Facts About Bras, Breasts and Cancer
* The breast is actually a modified sweat gland; breast milk is a modification of sweat.
* Breasts are constructed of tissue sandwiched between layers of fat that cannot be built up like muscle through exercise.
* The breasts of girls and boys are identical until puberty.
* Uneven breasts are the norm.
* Bras do not keep breasts from sagging, which is caused mostly by age and pregnancy.
* Breasts produce milk 48 to 72 hours after birth.
* Breast-feeding does not prevent cancer.
* Breast texture and tissue change constantly throughout a lifetime; 90% of woman have fibrocystic changes, or bumpiness, in their breasts.
* Noncancerous lumps do not increase the risk for breast cancer.
* Of all the breast biopsies done in this country, 80% of findings are not cancerous.
* Breast pain is rarely a sign of breast cancer.
* By the time breast cancer is detected, it has been there eight to 10 years.
* The greatest risks for getting breast cancer are age and being a woman; the next greatest risk is family history.
* 70% of breast cancer patients have no risk factors.
* The longer a woman menstruates in her lifetime, the higher her risk for breast cancer.
* 23% of women found to have breast cancer are younger than 50.
* After menopause, half of all breast lumps are cancerous; fewer than 10% of pre-menopausal lumps are cancerous.
* One out of every eight women in the United States gets breast cancer.
* Mammograms are more effective in older women because the proportion of fat to tissue increases with age, making breasts less dense.
* This year, breast cancer is expected to strike 1,400 men in the United States; of those, 260 are expected to die of the disease.
Sources: Dr. William Hindle, director, Breast Diagnostic Center, Women’s Hospital, County-USC Medical Center; Dr. Susan Love, adjunct / associate professor of clinical surgery at UCLA; “Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book” (Addison Wesley, 1995); Carol Ann Friedman, RN; American Cancer Society; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
