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BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH               12 Popular Breast Cancer Myths Busted

Dr. Manoj Chellani who is an experienced infertility specialist of Ayush ICSI Test Tube Baby Center, Raipur , Chhattisgarh, offers patients a combination of excellent clinical expertise, strong experience and warm personal care , says misconception about the breast cancer often become more painful for the women because of the myths which prevail . Here are some common myths related to breast cancer busted for you.

1. You only get breast cancer if you have a family history. Who don't have a family history, need not to worry about it.

Maximum numbers of women with breast cancer have no family history of the disease. Even if no one in your family has ever been diagnosed, that's no excuse to skip your yearly mammogram. People are usually unaware about the risk associated with breast cancer. Those who eat junk food are at increased risk of having breast cancer.

2. Women think that if they are young then they need not to worry about breast cancer.

Women of any age can be affected by breast cancer . Post-menopausal women are more likely to fall in for the disease, but 25 percent of women with breast cancer are younger than 50. At the age of 40, younger women should have a yearly breast exam by their doctor and begin mammographic screening.  At the same time, you're never too old to get breast cancer. If you feel a lump - at any age - have it checked out.

3. Taking of contraceptive pills increases the risk of breast cancer.

Often women are found avoiding the contraceptive pills as they feel that this will increase their chances for having breast cancer. But truth is that the consumption of contraceptive pills reduces the risk of breast cancer.

4.People hold the view that manual examination of the breast should be done before menstrual cycle.

Ideally the manual examination of breast is done immediately after the menstrual cycle.

5. Female diagnosed with breast cancer think that are going to die.

With latest technologies and much more advanced techniques now-a-days the healthcare experts are able to successfully cure 85-90 percent of such cases. Though the breast cancer that has metastasized, or spread to other parts of the body, poses the greatest challenge. But the women with metastatic breast cancer often live for years with their disease.

6. Any lump identified in the breast is cancerous.

Not every lump found in the breast is cancerous. They could by cysts or a benign condition called fibrocystic changes or fibroadenoma. Lumps could also be pre-cancerous conditions that will need some treatment.

7. After surviving for five years breast cancer won't return.

Breast cancer can recur at any time, although it is more likely to happen within the first five to 10 years. 75 percent of women who will get a recurrence see it within six years, and 25 percent recur in the 10 years after that.

8. People feel that chemotherapy which is used to cure breast cancer will make them nauseated and they will be vomiting all the time.

Chemotherapy does cause nausea and vomiting. But in the last 10 years, new drugs have become available that can almost completely control nausea, and very few people have persistent nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.

9. Instead of taking help from doctors , breast cancer can be treated by herbal remedies and dietary supplements .

No herbal remedy, dietary supplement or alternative therapy has been scientifically proven to treat breast cancer. Further, doctors do not know how these alternative medicines may interact with established medicines - if they cause their own side effects or interfere with the traditional therapy's effectiveness.

10. Taking healthy diet, make immune to breast cancer.

Though diet does play a role in cancer development, but not by itself. No one food or vitamin will prevent breast cancer. At the same time, no one food is responsible for causing cancer. Eat a healthy, balanced diet and strive to get a variety of nutrients.

11. If a breast lump is painful it must not be cancer since cancerous lumps are supposed to be painless.

Generally breast cancers are painless, but pain alone cannot rule out cancer. Some women also believe that a painless lump must not be cancer. Again, not true. There's no correlation between whether the lump is painful and whether it's cancerous. Any lump should be checked by a doctor.

12. If cancer is exposed to air during surgery, it will spread.

Surgery will not cause the cancer to spread. The only thing that will promote cancer spread is a delay in diagnosis and failure to treat the cancer.