Tags Posts tagged with "Breast Cancer"

Breast Cancer

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Chief Executive Officer, Bridgeway Microfinance Bank, Mrs. Obiageli Ibennah, has urged women to screen regularly for breast cancer in order to prevent death and morbidity from the disease.

Ibennah said this on Saturday during a free breast screening programme organised for 400 women living in the Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi area of Lagos. The bank, which partnered George Kerry Life Foundation to conduct the exercise, also trained the women on how to perform the breast self-examination.

According to Ibennah, the screening programme was aimed at creating awareness and curbing the incidence of the disease for quality family life. She said that early detection could make a difference between survival and becoming malignant.

She added that the programme was an initiative of the bank aimed at promoting good health among women entrepreneurs to enable them scale up their businesses.

“To commemorate the breast cancer awareness month, we have decided to partner with George Kerry Life Foundation in screening women for breast cancer. The foundation has screened over 8,000 women and has prevented about 800 women from developing full blown cancer. So we thought the best way to fight the scourge would be to partner with the foundation because it has been committed to the cause,” she said.

The Chief Executive, GKLF, Matilda Kerry-Osazuwa, stated that the partnership was to provide essential screening services to women who could not afford it. She added that a walk is being planned to raise funds for breast cancer patients.

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Breast cancer is said to be the commonest type of cancer afflicting women in both developed and developing countries.

According to the World Health Organisation, its frequency in developing world is on the rise, contrary to the belief that it is a disease of the developed world. For instance, the WHO said almost 50 per cent of cases and 58 per cent of deaths from breast cancer occur in developing countries.

Scientists say that cancer can strike almost any part of the body. Researchers have also said that cancerous cells were normal cells before undergoing some changes which made them cancerous.

The Chief Medical Director, Medical Art Centre, Professor Oladapo Ashiru, says toxins or carcinogens in the environment, as well as food and contraceptives can be linked to breast cancer.

In an article titled ‘What every woman needs to know about cancer’, Ashiru said, “Carcinogens linked to breast cancer include ethyl alcohol, tobacco smoke, aromatic amines in plastics and DES in contraceptives. Recently the wearing of bras with metallic supports has been linked to breast cancer.

“The study of toxins and ‘carcinogenesis’ (development of cancer) is a very complex and dynamic field as more and more toxins are discovered. As noted before, toxins can be in the water you drink, your food, immediate environment (work, schools, house and other places), pesticides, solvents and so on. Toxins are involved in carcinogenesis, a very complex and sometimes poorly understood topic. It is pertinent to note that cancer cells are usually normal cells at first that undergo certain changes that cause them to begin to divide in an uncontrollable manner and spread.’’

Prevention is still the best cure

With the disease and its grave effects on the rise, experts have said that prevention, through a monthly self-examination,  is important in detecting the disease early and seeking treatment.

For instance, a Consultant Oncologist with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Remi Ajekigbe,  says that women and girls need to learn the process of breast self-examination.

According to him, early detection is important in cutting mortality rate.

“The incidence of all cancers is increasing. But that of breast cancer is even worse. Unfortunately we are still seeing patients presenting late. Cancer of the breast is on the increase but this may be due to increasing awareness. Wea re tellign women to examine their breasts. It is your breast, you see it and touch it everyday. If you notice any change in the shape or you notice a discharge, come to the hospital immediately. Any liquid that comes out of the breast aside from breast milk should be sent to the pathologists for examination. The chances of surviving breast cancer increases when it is detected early. But most patients present late and this is why we need to improve on awareness. When it comes to any type of cancer, prevention is the best cure,’’ he says.

Self-examination

Breast cancer screening can be done through mammogram, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound scan and breast self-examination. But experts say the latter is the first in a long process of life-saving measures that can stop breast cancer in its tracks.

According to the Executive Director, Care, Organisation, Public Enlightenment, Mrs. Ebunola Anozie, the first symptom of breast cancer that most women notice is a lump or an area of thickened tissue in the breast. “Most lumps are not cancerous but it is always best to have them checked by your doctor,’’ she says.

Anozie,  whose non-governmental organisation provides free breast screening and support for breast cancer patients and survivors respectively, says  that BSE should ideally start with a visual inspection and then a manual inspection with the hands. She advises that women should first leave their hands out and check for lumps and depressions around the breasts and towards the armpits.

“In the privacy of your bathroom, strip to the waist and stand before a mirror. You will need to see both breasts at the same time. Stand with your hands on your hips and check the appearance of your breasts. Look at size, shape, and contour. Note changes, if any, in the skin color or texture. Look at the nipples and areolas, to see how healthy they look.

