Beating Breast Cancer: A Guide to Prevention, Treatment and Recovery

There is still no cure for cancer. Cancer remains to be a terminal disease. Hence we all should try our best to prevent cancer. Cancer can happen in any part of the body. Among men, prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of the disease, while among women breast cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases. Breast cancer is of two types: Invasive and Non-invasive. In noninvasive breast cancer, the cells that line the milk ducts transform to look like cancer cells; other parts are not affected. In the invasive kind is when the breast cancer is malignant and has a chance of affecting the other cells of the body. Invasive cancer is usually of four stages. How can you understand that you may be suffering from breast cancer? If you find the following symptoms, ensure that you go for a test to detect cancer:

1. A different feel in the breast or nipples: If there is a lump in the breast or the skin has become thicker than usual, do go for a cancer test.
2. A transformed look of the breast: If the breast suddenly starts looking different-- whether the breast has shrunken, or suddenly there is a marked asymmetry between the two breasts. Also, if there is a sudden growth in size of any one breast
3. Discharge from the nipple: The most important symptom of breast cancer is a milky or bloody discharge from the nipples.

If these symptoms are noticed immediately, get in touch with the doctor. There are various ways of treating cancer.

 Treatment

Doctors try different methods of treating cancer, depending on what stage of cancer the patient is in. One way is the local therapy, where the rest of the body is not affected and using radiation or surgery, breast cancer is treated. This is the most common way of treating cancer. In more advanced stages, breast cancer is treated with chemotherapy. Hormone therapy is used for women with hormone receptor-positive (ER-positive or PR-positive) invasive breast cancer. Even drugs are prescribed to cure cancer, especially HER2-positive cancers.

Recovery:

Cancer treatment is a very strenuous process. It takes a toll on the body and mind. Hence the family of the patient has to be very supportive. Healing has to happen both physically and mentally. The two ways of recovering are by constantly following up with the doctor so that there are no further complications and by returning to the normal life so that you can easily forget the ordeal you had to go through.

Prevention:

Prevention is always better than cure. With the rising rate of women affected by breast cancer, one must follow a strict regime to prevent breast cancer. Keep examining yourself for any anomaly. Keep a check on your weight and do not indulge in too much alcohol. Also, smoking can be a cause of breast cancer, so keep a check on that. If there is a family history of breast cancer, then it is always better to take a preventive medicine.

One can stop cancer from happening if it is destined. But one must always have the spirit to fight this terminal disease which breaks the mental strength before the physical constitution.