Beyond the pink ribbon

Its not just about pink ribbons, fundraisers and mammograms. We understand the importance of those. We also know there are things we cannot control like our gender at birth, height, and genetics.  But let's talk about actions we can take beyond the pink ribbon. There are a few risk factors for breast cancer that we can control to lower our risk for breast cancer!

This is what we call "Modifiable risk factors".  Lets take a look at what modifiable risk factors are involved in breast cancer 

Factors that can LOWER risk for breast cancer:

• Physical activity - even without weight loss!

• Breast feeding - for every 12 months of breastfeeding, risk can decrease by 4.3%!

• Decreasing obesity (except in younger individuals, higher weight is protective against breast cancer, lower body can increased risk for breast cancer)

Factors than can INCREASE risk for breast cancer:

• Post menopausal obesity

• High insulin levels

• Alcohol use

• Smoking

• Oral contraceptive pills (but improves 2 years after ceasing)

Unproven but some trends to consider:

• Soy/phytoestrogens have mild evidence for preventing beast cancer

• High red meat and low fiber intake can increase breast cancer risk

• There are clusters across the world where breast cancer is increased: North America, New Zealand, Australia, western Europe. Conversely, breast cancer is decreased compared to most countries in SubSaharan Africa, but increasing

Which of the above risk factors are in your control?