1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Breast Cancer

Risk and Prevention

Know your risk of getting breast cancer. What are the factors you can't control, and what are factors you can control? 10 ways to reduce your risk of breast cancer. How to do your breast self-exam. Reasons to have an annual mammogram, what to expect, and how to prepare.
Sleep and Breast Cancer Risk
Sleep is an important factor in reducing your risk for breast cancer. But healthy sleep may seem elusive. Find out why shift work, too much TV or computer use, and late hours can rob you of sleep and good health. Learn why you should get enough healthy sleep and lower your risk for breast cancer here.
Detoxify Your Environment - How You Can Detoxify Your Persona…
Toxic substances are all around us, and these affect our health -- sometimes raising the risk for cancer. You can take control by detoxifying your personal environment.
12 Ways to Detoxify Your Personal Environment
Invest in your health by detoxifying your personal environment. Here's a dozen easy ways to detoxify your environment and reduce your risk for cancer. Learn how to detoxify your personal environment.
All About Breast Cancer Prevention and Lowering Your Risk of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a deadly disease, and although we have more effective treatments and better early detection technologies, there still is no cure. The causes of breast cancer are still unknown, and there is no guaranteed way to prevent it. But by educating yourself and taking control of some lifestyle factors, you can lower your risk of developing breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Prevention - Lifestyle and Therapeutic Choices
The causes of breast cancer are complex, but certain factors -- lifestyle, hormonal and genetic -- are known to play key roles in breast cancer development and so guide the main breast cancer prevention strategies. Here are some steps you can take yourself, while other steps (generally limited to women at very high risk) may be provided or prescribed through your physician.
How To Do a Breast Self Exam (BSE)
Breast self examination (BSE) is to be performed each month in addition to an annual mammogram or a clinical exam. Knowing your cyclical changes, what is normal for you, and what regular monthly changes in the breast feel like is the best way to keep an eye on your breast health.
Do Your Breast Self-Exam (BSE)
When to do your BSE, how to do it properly, reasons for doing your BSE regularly.
Breast Self Exam For a Healthy Life
Doing your Breast Self Exam is important to do regularly, and make it a lifetime habit, knowing what changes to expect through the normal passages in life. Guard your health by knowing the texture and cyclical changes, as well as changes that come with age.
Breast Lumps Overview
There are four kinds of breast lumps: cysts, fibroadenomas, pseudolumps, and cancer. When you are doing a breast self-exam (BSE) you can feel differences in breast tissue and in lumpiness. Knowing the difference between harmless and harmful lumps is important to your breast health.
Increase Your Own Breast Health Awareness
A simple and effective way to increase your own awareness of your overall health, and especially your breast health, is to keep a health journal or calendar. Bring the health journal with you to medical appointments, so you can answer any question that may come up.
HALO Breast Pap Test – What To Expect
As part of your annual well-woman exam, you may choose to have a HALO Breast Pap Test, to aspirate nipple fluid that will be screened for abnormal cells. This is a screening test, like a Pap Smear for cervical cancer, which does not diagnose breast cancer but helps determine your risk level. A HALO test does not replace a mammogram, but can be used by women 25 years old and older,…
Evista (Raloxifene HCI) Lowers Risk of Invasive Breast Cancer
Evista (raloxifene) is a drug that has been used for treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. The FDA has also approved it for prevention of invasive breast cancer. Evista creates an estrogen blockade, which lowers the incidence of estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. Learn more about Evista - uses, side effects, and benefits.
What’s Your Risk?
What’s Your Risk of breast cancer? Factors that you cannot control, and factors that increase your risk, but are under your control
Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer - Actions You Can Take
Reduce your risk of getting breast cancer by taking these actions - top 10 risk reduction strategies, annual mammogram, ultrasounds, educate yourself.
Breast Cancer Risk Myths and the Facts
Do you believe some of the common misconceptions about the risk of breast cancer? Be ready with the facts, don't be fooled by old urban legends.
Expert Answers to Ten Common Questions About Breast Cancer
To get answers to ten commonly-asked questions about breast cancer, I asked Dr. William Gradishar, an oncologist at Feinberg School Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. He addresses concerns about the possible causes of breast cancer, and gives information about treatment.
Explore Breast Cancer
About.com Special Features

8 Ways to Cut Drug Costs

Learn how to save money on medications with these recommendations. More >

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

Keep yourself, and your family, happy and healthy this fall with these tips. More >

  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Breast Cancer
  4. Risk and Prevention

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.