It is Breast Cancer Awareness month and there is a reason why so many initiatives are being taken across the world by health organizations to spread knowledge about it. A lot of women tend to ignore the signs of breast cancer and are not aware of the concept of mammograms. Even if they do, only a few percentage of women across the world periodically do these tests. Before talking about the symptoms of breast cancer, every women out there should know the common misconceptions surrounding breast cancer.

Read ahead and find out the truth yourself!

Myth 1: Only women with a family history of breast cancer are at risk.
Truth: Although having a family history increases the risk of developing the disease, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will get it. Around 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have a clear family history and they get it despite that.

Myth 2: All breast lumps are cancerous.
Truth: Close to 80% of lumps are benign (non-cancerous), however it is advisable to get a mammogram done every year and get proper medical advice from specialists.

Myth 3: All women across ages have an equal chance of getting breast cancer.
Truth: Your risk of getting the disease actually increases with age. A woman’s chance of being diagnosed is 1 in 233 when she is in her 30s and later increases to 1 in 8 when she hits her 80s.

Myth 4: Small breasts are less likely to be affected compare to larger breasts.
Truth: Breasts are breasts! Size doesn’t matter.

Myth 5: Only lumps are signs of breast cancer.
Truth: Lumps are major indicators of breast cancer however other signs like swelling, pain in the nipples, nipple retraction, peculiar discharge, etc. shouldn’t be ignored.

Myth 6: After mastectomy, you can’t get breast cancer.
Truth: Tumour is basically a permanent damage caused to your cells. Such tumours may develop anytime and even recur from old ones.

Myth 7: Annual Mammograms may result in breast cancer due to harmful radiation.
Truth:  Yes, there is radiation in mammography. But it is imperative to understand that its proportion is very small and does more good than harm by detecting even small carcinogenic lumps.

Myth 8: Men don’t get breast cancer.
Truth: Unfortunately, a few men are prone to this as well. Around 2600 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and about one-fifth of them die from this disease.

References:

http://www.breastcancerdeadlin e2020.org/breast-cancer- information/myths-and-truths/? referrer=https://www.google.co.in/?referrer=http://www.bre astcancerdeadline2020.org/brea st-cancer-information/myths- and-truths/

http://www.breastcancer.org/ri sk/factors/slideshows/myths-fa cts?slide=1