Five Things You May Not Have Known About Breast Cancer
October has always been very special month to me. Both my Grandpa (29) and Gam (17) were born this month. Health wise, October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My Gam was diagnosed with breast cancer more than 10 years ago along with gastrointestinal cancer a few years after and Alzheimer's seven years ago. It'll be eight months since she's been gone. Her breast cancer began to progress back in January after years of chemotherapy.
Being the only grandchild and her primary caretaker I learned a lot of things that I wouldn't have known unless I saw it first hand. Even after there are still things that I didn't know, especially when it comes to getting checked. Here are five things I found out below.
- Men can get breast cancer. I've heard of this but to actually see the numbers was even more shocking.
- Most with breast cancer didn't inherit the disease.
- Alcohol is linked to breast cancer. It raises certain hormone levels and by damaging DNA in cells.
- Black females are more likely to die from breast cancer. This is due to lack of detection in the early stages and unequal treatment.
- White women are more likely to get breast cancer more than any other race.