Informative Speech On Breast Cancer

The word cancer is probably one of the last words a person wants to hear, right? Whether it is you, a loved one, or even a close friend that has been diagnosed with it, it is one of the last things you want to hear from the doctor. Did you know that cancer is not just one disease? It is a cluster of different diseases that take healthy, normal cells and change them into abnormal cells that have an uncontrollable growth which spreads throughout the body. There are many forms of cancer that we could discuss, but for now we are going to focus on one of the most common and life-threatening cancer in females, breast cancer.

Breast cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the ducts and lobules of the breast, mostly in women. There are different

"These include genetic, hormonal and environmental factors, as well as aging.1” Most people believe that genetic factors are only inherited, but they can also be genes that are altered at any point in time throughout life. The most common genetic factors of breast cancer are acquired throughout life, not inherited from birth. Hormonal factors related to breast cancer are estrogen, progesterone, and other reproductive hormones. Estrogen and progesterone are stimulating hormones that are essential to the development of the breasts, but are unfortunately risk factors of the development of breast cancer. The risk for breast cancer increases for women who have started menstruation at an early age, start menopause at a late age, use postmenopausal hormone therapy, do not have kids, or have kids at a later age. Environmental factors related to breast cancer include sedentary lifestyle, alcohol use, body weight, diet, work, and much more. Research has been done to obtain information on the different rates of breast cancer due to environmental factors throughout the world. “For example, breast cancer rates in Asia and Africa are much lower than are those in North America. Yet, when Asians immigrate to the Unites States, within a couple of generations, the breast cancer rate among their descendants approaches the American rate.1” Although there many environmental factors that relate to breast cancer, it is hard to point out which ones are directly related and how much they affect developing breast cancer. Aging is a huge risk factor for breast cancer, in that, the older women get, the more their body changes and the risk for developing breast cancer increases. “Seventy-five percent of breast cancers occur in women older than age 50.1” Women live longer now than they did in the past, which allows time for the breast cancer to not only develop but be detected. Technology has