DECEMBER 20238EMBRACING PINKTOBER TO FIGHT AGAINST THE BREAST CANCERmidst the hustle-bustle of corporate contemporary life, we women always forget to take care of our health. In the deadly tug of war between work-life and family-life we often neglect and keep aside the well-being factors of health. When a woman becomes a mother, she tends to let go of any symptoms regarding ailing health and always choose the best and work towards providing the best for her children and this negligence might transform her happening happy life to hell.Breast cancer is such a burning example that might ruin your balanced life and unleash all the happiness in a very short period of time. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women worldwide. The earlier it is caught in its tracks, the better with any kind of cancer.What is breast cancer?Breast cancer is a disease that affects millions of women and some men across the world. It is very important to stay aware of all the possible symptoms of this disease and act promptly so over the time, they might make their way to other parts of the body. It is the development of cancerous cells in the breast. The cells grow and eventually start invading the healthy cells in the breast and the cells in the breast grow out of control. It starts in the ducts or lobule of breast which spread outside the breast through blood vessels and lymph vessels.There are two major types of breast cancer. One is Invasive ductal carcinoma, and another one is Invasive lobular carcinoma. In the first one, the cancer cells begin in the ducts and then grow outside the ducts into other parts of the breast tissue. Invasive cancer cells can also spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body. In case of Invasive lobular carcinoma cancer cells begin in the lobules and then spread from the lobules to the breast tissues that are close by and later invasive cells spread to other parts of the body.Facts to know about breast cancer· Breast Cancer affects 1 in every 8 women and 1 in 1000 men.· Women who get their regular breast cancer screening have a 47 percent lower risk of dying.· Every year in the US, approximately 264,000 women get breast cancer, and 42,000 women die out of them.· One woman dies of Breast cancer, in India, every 8 minutes.· One woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, in India, every 4 minutes.· Breast Cancer is the most common cancer among women except for skin cancers.· There are over 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the US.· On an average, in every 2 minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.· Breast cancer rates are 40 percent higher among African American women.· Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among the Latin women in the US.· Breast cancer has ranked number one cancer among Indian females with age adjusted rate as high as 25.8 per 100,000 women and mortality 12.7 per 100,000 women.· The age adjusted incidence rate of carcinoma of the breast was found as high as 41 per 100,000 women for Delhi, followed by Chennai (37.9), Bangalore (34.4) and Thiruvananthapuram District (33.7).Why breast cancer awareness is important?As it is the second leading cause of death among women worldwide, it is very important to know the basic signs and symptoms, and if you find any abnormalities, immediately get checked by a doctor. Older women are more prone to this disease, but that does not mean younger women are fully out of danger. All the women with a family history of having this disease are advised to start screening at 40 yearly, and if they had a family member pass away at the age of 45, for example, they should start testing 10 years earlier, so that it would be 35. So, educating yourself and your family, friends and relatives about the symptoms and consequences of this deadly disease is the best way to be safe from this danger.To trigger the idea of awareness, October is being observed as breast cancer awareness month or it is known as `Pinktober' as pink ribbon is used as the logo of the awareness campaign globally. Kevat is the first initiative in India to create a trained task force to facilitate the cancer patient's journey from entry to the hospital to follow-up. A Mumbai based NGO `The Pink Initiative' is working towards generating awareness about breast cancer. Maina Foundation is an NGO, which is dedicated to providing critical funding for increasing breast cancer ASC COLUMN
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