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Having fibrocystic disease increases
your risk of breast cancer.*
Fibrocystic disease is a general term for any benign process
in the breast and does not increase the risk of breast
cancer.1
Coffee increases your of breast cancer.
Coffee was once thought to increase the symptoms of fibrocystic
disease. This was found not to be true and, in rats, coffee
prevents breast cancer.1
Only women with a family history of breast cancer are
at risk.
80% of women who develop breast cancer have no family history,
although women who have a family history of breast cancer
are at increased risk. 1
Mammography is 100% accurate in early breast cancer
detection.
Mammography is a very important tool for detecting breast
cancer early, however, it is not 100% accurate. Any woman
who has a lump and has a normal mammogram still needs
to have it checked out.1
Older women don't have to worry about breast cancer.
The older you are, the higher your risk of breast cancer.
So all women need to worry about breast cancer.1
Women younger under 40 years of age don't get breast
cancer.
Breast cancer can affect women of all ages, although
the risk is lower for women under 40. However, if you
feel a lump in your breast and it persists for more than
one menstrual cycle, you should be agressive in having
it evaluated by your doctor.2
A diagnosis of breast cancer is an emergency.
Most breast cancers have been present for eight to ten
years by the time you can feel a lump, and so there certainly
is time for you to get a second opinion, to read, and
to fully explore the options.1
A mastectomy ensures that the cancer is gone forever.
Mastecomy will remove the breast, however, it will not
guarantee that the cancer will not recur. Eight to ten
percent of women will have a recurrence in the scar after
a mastectomy and there is also the possibility of metastases.
Lumpectomy and radiation are as a good as mastectomy in
preventing breast cancer from returning.1
A breast cancer diagnosis is a death sentence.
We cure most early breast cancer with standard treatments.
Even in women who are not cured of breast cancer, we are
certainly able to add three to five disease-free years
to their lives.1
Only women get breast cancer.
Men are also able to get breast cancer and, in fact, there
are 1400 cases every year of breast cancer in men in this
country.1 [See American
Cancer Society for updated statistics)
Abortion causes breast cancer.
There are no definitive studies linking abortion and
breast cancer.3
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"Now established as the single most authoritative guide
to breast cancer, Dr. Susan Love's book answers all the
questions a woman might have. Breast development, size,
sexual arousal, breast feeding, changes with age, plastic
surgery, infections, breast pain, and lumpy breasts are
covered in this trusted resource, as well as every aspect
of cancer: risk, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation,
and pyschological issues."
-- From the back cover of Dr. Susan Love's Breast
Book
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Footnotes
* Some health professionals do not agree with
Dr. Love on this issue.
1 Love, Susan, with Karen Lindsey. Dr. Susan Love's
Breast Book. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1995.
2 Feminist Majority Foundation Medical Director, 2001.
3 Harris, Jay, MD; Marc Lippman, MD; Monica Morrow, MD;
and C. Kent Osborne, MD. Diseases of the Breast. Philadelphia,
PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000. p 181.
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