Causes of Breast Cancer

Today, breast cancer is the most common of all cancers in American women.  It causes more deaths in Hispanic women than any other cancer and killed a total of 41,491 women in the United States in 2005.  These numbers won’t go down with around 80,000 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed every year.

There are many different factors that can put a woman at risk for breast cancer. Although women can’t control all of these factors, there are several preventative measures that can be taken to reduce one’s risk. Few of these preventive measures are as follows;

                                  Smoking:

The carcinogens present in the smoke of the cigarette can increase the risk of Breast cancer in women. This relates to both active and passive smoking.  Where active smoking increases the carcinogenic chemicals in the blood directly, those who are exposed to passive smoking are at a much greater risk of getting breast cancer than those that are never exposed to passive smoke inhalation. 

Obesity:

Obese women are at much higher risk of getting breast cancer, as obesity stimulates the estrogen production in the breasts. Thus by making healthy life style changes, avoiding red meat, doing proper exercise like swimming and yoga, one can decrease the risk of estrogen production in the body. 

Working in Night Shift:

One more recently proposed risk for breast cancer is working at night shift or rotating night shift for an extended period of time.  According to research, light exposure at night can suppress the nocturnal production of melatonin, which can cause estrogen to release into the ovaries and increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer.  One study of primarily female hospital employees reported that women who worked a night shift for at least six months were at a greater risk for breast cancer.