Healthy Life, Healthy Breasts; How to Help Prevent Breast Cancer

4/20/2021

The connection between a healthy lifestyle and healthy breasts is incredible. Not only can it help prevent breast cancer, but it can also help increase your odds of beating the disease and not letting it come back!

Hello warriors, readers, and faithful friends! Spring is here and the taste of summer is right around the corner. We've all been getting out more and more as it becomes safer to do so and as the weather allows. There is nothing like a beautiful walk through downtown, on the beach, through one of our many state parks, or one of our many historical sites. The Lowcountry offers so much that it's just calling for us to get up and get out right now! It's also an incredible mecca for foodies and all-natural purveyors! You can find every kind of delicious meal prepared at one of our many fine dining locations or buy it fresh out of the ocean and right off the farm. Healthy lifestyle choices can help you enjoy the beautiful Lowcountry life, make you feel amazing, and it can help you prevent breast cancer, help you defeat it, and make sure it never comes back!

Breast cancer is a reality we all face. While some have a genetically higher chance of getting it than others, this silent killer doesn't discriminate. It picks and chooses at will. For those who have had breast cancer and are fighting to make sure it never returns, this battle is a constant worry. While we fight to discover a cure, there are things you can do right now, small changes in your lifestyle, to make whatever battle you might be fighting more successful. It's a tough battle, one that we try to educate everyone we possibly can about. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, affecting more than one and a half million women every year, with more than three million breast cancer survivors in the US alone right now. With numbers like that, it's an overwhelming thought if there is anything we can do to help make a difference in this battle. While there is no cancer-preventing food or specific exercise, a healthy lifestyle and many factors that go along with it correlates with being able to lower your overall risk. Any chances you can take to lower your risk are worth considering and implementing, and we are here to help you with the rest!

Maintaining a Healthy Weight

While one's obesity and its link to breast cancer are not fully understood, according to the Cleveland clinic it's still important for women to maintain a healthy weight to reduce their risk of breast cancer. After menopause, the production of estrogen in fatty tissue can become a huge problem. Women who are above a healthy weight are exposed to more estrogen, which can lead to a higher chance of getting cancer. Obese women also tend to be more advanced in the disease when they are diagnosed, more likely to have cancer spread throughout their system, more likely to die from the disease and have a greater risk of the disease returning once they go into remission. Maintaining a healthy weight can help your fight against cancer, and it helps with optimizing your overall health as well. Also, keep these ideas in mind!

Maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle throughout your entire life and not just when you begin menopause can help you put up a strong and consistent fight throughout your life.
A balanced food intake and consistent physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight.
Portion sizes, choosing healthy snacks and avoiding fried foods, sweets, refined sugars, and fats can help you maintain a healthy diet and weight.

Get Moving, Get Active

Right off the bat, according to the Cleveland Clinic, women who are physically fit are 25% less likely to develop breast cancer compared to women who are not active. Exercise will help boost and strengthen your natural immunity and your immune function which will, in turn, lower your obesity and help you maintain a healthy weight, and it will lower the levels of estrogen and insulin in your body as well. Staying active and exercising can also help you improve your body's bone mass, an issue that many women have when they've gone through endocrine therapy and chemotherapy. These treatments can cause bone fractures and osteoporosis, so maintaining that healthy bone density can help you stay healthy too. During your treatments and recovery, exercise can help with battling your fatigue symptoms, helps deal with stress, and can help you optimize your health over your entire life. According to hopkinsmedicine.org, the ten-year survival rate is much higher in those who exercise compared to those who do not. Also remember that exercise can help improve your mood, flexibility, endurance, and muscle strength. On those harder days during your treatments and after, your body can keep going and keep fighting when you keep exercise and activity in your routine. When it comes to the amount and what type of exercise you need, it's best to speak to your doctor about this and find out what they recommend and what is best for where you are in your journey at that moment.

Eating Well, Drinking Well, Living Well

As we've mentioned before, adding a balanced diet into your life and removing unhealthy processed foods can be a key element in fighting breast cancer. Staying hydrated and drinking plenty of water is very important, along with limiting your alcohol intake. Start paying attention to what is exacting going into your body, read the labels before purchasing, and make smarter choices at the store. Note the calories, serving size, and the number of refined sugars and salts that are in your canned and processed foods. According to hopkinsmedicine.org, research has shown that diets high in fat and calories will lead to an increase in estrogen circulating in the blood, which can lead to breast cancer. Maintaining a healthy diet can also help in reducing the risk of your cancer coming back. A plant-based diet has been linked to helping to prevent cancer, and more women who eat this way tend to live longer than those who don't. Take these diet suggestions to heart:

