Know The Reason For Spike In Breast Cancer Cases In The Women Of Age between 35-50 years

With breasts being one of the most important parts of a woman’s body, breasts not just make a woman look beautiful but serve other important functions as well. An important part of childbirth, as a mother;s breast milk is the child’s first actual meal, the anatomy of breasts is quite simple even after being home to multiple organs. This sack-like structure attached to a woman’s breast consists of various internal parts such as mammary glands, ducts, sternum and lobules. As a woman’s breast play’s quite an important role in her well being and her newborn’s health, it becomes crucial to look after them and keep them safe. In today's world where breast cancer has become such a prevailing issue amongst the women worldwide, it becomes important to know the root cause of this issue and dig deeper into the reason behind the spike in the breast cancer cases amongst the women between the age group of 35 to 50 years. Let us take a deep dive into this article and learn about the reason behind the spike in breast cancer cases along with things that can help in providing a better treatment with Dr. Ramesh Sarin, Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi.

Lack Of Awareness

According to the reports breast cancer accounts for about 30% of the entire cancer burden. As there is still very little awareness about this topic and women to an extent hesitate in going for a self diagnosis, due to lack of preventive measures almost one out of every 20 women is diagnosed with breast cancer. The number of breast cancer cases have been increasing rapidly due to the lack of awareness and various misconceptions that people have regarding this topic. 

Image Credits- Indian Express

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As not many people are aware about the early diagnosis of breast cancer and the ways in which it can be treated at an early stage, a spike in the number of breast cancer cases has been observed amongst the women between the age of 35 to 50 years of age. 

As women around the globe are not well informed and aware about the issue of breast cancer, most of the women in India do get diagnosed with breast cancer at an advanced stage. As the diagnosis takes place at a later stage, women need to undergo almost all the related treatments modalities of breast cancer that are not just physically but mentally challenging as well. 

Pandemic

In the recent years due the the virus outbreak and the emergence of pandemic, a hesitation to visit hospitals has been incorporated amongst people. Due to this hesitation, many times people refrain going to the hospitals and tend to delay their regular checkups. Due to this many women have ignored the early signs and symptoms of this fatal disease which resulted in delayed diagnosis and late treatment. This reluctant behaviour and the fear of visiting hospitals for a timey diagnosis has added up to the evident spike in the breast cancer cases.

Causes of Breast Cancer

There are various factors that increase a person's chances to get affected by breast cancer and every case is different and unique in its own way. Where some women might suffer from this fatal disease due to family history and faulty genes where others might have developed this condition due to unhealthy lifestyle habits. Where one cannot control the way genetics work but you can surely become an incharge of your own lifestyle habits. As far as these habits are concerned activities such as smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol, oral contraceptives, obesity, lack of physical activities and sedentary lifestyle are some of the factors that can contribute to the emergence of breast cancer.

Image Credits- Your Health

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An early detection via a combination of self diagnosis and clinical tests can help in providing a timely treatment to a breast cancer patient. This timely diagnosis can be helpful in treating this fatal disease at an early stage and minimize the complications. As a timely treatment is provided one does not get physically and mentally challenged to an extent that it may cause issues in the coming future. 

Expert Says

As we have learnt about the various causes of breast cancer and the sudden spike in the number of the disease amongst the women lying in the age bracket of 35 to 50 years, let us take a look at what Dr. Ramesh Sinha has to say about this- Based upon our records from the past three years, we have observed that 50% of women reporting breast cancer and related manifestations have been between the age of 35 to 50 years. With the consultations based in our hospital upon breast cancer, the data has found out that though 53% of the reported cases are in the initial stages of cancer and 47% are in the advanced stages of cancer by a total of 20% in stage 4 and 27% in stage 3 cancer. The survival rate or the rate of cure falls drastically from early stage to advanced stages. In our own series, 90 % of women in stage 1 and 2 survive for more than 10 years while only 30% survive in stage 3 and 5% in stage 4. There is a need to increase the detection up to 70-80% in early stages of cancer by spreading awareness about  the early signs and symptoms of breast cancer amongst women in order to achieve a better rate of cure with proper management of the disease.

With inputs from Dr. Ramesh Sarin, Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi.