Pink october.

I'm might be a little late in posting this up as we are now left with 10 more days in the month of October. But as you probably know or not know, October is the official Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM). I wanted to turn my blog pink for the month after i stumbled into PinkForOctober website but I just don't have the time to plus, I can't find a suitable layout for it. Hence the pink post =D

The picture that I've taken does not talk about breast cancer (if can see it T___T, and yes you probably could've guess that I took it from one of my faculty toilet. I was in a rush that's why it is a bit cut-off) though but cervical cancer and breast cancer are some what inter-related to each other. But that is a different chapter to talk about.

Now lets talk breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the leading cancer for female in Malaysia. According to Malaysian Oncological Society, 1 in 19 women in Malaysia is at risk. There's no exact cause of breast cancer. But there are several risk factors for women to get breast cancer. Such as,

• Age over 50 years old.
  
• Family history of breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer.
• Carrier of BRCA I and BRCA II genes.
• Began menstruating at a young age and late menopause.
• History of benign breast lump.
  
• Obesity.
• High fat diet.
• etc.
  

Most women in Malaysia present with a painless lump in the breast. It may grow slowly and change the shape and size of the breast. The lymph nodes in the armpit will also be swollen if affected by the cancer cells.

But the big question is, can it be cure? Well, breast cancer is not exactly a death sentence to some people especially if it is detected earlier. Breast self-examination (BSE) and mammogram helps in early detection. BSE can be done monthly and mammogram is recommended for women above the age of 50 and is advisable every one to two years. This point is especially crucial for those high-risk women (positive family history) where screening can be done at an earlier age (40-49years old). 

Me, myself have two friends whose mother are once diagnosed with breast cancer and was able to ask about their mother's experience confronting the disease. Both medically and emotionally wise. It was a terrifying thing to go through. Watching your love ones struggling for their lives fighting that few thousands vicious cells is extremely painful.

So spread the words, ask your doctor, and touch yourself (I don't mean in a wrong way lah!!) cause prevention is better than cure.  

***this post is just for the purpose of information sharing. Any doubt about the given information please refer to your doctor.