Prevention is The Best Medicine But is Also More Important For Women Over Forty

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For women the risks of heart disease and strokes goes up after menopause, being a woman and being over forty also increase your risk of breast cancer. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S. and almost 25% of deaths for women in the U.S. are caused by cancer, predominantly breast cancer.

Heart Disease

Many believe men are more susceptible to heart disease when actually 1 out of every 3 women in the U.S. will die from heart disease. In fact, 90% of U.S. women have at least one or more of the risk factors for heart disease.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for African American and white women in the United States. Among American Indian and Alaska Native women, heart disease and cancer cause roughly the same number of deaths each year. For Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander women, heart disease is second only to cancer as a cause of death.

What are the risk factors for heart disease?

High blood pressure, high LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, and smoking are key risks. About half of all people have at least one of these three risk factors.

Other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including

  • Diabetes
  • Having overweight or obesity
  • Eating an unhealthy diet
  • Physical inactivity
  • Drinking too much alcohol

Breast Cancer

Each year there are about 255,000 cases of breast cancer in women and about 2,300 in men. About 42,000 women and 500 men in the U.S. die each year from breast cancer. Black women have a higher rate of death from breast cancer than White women.

Studies have shown that your risk for breast cancer is due to a combination of factors. The main factors that influence your risk include being a woman and getting older. Most breast cancers are found in women who are 50 years old or older.

Some women will get breast cancer even without any other risk factors that they know of. Having a risk factor does not mean you will get the disease, and not all risk factors have the same effect. 

Risk Factors You Cannot Change

  • Getting older. The risk for breast cancer increases with age; most breast cancers are diagnosed after age 50.
  • Genetic mutations. Inherited changes (mutations) to certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. 
  • Early menstrual periods before age 12 and starting menopause after age 55 expose women to hormones longer, raising their risk of getting breast cancer.
  • Having dense breasts. Dense breasts have more connective tissue than fatty tissue, which can sometimes make it hard to see tumors on a mammogram. Women with dense breasts are more likely to get breast cancer.
  • Personal history of breast cancer or certain non-cancerous breast diseases. Women who have had breast cancer are more likely to get breast cancer a second time. Some non-cancerous breast diseases such as atypical hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ are associated with a higher risk of getting breast cancer.
  • Family history of breast or ovarian cancer. A woman’s risk for breast cancer is higher if she has a mother, sister, or daughter (first-degree relative) or multiple family members on either her mother’s or father’s side of the family who have had breast or ovarian cancer. 
  • Women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), which was given to some pregnant women in the United States between 1940 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage, have a higher risk. Women whose mothers took DES while pregnant with them are also at risk.

Risk Factors You Can Change

  • Not being physically active. 
  • Being overweight or obese after menopause. 
  • Taking hormones. Some forms of hormone replacement therapy (those that include both estrogen and progesterone) taken during menopause can raise risk for breast cancer when taken for more than five years. Certain oral contraceptives (birth control pills) also have been found to raise breast cancer risk.
  • Reproductive history. Having the first pregnancy after age 30, not breastfeeding, and never having a full-term pregnancy can raise breast cancer risk.
  • Drinking alcohol. Studies show that a woman’s risk for breast cancer increases with the more alcohol she drinks.

Research suggests that other factors such as smoking, being exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer, and changes in other hormones due to night shift working also may increase breast cancer risk.

Here are some recommendations to help lower your risk:

These can help reduce risk for Heart disease. Stroke and Breast cancer.

  1. Stop smoking –Studies show you can lower your risk of heart disease within only one to two years after you kick the habit.
  2. Lower cholesterol – Cholesterol builds up in your heart and arteries increasing your risk of developing heart disease. Check out this list of 10 heart-healthy foods that can help you lower cholesterol: www.care2.com/greenliving/10-foods-that-help-lower-cholesterol.html
  3. Participate in Exercise regularly. – Studies show as little as 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each day can help lower the risk of heart disease by up to 30 to 40 percent. If you can’t devote 30 minutes straight to exercise, break it up into three 10-minute intervals.
  4. Lose weight, especially around your waistline – Even if you are a normal weight, if you carry excess weight around your midsection, you increase your risk for heart disease because your risk of high cholesterol is greater. Keep a healthy weight.
  5. Don’t drink alcohol, or limit alcoholic drinks.
  6. If you are taking, or have been told to take, hormone replacement therapy
  7. external icon or oral contraceptives (birth control pills), ask your doctor about the risks and find out if it is right for you.
  8. Breastfeed your children, if possible.
  9. If you have a family history of breast cancer or inherited changes in your BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes,talk to your doctor about other ways to lower your risk.

Lifestyle changes such as quit smoking, lose weight if overweight, exercise regularly, reduce alcohol consumption and of course a good nutrition.

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