“Raise your left arm overhead and use your right-hand fingers to apply gentle pressure to the left breast. Stroke from the top to the bottom of the breast, moving across from the inside of the breast all the way into your armpit area. You can also use a circular motion, being sure to cover the entire breast area. Take note of any changes in texture, colour, or size. Switch sides and repeat. This is best done in the shower, as wet skin will have the least resistance to the friction of your fingers.

“Still facing the mirror, lower both arms. With the index and middle fingers of your right hand, gently squeeze the left nipple and pull forward. Does the nipple spring back into place? Does it pull back into the breast? Note whether or not any fluid leaks out. Reverse your hands and check the right nipple in the same way.

Place a pillow on the bed so that you can lie with both your head and shoulders on the pillow. Lie down and put your left hand behind your head. Use your right hand to stroke the breast and underarm.”

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A non-governmental organisation, Health Education and Empowerment Initiative, has expressed regrets that many Nigerian women are victims of cancer as a result of ignorance about the disease.

The Executive Director of the organisation, Mrs. Folasade Ofurune, in a statement issued after an enlightenment programme by HEDEN at Oniyoyo community, Robiyan, Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, said the organisation had discovered that many women were still unaware of cancer and the dangers it posed.

She said, “It is regrettable that despite the on-going campaigns about cancer, many women are still unaware of the killer disease. That is why we have continued to intensify efforts at spreading the news and educating women generally on how to discover cancer at the early stage and move against it.

“The World Health Organisation has said that one in every eight women is at risk of having breast cancer in a lifetime; and that makes the awareness and diagnosis of breast cancer very compelling.”

Ofurune said her fears were confirmed by some of those at the programme who declared that they had never heard about cancer until the campaign.

She stressed the need for breast self-examination, noting that early detection saved lives.

She urged women to engage in such self-examination after their monthly period and report any unusual sign to a doctor. She also encouraged women to go for breast screening yearly for early detection.

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1.Filter your Tap water.

You’ll reduce your exposure to known or suspected carcinogens and hormone-disrupting chemicals. A report from the President’s Cancer Panel on how to reduce exposure to carcinogens suggests that home-filtered tap water is a safer bet than bottled water, whose quality often is not higher—and in some cases is worse—than that of municipal sources, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group. (Consumer Reports’ top picks for faucet-mounted filters: Culligan, Pur Vertical, and the Brita OPFF-100.) Store water in stainless steel or glass to avoid chemical contaminants such as BPA that can leach from plastic bottles.

 

2.Stop tapping your tank

So say the EPA and the President’s Cancer Panel: Pumping one last squirt of gas into your car after the nozzle clicks off can spill fuel and foil the pump’s vapor recovery system, designed to keep toxic chemicals such as cancer-causing benzene out of the air, where they can come in contact with your skin or get into your lungs.

3. Marinate meat first

Processed, charred, and well-done meats can contain cancer-causing heterocyclic amines, which form when meat is seared at high temperatures, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which get into food when it’s charcoal broiled. “The recommendation to cut down on grilled meat has really solid scientific evidence behind it,” says Cheryl Lyn Walker, PhD, a professor of carcinogenesis at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. If you do grill, add rosemary and thyme to your favorite marinade and soak meat for at least an hour before cooking. The antioxidant-rich spices can cut HCAs by as much as 87%, according to research at Kansas State University.

4.Caffeinate everyday

Java lovers who drank 5 or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 40% decreased risk of brain cancer, compared with people who drank the least, in a 2010 British study. A 5-cup-a-day coffee habit reduces risks of oral and throat cancer almost as much. Researchers credit the caffeine: Decaf had no comparable effect. But coffee was a more potent protector against these cancers than tea, which the British researchers said also offered protection against brain cancer.

5.Water down your risk

Drinking plenty of water and other liquids may reduce the risk of bladder cancer by diluting the concentration of cancer-causing agents in urine and helping to flush them through the bladder faster. Drink at least 8 cups of liquid a day, suggests the American Cancer Society.

6.Load up on good greens

Next time you’re choosing salad fixings, reach for the darkest varieties. The chlorophyll that gives them their color is loaded with magnesium, which some large studies have found lowers the risk of colon cancer in women. “Magnesium affects signaling in cells, and without the right amount, cells may do things like divide and replicate when they shouldn’t,” says Walker. Just 1/2 cup of cooked spinach provides 75 mg of magnesium, 20% of the daily value.

7.Snack on Brazil Nuts

They’re a stellar source of selenium, an antioxidant that lowers the risk of bladder cancer in women, according to research from Dartmouth Medical School. Other studies have found that people with high blood levels of selenium have lower rates of dying of lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Researchers think selenium not only protects cells from free radical damage but also may enhance immune function and suppress formation of blood vessels that nourish tumors.

