How Your Lifestyle Affects Your Risk

Some risks in life we can choose and some we can’t and this is exactly the same for breast cancer. We can all make positive choices regarding our lifestyles but there are some risks we simply cannot change.

There are several risk factors that can affect breast cancer related to our hormone levels that we cannot always affect. These risks include:

Being a high birthweight

Being tall

Not having children or having your first child after the age of 30

Not breast feeding

Starting your periods earlier than 12 years old

Having a late menopause

Risk factors that we can have control over include:

Not being physically active

Being overweight or obese

Drinking alcohol

Hormonal contraception or HRT

Of course, we can all only do our best and because some of the risks are beyond our control, it is so important to be breast aware and know what’s normal for you. By adopting a regular, monthly routine of self-checking you will become familiar with your body and will notice changes more easily. And lifestyle decisions such as regular exercise, healthy eating and moderate drinking are always a positive step for our holistic health, not just breast cancer. Just get in touch if you’d like to be added to our text service so we can send you a monthly reminder to check your breasts.