Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Prevention

It's October, and this marks the last trimester of the year; but this month also marks the start of a very important annual campaign, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and through the pink ribbon campaign awareness of the disease has increased. Nowadays, this disease affects about 230,000 women each year in the US. It's necessary to create conscience about this subject since anyone can be affected. Our hope is that by raising Breast Cancer awareness, more women can detect it on time.

Sani Dental Group joins this cause by sharing with you tips about Breast Cancer Prevention. Despite not being dental subject, we believe in the relevance of this information. United we can help to prevent this disease, because all we want is for you to be healthy. So don't forget that prevention is an action of all year, not just this month.

Eat Healthy

Obesity increases the risk of getting breast cancer, particularly in postmenopausal women. That's why it's important to have a balanced diet and constant physical activity. The consuming of natural products like fruits and vegetables over processed foods it's also important. We recommend you to maintain a body-mass index under 25 (you can calculate your BMI here). Your diet is important for you to have a long, healthy life, so eat well and live well.

Smoking and Drinking

The risk of breast cancer is associated with drinking alcohol. There's nothing wrong with alcohol as long as you drink it in low doses. The excessive drinking is what could bring problems to your health, including breast cancer. Women should limit intake to no more than one drink per day.

Regarding smoking, by now you should know that not smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health. But if you're still not clear about it, you should know that smoking can increase the risk of getting breast cancer. Besides, you know what smoking do to your smile, so why don't you keep your teeth beautiful and your body healthy by quitting?

Breast Feed

According to breastcancer.org, breastfeeding can lower the risk of breast cancer, especially if a woman breastfeeds for longer than 1 year. We know that this is a personal decision and depends on the situation of every woman, but you should at least consider the benefits of breastfeeding.

• Making milk 24/7 limits breast cells' ability to misbehave.
• Most women have fewer menstrual cycles when they're breastfeeding (added to the 9 missed periods during pregnancy) resulting in lower estrogen levels.
• Many women tend to eat more nutritious foods and follow healthier lifestyles (limit smoking and alcohol use) while breastfeeding.

The final decision is yours, but we'll always recommend you to take care of your health.

Get Regular Breast Cancer Tests

Even if you follow the previous recommendations, you need to see your doctor to get breast cancer tests. The reason why you need to do this is because breast cancer has no initial symptoms. Regular tests can help you to detect the disease on time to get treatment and stop the cancer of moving forward. There are several tests that you can get:

Mammogram

It's an X-ray of the breast, and it also is the best way to find breast cancer early. The recommendation is to get a mammogram every two years, but you should ask your doctor about it and follow his/her advice.

Clinical Breast Exam

This refers to an examination by a nurse or doctor using his/her hand. They'll look for lumps or any irregularity in your breast.

Self-Exam

Despite the doctor is the expert, you can also have a self-exam. It's when you check your own breast for lumps, changes in size, or any other thing that you've never noticed before.

The key to having a healthy life is prevention, and when we're talking about breast cancer, you cannot take prevention lightly. Sani Dental Group wants to see you healthy, and that's why we share this information with you. We invite you to use this month as an excuse to have a self-exam. You should remember, the awareness of this disease must be with you all year long.

Sani Dental Group will be sharing with you information about breast cancer during this month. Our goal is for you to know about this disease and do what is in your hands to prevent it. As always, we invite you to visit one of our dental clinics in Los Algodones, Mexico. Give us a call and our patient coordinators will give you all the information you need. Because even when the situation looks dark, a beautiful smile can make everything to shine.