Women Health: A Lifeline for Breast Cancer

Claiming countless lives every year across the globe, breast cancer poses a major threat to women. With the advancement of technology and treatment options, however, a number of life-saving medical procedures have come into use, bringing in new hope for people suffering from the disease.

Most common woman health issue is breast cancer, having a higher risk of developing the disease. If you’ve had one first-degree female relative (sister, mother, daughter) diagnosed with breast cancer, your risk is doubled.

There are lifestyle choices you can make to keep your risk of developing breast cancer as low it can be:

1. Maintaining A Healthy Weight
2. Exercising Regularly
3. Limiting Alcohol
4. Eating Nutritious Food
5. Never Smoking (Or Quitting If You Do Smoke)

With several options available, the type of treatment depends on the stage of the disease and severity of its symptoms. Thus, it becomes imperative to ask your doctor for a comprehensive treatment plan.

Let’s take a look at some of the most effective and commonly used treatments for breast cancer:

Chemotherapy

An effective treatment based on medicines for weakening and destroying cancer cells in the body, chemotherapy is mainly used for treating early-stage invasive breast cancer and advanced-stage breast cancer.

Radiation therapy

Also known as radiotherapy, radiation therapy uses a special kind of high-energy beam to destroy cancer cells. This treatment is said to be relatively easy to tolerate, with its side effects limited to the affected area.

Hormonal Therapy

Hormonal therapy is used for treating hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers in women. It lowers the amount of oestrogen in the body and restrains its action on the breast cancer cells.

Targeted Therapy

As the name suggests, targeted therapy focuses on specific characteristics of cancer cells, e.g. the protein, which is responsible for the growth of cancer cells in a rapid or unusual manner.

Immunotherapy

A treatment, which uses the power of your body’s immune system for destroying cancer cells, it assists your immune system in battling cancer cells effectively.

Complementary and Holistic Medicine

Medicines are mainly used for alleviating symptoms of the disease and its side-effects. The types of medicines that might prove the most effective treatment depend on the tumour’s hormone receptor status and a few other factors, which need consideration.