Breast Cancer Awareness Month Tip #29 – If your mom or grandmom had breast cancer, you are at risk too

Breast cancer is a dreaded condition that affects both men and women, though women are more at risk. The sad truth is if it runs in your family, you are even more prone. Even if you have relatives with breast cancer, it increases your chances. This is because you may be a carrier of mutated genes that cause cancer. These mutated genes can pass on from the parent to child. This is why around 5-10% of breast cancer cases are inherited from the parent carrying the mutated genes. Even Angelina Jolie opted for a preventive double mastectomy because of her family history, which put her at risk of breast cancer. Read more about it. But the good news is, having a family history does not mean that you cannot recover from the condition. According to a study published in the British Journal of Surgery, women with a family history are likely to recover from it the same way as other women without any history. Click to know more. So if breast cancer runs in your family, you should take a few preventive measures. The first is to get regular check-ups done. Perform a self examination every month to check for any lumps or changes in the breast skin tissue. Since you are a higher risk, it is best to be safe than sorry. If detected early, recovery is much easier. Previous Tip Image source: Shutterstock

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For more articles on breast cancer, visit our breast cancer section. For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. For disease related queries, visit our forum. Reference: Pharoah, P. D., Day, N. E., Duffy, S., Easton, D. F., & Ponder, B. A. (1997). Family history and the risk of breast cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. International Journal of cancer, 71(5), 800-809.