Most of us may have come across many statements concerning the breast cancer disease and have been led to believe them to be true. The sad truth about these myths, they may have led to the acquisition and late detection of the breast cancer disease, or may have even led to death. As much as breast cancer mortality has decreased steadily over the recent years, numbers and numbers of women are diagnosed with the disease as the years go by.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that; "In 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685 000 deaths globally. As of the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer." Some of these victims include unsuspecting women who believed in some of the myths surrounding the disease. Let us then take a dive in to correct some of these myths that brings ruin to our women.

Myth #1

Mammograms cause Breast Cancer - There are those who believe that mammography has the tendency to cause cancer or even cause the cancer to spread. This is because of the radiation and compression involved but the truth is, only a small dose of radiation is required to perform mammography and breast compression while getting a mammogram cannot cause cancer to spread. The National Cancer Institute makes it clear; “The benefits of mammography always nearly outweigh the potential harm from the radiation exposure”. It’s advisable to do the mammogram screening annually once a woman hits the age of forty (40).

Myth #2

No family history of Breast Cancer means no Breast Cancer – This is one myth that has given chance for the disease to take many women by surprise. As a matter of fact, most women who have had the disease have no family history and the National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc. records that only about 10% of those diagnosed with Breast Cancer has a family history of the disease. Needless to say, if you have a family history of the disease, you exist in the high-risk category and hence should be regular with screenings and medical consultation. Sometimes, the disease is transferred genetically and great care should be taken when there are more cases of the disease from one side of the family.

Myth #3

Lumps in the breasts mean Breast Cancer – Though lumps in the breasts should not be ignored, not all lumps found in the breasts turn out to be cancer. It is advisable however, to attend clinical examination when the lump is persistent and the abnormal changes in breast tissue are present. In order to be able to identify these lumps and any irregularities, regular self-examination is required and be sure to seek medical consultation as well as attend clinical checks. On the other hand, care should be taken, there are times you may not feel a lump at all, usually when it is starting to develop. Either way, the needful should be done because the earlier the detection, the better. 

Myth #4

A healthy lifestyle means no Breast Cancer, ever! – Well, as much as we would all want this to be true, it isn’t. Breast Cancer risks are reduced with every healthy practice but then, we would recall from our last blog post that, a healthy lifestyle only reduces the risks by a little percentage, please refer here. The biggest risk in breast cancer, is being a woman and growing old, these two factors are all too likely permanent and can’t be curbed. Not to worry, there’s still a lot you can do to avoid complications, please do refer here for information on what to do. This however, does not mean a healthy life is unimportant, healthy lifestyles bring good living and helps to avoid lots of diseases which could potentially bring unfortunate circumstances. Take charge of your life by living healthy and living good.

Myth #5

Breast Cancer detected at an early stage will not recur – Early detection of the disease is great, and early treatment is also a very good thing but that does not mean there is no chance of recurrence of the disease. It is also well believed that the first 2 to 5 years after early detection treatment is the higher risk period for a recurrence and after that is no chance of recurrence of the disease and this is also false. The recurrent disease could appear in the same breast (also known as the Local breast cancer) or chest area (Regional breast cancer) or even in other parts of the body like the lungs, bone, kidney, etc and this is known as the Metastatic or stage IV breast cancer (also known as Distant breast cancer). This myth usually puts a lot of women in this category into an unguarded state and the consequences could be grave should the disease recur unexpectedly.

Myth #6

Younger women are free from Breast Cancer – It was mentioned earlier that the greatest risks to breast cancer are being a woman and growing old, it is a fact. Well, here’s another, women below the age of 40 are also capable of acquiring the disease, not just the usual middle-aged or older women. According to the outcome of a survey carried out in 2017 on invasive breast cancers, 4% of the victims were below the age of 40, 23% were in their 50s and 27% were in their 60s to 69. Though 4% seems less than enough, what it means is out of every 25 invasive breast cancer victims, 1 is below the age of 40, same as out of every 25 million victims, 1 million are below the age of 40 and that’s how big the problem was in 2017. Younger women should be vigilant and be sure to do the needful so as to prevent unforeseen circumstances especially when they began menstruation at an early age.

Myth #7

Breast Cancer is contagious – Breast cancer has never been proven to transfer to other individuals by touch or any other means except sometimes by genes. Cancers are your own cells growing abnormally and that is non-transferrable by physical touch. This means you could still hang around your loved ones and touch them at will but, bare in mind that hygienic practices need to be maintained so as to prevent other diseases which could arise from careless unhygienic practices.

Myth #8

Wearing Bra can cause Breast Cancer – Ladies, please feel free to wear your bra as there are no sustainable evidence to claims that wearing bra causes breast cancer. It is good to give your breasts some airspace, but then the purpose of doing so is not to prevent breast cancers. Most people have this confusion from “No Bra Day” which was instituted to stand in solidarity with women who have had mastectomy (The surgical removal of the breasts partially or completely), and hence have no choice but to go without a bra.

Myth #9

Only women are affected by Breast Cancer – Breast Cancers mostly affects women, but men are never exceptions from this. There are some men who will come to face the hard truth that they have been affected by the disease. In the previous post, the men were given the percentage risks they carry in the breast cancer allocation. As a matter of fact, it is estimated that about 2000 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and about 400 will die and this is no small issue as you don’t know who may be a victim. In men, it is usually detected as a hard lump under the nipple and its surrounding area and many men die from the disease since it’s hardly paid attention to.

Now you know, tell a friend to tell a friend. No need to stay in the dark, let’s all stay informed so we can live well and healthily. You can always engage our doctors here on the Pharstest care app for free and from the comfort of your homes, purchase the drugs you’ll need. Rain or Shine, we dey for you!