Cancer and Women’s and Men’s Health
Breast cancer and prostate cancer are two types of cancer that can be affected by geneticsr and behavior (Kaminska, Ciszewski, Lopacka-Szatan, Miotla & Staroslawska, 2015).
Cancer is a disease that occurs when abnormal cells in the body begin to divide uncontrollably. Cancer can start in one part of the body and spread to another. Cancer can be malignant or benign—that is, potentially fatal or not potentially fatal. Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast begin to divide uncontrollably. The beginning stage of this type of cancer is typically the formation of a tumor that can be felt during a breast examination as a small lump in the breast. An x-ray can also be conducted to see whether there is a tumor in the breast. A malignant tumor in the breast will grow and spread to other parts of the body or invade the surrounding tissue. Breast cancer is mainly a danger to women though in some cases men too have developed breast cancer—but this is very rare.
Breast cancer can start in different parts of the breast for different people; however, most cancer in the breast begins to form in the milk ducts—which is known as ductal cancer (American Cancer Society, 2017). Other times cancer can begin in the glands that produce the milk and this is known as lobular...
These are the most common forms of breast cancer but sometimes cancers begin in breast tissue: these are known as sarcomas and lymphomas and they are not classified as breast cancers because of the type of tissue involved in the cancer formation.
Risk factors for breast cancer are intrinsic (or inherent) and extrinsic. Intrinsic risk factors include: age, race, sex, genetics (familial occurrence). These are viewed as independent variables that are not impacted by one’s life decisions or choices. They are inherent in the person’s body make-up and cannot be altered. Extrinsic factors are those which can be altered by one’s life choices. These include: lifestyle, diet, medical history (whether long-term medical intervention has been a staple of one’s life and what sort of impact it has had on the body), and whether hormonal contraceptives or hormonal replacement therapy has been used (Kaminska et al., 2015). Steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of breast cancer include eating a healthy, all-natural organic diet and avoiding foods that are pre-packaged or manufactured. Lifestyles should include exercise and women should abstain from smoking and/or drug usage. Drug treatment is usually limited to hormonal therapy such as medicines like tamoxifen such as Nolvadex and Soltamoxor.…