Enjoy five to eight servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
Whole grains, beans, and lentils should be added to your meals every day.
Choose to eat organic foods when you can.
Increase your fiber intake.
Have at least 2-3 servings of fish every week. Increasing omega 3 fatty acids that are found in salmon and other fish are very beneficial to you. You can also find them in walnuts, soybeans, and pumpkin seeds.
Wash your produce thoroughly to prevent pesticide exposure.
Avoid eating trans fats and processed sugars
Limit your red meat intake

Take Your Vitamins, You Won't Regret It

Vitamin D is one of the most important that a woman needs in her system to keep her healthy. There is a strong link connected to women who have low levels of vitamin D and for those in remission with lower levels of vitamin D to get cancer or for it to return. You can get plenty of vitamin D by getting 20 minutes of sunshine every day, but don't forget your sunscreen! If you're not able to get outside much, make sure to take a doctor-approved supplement to help with your vitamin D levels! Always have your Vitamin D levels checked too, to make sure you're getting enough and if you need to add anything to your system.

Continuing to Stay Healthy

On top of these four fantastic lifestyle changes that can help prevent breast cancer, and fighting against it returning, there are a few other ways to keep up and maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep up your battle.

Limit your alcohol intake to one drink a day.
If you are prescribed endocrine therapies, make sure to take them as you've been told to do.
Even once you've beaten your cancer, that doesn't mean you stop your health screenings! Always continue with regular health screenings.
Reduce stress across every part of your life as much as you can!
Take care of yourself both physically and emotionally.

There are some things about our bodies and our health that are out of our control. However, when it comes to a healthy lifestyle, our health is in our hands and we have the choice and the ability to care for ourselves. As health guru, fitness trainer, and ex-Rockette Amanda Kloots says "exercising is a privilege that we have every day. Getting up and moving our bodies is a gift." Let's celebrate that we are the incredible, powerful unique women that we are and that we can help our bodies fight against cancer with small daily changes and choices. We are here for you along the way, during your fight, and after. If you would like to begin or if you have any questions about our services including family history and genetic testing, survivorship, scar revision, body contouring, facial rejuvenation, laser hair removal, or lactation, please contact us today! Until next time, get up and get moving. You have another day to make healthy choices!

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What Are The Different Kinds of Breast Imaging?

3/31/2021

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We offer many different kinds of breast imaging services at the Breast Place to help determine the health of your breasts anytime you come into our offices. Unsure of what the whole process is and if you'll need to experience one in the future? That is what we will be talking about today!

Welcome back, readers and warriors! We are so happy you have joined us today! With this beautiful spring weather that is starting to stick around here in the Lowcountry, we hope that you've had a chance to get outside and enjoy it! Keep staying safe and protected, and remember that allergy and flu season is still here. Please be conscious of all of your choices to help continue staying happy and safe. Our last blog was dedicated to mammograms and what to expect from the whole experience. Today, we are going to go a bit deeper and focus on the next step, all of the different kinds of breast imaging that are offered and what is offered at the Breast Place.

There are multiple ways to visualize the tissue within the breast and as technology changes, recommendations for screenings change every year. If you require breast imaging services, contact us for a consultation and recommendations for what kind of imaging we believe you need. Like we discussed in our last blog, mammography uses x-rays to look at calcification within the breast tissue. The newest technology is 3D mammography, also known as tomography. This imaging is recommended yearly for preventative health. Screening mammography is typically paid for by insurance under preventative services if the covered person falls within the contracted age range, but only once per year. Diagnostic mammography is used when there is a known problem within the breast. While we don't do mammography on-site, we work with almost all facilities in the area to order, schedule, and follow up on mammograms for our patients! If you would like to learn more about mammograms, please visit our last blog at:
https://www.thebreastplacesc.com/blog/how-to-prepare-for-a-mammogram

Breast Ultrasound

After mammograms, the second type of breast imaging is done by ultrasound. Breast ultrasounds use high-frequency sound waves to see changes in breast tissue like the appearance of cysts. If you are unsure what breast imaging is right for you, contact us to schedule a consultation with a licensed provider for a clinical breast exam, a review of your personal medical history, and a recommendation on what imaging is appropriate for you. Ultrasounds are very safe, they are non-invasive, and they do not use radiation. They can be used to show the composition of the breast and what the blood flow is like in any area that has been the cause of concern in your breast. An ultrasound can help doctors determine what their levels of suspicion should be when it comes to their previous findings and what the ultrasound has discovered.

The whole procedure requires very little preparation on the end of the patient. Please leave any jewelry at home, and we recommend that you wear comfortable clothing for the exam. Just like a mammogram, you will be asked to undress from the waist up and wear a gown for the procedure. During the procedure, a device called a transducer is moved over your breast, and it sends out sound waves that bounce off your breast tissue. These sound waves are at too high of a frequency for you to hear during the exam. The waves that bounce back are picked up by the transducer and create a picture of the inside of your breast. Another device called a Doppler Probe can also be used during this process. This probe will let your doctor hear the sound waves that are sent out through the breast, and they will hear how fast your blood is flowing through the blood vessels in your breasts. Faint sound or no sound at all might mean that you have a blockage in the blood flow through your breast, and could require more tests to find out why this is happening.

Breast MRI

The third type of imaging you might experience is an MRI. An MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging, uses a strong magnet to measure the uptake of activity in areas of the breast tissues to look for abnormalities. A contrast solution is administered to identify abnormal areas within the breast tissue. Breast MRI is a common modality for patients considered high risk. During a breast MRI, the machine will capture multiple images of your breast. Once they are all taken, the images will be combined by a computer to create detailed pictures. An MRI is sometimes used when a woman has already been diagnosed with breast cancer. The MRI will help measure the size of the cancer, will look to see if there are any other tumors in the breast, and will see if there are any other tumors in the other breast. MRI can also be used to screen for cancer. Women who are at high risk for breast cancer will also receive an MRI along with their yearly mammograms for extra protection. An MRI can detect other forms of cancer that can sometimes be missed by a mammogram.

Dense Breasts

Women who have dense breasts have a higher risk for breast cancer. Up to 20% of breast cancers cannot be seen on traditional imaging if you have dense breasts. If you have been told you have dense breast tissue or have a question about the density of your breast tissue, contact us for a consultation for a breast exam and recommendations for screening. Dense breasts themselves have higher amounts of glandular tissue and fibrous connective tissues and relatively low amounts of fatty breast tissue. The only way to show if you have dense breasts is through a mammogram, it cannot be felt in a self-exam or an exam by your doctor. According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly half of all women that are 40 and over that get mammograms have dense breasts. Dense breasts can be inherited but can also be caused by using postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and by having a low body mass index. Having children and as you grow older can cause the density of your breasts to lower. The denser the breast, the harder it is to receive clear readings from a mammogram. This can cause women to be called back in for more tests or screening as mammograms on women with dense breasts can miss cancer, putting them at higher risk. There are four different levels of breast density; almost entirely fatty, scattered areas of fibroglandular density, heterogeneously dense, and extremely dense. Heterogeneously and extremely dense categorized breasts are considered to be dense breasts.

Abnormal Breast Imaging

Women aged 40 and older are recommended to have annual mammograms. "Abnormal mammograms" can have many causes. Patients who have abnormal mammograms should have further evaluation. If you have ever had an abnormal mammogram or are being told your breast imaging is abnormal, it is recommended that your mammogram exam is followed up with a visit to a specialist. Contact us for a consultation with a dedicated breast specialist to include a clinical breast exam, a potential ultrasound in the office, cyst aspiration, biopsies, or breast MRI ordering if indicated. Please remember too, as we mentioned in our last blog, not all abnormal findings on your mammogram mean that you have cancer. It could be a calcium build-up, a benign condition, a cyst, a harmless lump, dense breast tissue, or a non-cancerous tumor! Also, distortions can happen on a mammogram too, causing inaccurate results. This might just mean you have to come back for clearer images to be taken. If you've had an abnormal mammogram you might have further tests done like a diagnostic mammogram, an ultrasound, MRI, or a biopsy. A biopsy is a minimally invasive procedure where a small amount of tissue is removed from the area in question for further tests. There are fine needled biopsies, core needed biopsies, and surgical biopsies. Also note that scar tissues can often appear white on a mammogram, which at first look can be alarming. Please make your doctor aware of any scarring on the breast before your mammogram.

There is more to caring for your breasts than just getting a yearly mammogram or giving yourself a monthly self-breast exam. All of us at the Breast Place want to make sure you know the extent that goes into caring for your breasts at all points in your life and what to expect once you begin getting mammograms. This knowledge can prepare you for the overall experience, what it can feel like, and what your results may or may not lead to. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us or schedule a consultation! We are here for you, warriors! Let's keep fighting together one day at a time!

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Healthy Life, Healthy Breasts; How to Help Prevent Breast Cancer

What Are The Different Kinds of Breast Imaging?

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