000 women a year. As many people know, cancer is caused by overgrowth of the cells in ones body. It is also caused by the start of a tumor or the growth of a pre-existing tumor.

Breast cancer is started like most cancers, with an overgrowth in the breast tissue which eventually turns into a tumor. In some cases, it can be felt as a lump. This type of cancer is very common in women, but not as common in men. Some of the symptoms of this cancer are lumps in the breasts, a shape change in the nipple, and discharge from the nipple. These are some of the symptoms to alert a person if breast cancer is present in ones body.

There are many ways that breast cancer can be detected. One of the many ways is by scheduling a mammogram with a doctor. A mammogram is a machine that uses mammography to find alarming masses in the breasts. A mammogram is also kind of like a x-ray. The second way of detecting breast cancer is by getting an ultrasound. This method is also used by doctors to check on a fetus in the mother’s stomach, and check its health and progress. The way that an ultrasound works is that it uses soundwaves to create a very complex and detailed map of the inside of wherever the tool is being placed/used. One last way of diagnosing breast cancer is by going to get regular breast check ups. These check ups will consist of a trained professional examining both breasts, both armpits, and lymph nodes near the breast tissue. If the doctor does not find anything, they may look in other places to make sure that everything is as it should be, and that they didn’t miss anything.

Once somebody is diagnosed with breast cancer, the doctors have to decide what stage the cancer is in. The stage of cancer also just means how extensive the progression is. To figure this out, the doctors have to do a series of tests that consist of blood tests, MRIs, PET scans, and bone scans. These all will accurately determine how severe your breast cancer is. The most common type of treatment is chemotherapy. This form of treatment is very harsh due to the amount of stress that is put on the body during the process. One of the many of the side effects of chemotherapy are a large amount of hair loss. To hide the hair loss, many people wear stocking caps and/ or large scarfs that cover the entire head. Some of the less severe symptoms consist of fatigue, being able to easily bruise or bleed, and vomiting. Depending on the severity of the cancer, a mastectomy might also be an available option. A mastectomy is where a surgeon would remove all of the affected tissue from the area so the patient does not have to go through the side effects of chemotherapy.

There are a few way that breast cancer is inherited. One of the ways is if the gene mutation BRCA1 or BRCA2 is passed from the parent to the offspring. BRCA stands for BReast CAncer. If wanted, one can be tested early in life to see if they have these breast cancer gene mutations. If they do, one can start cancer treatment early, if the treatment is started early, it will be less severe and it won’t be as harsh on the body. This is the best part gene testing, being able to catch brutal diseases before they have a chance to develop and progress. Breast cancer is a difficult life situation do deal with, that many women have to deal with daily, but can overcome.

Cite this page