This article is part ofBreast Cancer and Black Women, a destination in our Health Divide series.
Breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer worldwide, first is lung cancer, and third is colon cancer.With such a high prevalence, can individuals lower their odds of developing it?
Verywell Health: What can people do to reduce their risk of getting breast cancer?
Dr. Paul: The four general principles are: exercise, good nutrition, decreasing stress, and good sleep. By focusing on these things, you’re preventing not only breast cancer but other types of cancer.
Verywell Health: How early in life should someone implement these steps to reduce breast cancer risk?
Dr. Paul: The development of breast cancer takes between 10 and 20 years; it’s not a condition that will develop overnight. Risk reduction should start early in life.
About 90% of breast cancers develop in people above age 45.The majority are in postmenopausal women. But prevention should not start at age 50; prevention should start well before that.
Verywell Health: Do these tips work better for some people than others?
Verywell Health: For people who have genes that put them at an increased risk of breast cancer, do you recommend the same four things?
Dr. Paul: Yes, 100%. Exercise, nutrition, keeping stress at bay, and good sleep matter to everyone, including patients with an increased risk of breast cancer. It may matter for them even more.
Breast Cancer Risk: Disparities That Affect Black Women
7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.World Health Organization.Global cancer burden growing, amidst mounting need for services.American Cancer Society.Diet and physical activity: what’s the cancer connection?Johns Hopkins Medicine.Lack of sleep and cancer: is there a connection?National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.Study adds to debate about mammography in older women.U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breast cancer in young women.National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.BRCA gene changes: cancer risk and genetic testing.Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.Angelina Jolie Pitt reveals she had ovaries removed.
7 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.World Health Organization.Global cancer burden growing, amidst mounting need for services.American Cancer Society.Diet and physical activity: what’s the cancer connection?Johns Hopkins Medicine.Lack of sleep and cancer: is there a connection?National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.Study adds to debate about mammography in older women.U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breast cancer in young women.National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.BRCA gene changes: cancer risk and genetic testing.Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.Angelina Jolie Pitt reveals she had ovaries removed.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
World Health Organization.Global cancer burden growing, amidst mounting need for services.American Cancer Society.Diet and physical activity: what’s the cancer connection?Johns Hopkins Medicine.Lack of sleep and cancer: is there a connection?National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.Study adds to debate about mammography in older women.U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breast cancer in young women.National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.BRCA gene changes: cancer risk and genetic testing.Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.Angelina Jolie Pitt reveals she had ovaries removed.
World Health Organization.Global cancer burden growing, amidst mounting need for services.
American Cancer Society.Diet and physical activity: what’s the cancer connection?
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Lack of sleep and cancer: is there a connection?
National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.Study adds to debate about mammography in older women.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breast cancer in young women.
National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.BRCA gene changes: cancer risk and genetic testing.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.Angelina Jolie Pitt reveals she had ovaries removed.
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