8.Burn off your risk.

Moderate exercise such as brisk walking 2 hours a week cuts risk of breast cancer 18%. Regular workouts may lower your risks by helping you burn fat, which otherwise produces its own estrogen, a known contributor to breast cancer.

9.Skip the Dry cleaner

A solvent known as perc (short for perchloroethylene) that’s used in traditional dry cleaning may cause liver and kidney cancers and leukemia, according to an EPA finding backed in early 2010 by the National Academies of Science. The main dangers are to workers who handle chemicals or treated clothes using older machines, although experts have not concluded that consumers are also at increased cancer risk. Less toxic alternatives: Hand-wash clothes with mild soap and air-dry them, spot cleaning if necessary with white vinegar.

10.Ask about Breast Density

Women whose mammograms have revealed breast density readings of 75% or more have a breast cancer risk 4 to 5 times higher than that of women with low density scores, according to recent research. One theory is that denser breasts result from higher levels of estrogen—making exercise particularly important (see #8). “Shrinking your body fat also changes growth factors, signaling proteins such as adipokines and hormones like insulin in ways that tend to turn off cancer-promoting processes in cells,” Walker says.

11.Head off Cell-phone risks

Use your cell phone only for short calls or texts, or use a hands-free device that keeps the phone—and the radio frequency energy it emits—away from your head. The point is more to preempt any risk than to protect against a proven danger: Evidence that cell phones increase brain cancer risk is “neither consistent nor conclusive,” says the President’s Cancer Panel report. But a number of review studies suggest there’s a link.

12. Block Cancer with colour

Choosing your outdoor outfit wisely may help protect against skin cancer, say Spanish scientists. In their research, blue and red fabrics offered significantly better protection against the sun’s UV rays than white and yellow ones did. Don’t forget to put on a hat: Though melanoma can appear anywhere on the body, it’s more common in areas the sun hits, and researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found that people with melanomas on the scalp or neck die at almost twice the rate of people with the cancer on other areas of the body.

13.Pick a Doctor with a past.

Experience—lots of it—is critical when it comes to accurately reading mammograms. A study from the University of California, San Francisco, found that doctors with at least 25 years’ experience were more accurate at interpreting images and less likely to give false positives. Ask about your radiologist’s track record. If she is freshly minted or doesn’t check a high volume of mammograms, get a second read from someone with more mileage.

14. Eat clean foods

The President’s Cancer Panel recommends buying meat free of antibiotics and added hormones, which are suspected of causing endocrine problems, including cancer. The report also advises that you purchase produce grown without pesticides and wash conventionally grown food thoroughly to remove residues. (The foods with the most pesticides: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, and blueberries. See the full list of dirtiest fruits and vegetables here.) “At least 40 known carcinogens are found in pesticides and we should absolutely try to reduce exposure,” Sellers says.

15.Do a folic acid check

The B vitamin, essential for women who may become or are pregnant to prevent birth defects, is a double-edged sword when it comes to cancer risk. Consuming too much of the synthetic form (not folate, found in leafy green veggies, orange juice, and other foods) has been linked to increased colon cancer risk, as well as higher lung cancer and prostate cancer risks. Rethink your multivitamin, especially if you eat a lot of cereal and fortified foods. A CDC study discovered that half of supplement users who took supplements with more than 400 mcg of folic acid exceeded 1,000 mcg per day of folic acid. Most supplements pack 400 mcg. Individual supplements (of vitamin D and calcium, for instance) may be a smarter choice for most women who aren’t thinking of having kids.

16. Increase your Calcium intake.

Milk’s main claim to fame may also help protect you from colon cancer. Those who took calcium faithfully for 4 years had a 36% reduction in the development of new precancerous colon polyps 5 years after the study had ended, revealed Dartmouth Medical School researchers. (They tracked 822 people who took either 1,200 mg of calcium every day or a placebo.) Though the study was not on milk itself, you can get the same amount of calcium in three 8-ounce glasses of fat-free milk, along with an 8-ounce serving of yogurt or a 2- to 3-ounce serving of low-fat cheese daily.

17. Commit to whole grains

You know whole wheat is better for you than white bread. Here’s more proof why you should switch once and for all: If you eat a lot of things with a high glycemic load—a measurement of how quickly food raises your blood sugar—you may run a higher risk of colorectal cancer than women who eat low-glycemic-load foods, found a Harvard Medical School study involving 38,000 women. The problem eats are mostly white: white bread, pasta, potatoes, and sugary pastries. The low-glycemic-load stuff comes with fiber.

18. Pay attention to pains

If you’re experiencing a bloated belly, pelvic pain, and an urgent need to urinate, see your doctor. These symptoms may signal ovarian cancer, particularly if they’re severe and frequent. Women and physicians often ignore these symptoms, and that’s the very reason that this disease can be deadly. When caught early, before cancer has spread outside the ovary, the relative 5-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is a jaw-dropping 90 to 95%.

19.Avoid unnecessary scans

CT scans are a great diagnostic tool, but they deliver much more radiation than x-rays and may be overused, says Barton Kamen, MD, PhD, chief medical officer for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In fact, researchers suggest that one-third of CT scans could be unnecessary. High doses of radiation can trigger leukemia, so make sure scans are not repeated if you see multiple doctors, and ask if another test, such as an ultrasound or MRI, could substitute.

20.Drop 10 pounds.

Being overweight or obese accounts for 20% of all cancer deaths among women and 14% among men, notes the American Cancer Society. (You’re overweight if your body mass index is between 25 and 29.9; you’re obese if it’s 30 or more.) Plus, losing excess pounds reduces the body’s production of female hormones, which may protect against breast cancer, endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancer. Even if you’re not technically overweight, gaining just 10 pounds after the age of 30 increases your risk of developing breast, pancreatic, and cervical, among other cancers.

Source:Everyday cancer

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In a bid to reduce incidence rate of breast cancer in the country, health experts, stakeholders and cancer survivors have reinstated that self examination is key to preventing the scourge, while early detection and prompt treatment is key to surviving breast cancer.

They stated this at a 10 Kilometres walk to mark Care Organisation Public Enlightenment’s (COPE), 20th anniversary and this year’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Lagos.

Addressing hundreds of participants at the well attended walk which kicked off as early as 7:00amSaturday 10th October, from the Arch Bishop Vining Church, GRA , Ikeja, to Maryland and back to Arch Bishop Vining Church, the Chief Executive Officer, COPE, Mrs Ebunola Anozie, lamented the attitude of late presentation and lack of comprehensive cancer centre as major factors affecting survival rates in the country.

Anozie said the aim of the walk was solely to raise awareness about breast cancer as part of efforts to reduce its mortality rate in the country, adding that the disease was curable if presentation is made at the early stage.

Lamenting treatment challenges faced by cancer patients in the country, Anozie appealed to the Federal Government to build a comprehensive cancer centre to aid treatment of patients, stating that this would reduce brain drain as well as stop the mad rush to other countries for treatment.

Also lending his voice, representative of Chapel of Healing Cross, Idi Araba, Dr. Wale Ogundetoun lamented that a lot of people were coming down with cancer contrary to the earlier belief that the disease occur only in people above 50s and 60 years.

He called for a special fund for Nigerians who cannot afford the needed resources for their medical treatment. “The government should improve our healthcare facilities.  There are many who cannot afford treatment and they are lying down in the hospital without hope. With improved healthcare facilities and provision of special funds for those who cannot afford it, more people will survive and the burden will be reduced on families and patients as well as the society in general.”

Also speaking, a cancer survivor who is also the Vice President of COPE, Mrs. Kehinde Gbelee said that there have been a lot of improvement in awareness and treatment better than when she was diagnosed of cancer, adding that there was now chances of surviving cancer in Nigeria.

She encouraged patients to come out and get help before it becomes too late for them.
“To survive cancer, you must keep to your medicine and take your chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as do all that the doctors advised because at the end of every dark tunnel there is always a bright light. “

Another survivor, Mrs.  Funmi Olufumi layo Dada, called on the Federal Government to address the treatment problems in the country. According to her, the continued break down of radiotherapy machines across the country has further stretched the burden on the patients.

“Due to continuous breakdown of radio therapy machines, Patients travel from Lagos to Benin, sometimes from here to Abuja and Kaduna just to get radio therapy or some special medical investigations.

“There is need for government to provide investigative equipment. Treatment is very expensive, some of the treatment like chemotherapy cost as high as N10, million. They should liaise with pharmaceutical companies to bring down the prices of these drugs so that it can be affordable and people can live longer.

Speaking, representative of Skye Bank, Head Corporate Communication Function, Mr. Rasheed Bolarinwa, who said they have supported COPE in the last 10 years, added that the bank decided to adopt breast cancer as their a corporate responsibility due to the devastating effects it has on families psychologically and financially.

Bolarinwa noted that breast cancer was one of the cancers with the highest mortality rates globally, hence the need to support organisations like COPE who have good visions.
Commending COPE on their 20th Anniversary, he urged them to do ore in order to save more lives.