HEALTH & WELLNESS
Think Pink
Each October , the world comes together for Breast Cancer Awareness Month . Here we focus on some facts about the disease and provide a few health guidelines to do our part in helping raise awareness .
Text By Sana Panjwani
You hear the statistics every year , but somehow you never believe it will happen to you .
Yet , according to the American Cancer Society , breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women , and makes up 25 per cent of all new diagnoses in women globally .
Due to its vast prevalence worldwide , Breast Cancer Awareness Month has become an annual campaign launched to raise awareness and funds for research in an effort to improve the detection and treatment methods until we can reach a point where there is a ‘ last one to die ’.
It is a scary thought to not be in the know of what is actually taking place in your body , and to have no control over it either . In spite of this , not many of us take the initiative to educate ourselves of this global disease which impacts hundreds of thousands of lives every year .
What is breast cancer ?
A malignant tumour that develops in the breast tissue , this disease has four invasive stages ranging from Stage I to Stage IV , with prognoses becoming poorer as it progresses . There is also Stage 0 which is non-invasive meaning the cancer remains in its original location .
The stage at which a cancer is at is dependent on four main characteristics : the size of the cancer , whether it is invasive or not , if it has travelled to the lymph nodes , and whether it has spread to other parts of the body beyond the breast .
Common signs and symptoms include skin dimpling , presence of a lump , thick skin around the breast , a change in its size and shape , blood discharge , rashes , and swelling in your armpits .
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