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4 things you must do to reduce your mum’s risk of breast cancer

We know that seeing your mother getting older is not easy. The best you could do is take care of her and try to reduce her risk of any disease, especially breast cancer.
Breast cancer awareness
Save your mother from breast cancer. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Published by Shreya Gupta
Published On: 24 Aug 2020, 03:36 pm IST
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It’s rightly said that life always comes to a full circle. When your parents start ageing, it becomes your responsibility to take care of them just the way they did when you were a child. One of the primary aspects to take care of is their health.

The risk for breast cancer increases with age and most cases are diagnosed after age 50. In fact, every one in three women diagnosed is older than 70! One thing that you must ensure is keeping a tab on your mother’s health to reduce the risk of the disease, along with proper breast cancer awareness interventions. 

These four tips can help her keep breast cancer at bay:

1. Help her maintain her weight
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of cancer. It happens more so after menopause since most of the estrogen comes from fat tissues. The more the fat tissues, the more is the estrogen level. This increases the chance of getting breast cancer.

Also, read: Moderate exercise can help high-risk breast cancer patients heal: Study

If your mother is overweight, chances are her insulin level is also higher. Higher insulin level is also linked with various cancers including breast cancer.

breast cancer awareness
Get that weight in control right now! Image courtesy: GIPHY

2. Limit her time spent sitting
There have been several shreds of evidence that the more people spend time just sitting, the risk of developing cancer increases. In a study by the American Cancer Society, women who spent 6 hours daily sitting had a 10% higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Also, read: Breast cancer is an epidemic. Here’s how you can reduce your risk

3. Avoid any hormonal replacement therapy during menopause
HRT or hormone replacement therapy is often used to control the symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and night sweats. A study published in the journal Lancet studied long-term data on more than lakh women who developed breast cancer after menopause.

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Half of those women had used HRT and the longer they took the medicine, the chances to develop breast cancer increased.

4. Don’t forget regular screening
It’s recommended taking your mother for screening at least once a year. Screenings like mammograms can help detect any abnormalities in the breasts in the very early stages. Thus, make this a habit with your mother!

So, all you have to do is take care of your mom to ensure her health.

About The Author
Shreya Gupta
Shreya Gupta

Finding nirvana in good food, Shreya also loves reading books and is a die-hard Potterhead. Confident and motivated she's fun to be with. Plus food. Always.

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