Breast Cancer Awareness

My grandmother had breast cancer and died when my mum finished high school. There's a high risk for both my mum and I but we both take precautions and check our breasts regularly to make sure there are no lumps. So far, so good. Guys can get breast cancer too, so my mum's a little worried for my brother, but I've got a feeling he'll be fine.

As far as I'm aware, breast cancer isn't hereditary for me..Bowel cancer seems to be. Or maybe cancer in general - I don't know. Is there anything that makes cancer specifically pop up in certain places?

Difficult to word what I'm trying to ask, but er..Basically, if a family member of mine died of a cancer like..Bowel cancer, would it increase my chances of getting a different cancer like breast cancer?

I think if anything, women are a lot more health conscious about themselves and are a lot more aware of things like breast cancer checks as compared to men. We're also a lot more willing to talk about it freely as well (as this board shows). Prostate cancer is the 4th most common cancer here in the UK and a general trend says that men will 'wait it out' or ignore symptoms instead of calling up a doctor. The 'wait it out'/ignoring behaviour means by the time it's discovered, most men die from what could've been preventable.

Envy wrote:

As far as I'm aware, breast cancer isn't hereditary for me..Bowel cancer seems to be. Or maybe cancer in general - I don't know. Is there anything that makes cancer specifically pop up in certain places?

Difficult to word what I'm trying to ask, but er..Basically, if a family member of mine died of a cancer like..Bowel cancer, would it increase my chances of getting a different cancer like breast cancer?

I think if anything, women are a lot more health conscious about themselves and are a lot more aware of things like breast cancer checks as compared to men. We're also a lot more willing to talk about it freely as well (as this board shows). Prostate cancer is the 4th most common cancer here in the UK and a general trend says that men will 'wait it out' or ignore symptoms instead of calling up a doctor. The 'wait it out'/ignoring behaviour means by the time it's discovered, most men die from what could've been preventable.

Not really. If that family member had bowel cancer it means you have an increased possibility of getting that cancer, not another type of cancer. Also it's more probable if you're related on a direct line with them them by a secondary line...

I don't really think women are more health concious then men. In my family it's an even mix. My grandmother that suffered from cervical cancer wasn't at all concerned about her health, she was very stubborn and didn't really want to listen to reason (she said she was healthy and didn't want to visit a doctor), while my grandfather is every week visiting his doctor for check-ups (he does this more because he doesn't have anything better to do...) and he doesn't have any problems besides the usual stuff that 80-year-olds have.

black_magnolia wrote:

Not really. If that family member had bowel cancer it means you have an increased possibility of getting that cancer, not another type of cancer. Also it's more probable if you're related on a direct line with them them by a secondary line...

Oh that's good, I presumed that was how chances of cancer worked, but the more deeply I thought about it, the more confused I got.

Hmm...There are a lot of statistics out there regarding health and the opposing genders. I guess it depends which statistic you look at. Some state that women are 4x more likely to go to the doctor's than men. Some also say that men are 4x more likely to commit suicide than women and that women are more likely to suffer from illnesses such as eating disorders.

Upon greater thought, I guess the statistics could even out, depending on what kind of health awareness you're looking for.

Envy wrote:

Hmm...There are a lot of statistics out there regarding health and the opposing genders. I guess it depends which statistic you look at. Some state that women are 4x more likely to go to the doctor's than men. Some also say that men are 4x more likely to commit suicide than women and that women are more likely to suffer from illnesses such as eating disorders.

Upon greater thought, I guess the statistics could even out, depending on what kind of health awareness you're looking for.

Statistics can sometimes also be wrong. I think that people in general should pay more attention to thier health. Doctors aren't gods, they can't fix or cure everything, so it's better to make precautions then be sorry later, with this I mean trying to eat healthy, do some sports, sleep enough and try to avoid stress. I better stop here to avoid going entirely off-topic.

I think I've mentioned earlier in this thread how a friend died very young of breast cancer. You can't forsee to whome it might happen. Trying to live a helathy life isn't really a guarantee that you won't get cancer but it will surely decrease other maladies and keep you in better shape if you do get cancer.

Mm..I had a friend who had to have a lump removed from the part that's just above the breast but near the underarm, if you understand what I mean?

We were only 15 at the time as well, so yes, breast cancer can hit anyone at any age. As far as I'm aware, she's fine now, but I recall her telling me that the doctors feared the lump could've grown into something more devastating had she not had it removed.

My mother always has all sorts of hypothesis as to what causes cancer and what doesn't..Most of the time I choose not to listen to her, because I don't know where she gets the information from and it could just be 'old wives' tales' after all. I recall her telling me not to eat too much burnt stuff because apparently, according to her, eating too much carbon can increase the chances of getting cancer. :blink: