As a woman, you must have heard, seen or know someone who has breast cancer and we admit that it can be very scary, but the good news is, hundreds of Nigerian women are survivors. Some women are cured but the majority die because they presented to the hospital with advanced disease. If more women have the right knowledge on breast lumps and cancer, we believe they would present to the hospital with smaller lumps and the chance of cure and surviving the disease is higher.
It is very true that with knowledge comes power, if you are armed with the knowledge of something, then you will know what to do to avoid or conquer it. When you are aware of a problem, you are halfway to solving it, that is why you need to know everything you can concerning breast cancer.
Before then, let’s talk on what cancer is.
What is Cancer?
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer cells are previous normal cells that refuse to follow the body’s normal control mechanism. These cells do not die and instead grow out of control, forming new, abnormal cells. In a layman’s definition, cancer is a type of disease where cells grow out of control, divide and invade other tissues. In a person without cancer, cell division is under control. Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells and one of the most common forms of cancer in women is breast cancer.
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Breast cancer starts when cells in the breast begin to grow out of control. These cells usually form a tumour that can often be seen on an x-ray or felt as a lump. That is why when you feel a lump in your breast whether it is painful or not, you should visit a screening centre to do a check-up. Take a look at the various screening and treatment centres in the locate a facility tab on the oncopadi app
Next time, we would talk about the symptoms of breast cancer.
Do you have a question or need further clarification? Please post it in the comment box or chat with us directly. We would love to hear from you.
Until the next episode. Remember; Knowledge is key to solving problems. Stay healthy always.
Loads of Love
xo xo
Oncopadi cares