Breast cancer detection is important, breast cancer: know your body

Naima Sultana is an educated beautiful working woman. She is pregnant, this is her second issue. She has been feeling a small hard lump in her breast for some time. He is also thinking about what this lump actually is but he is not sharing this thought with anyone out of shame. After spending some time like this, that shame turned into fear. However, he did not share the matter with anyone. One day she read a feature on breast cancer in the news paper and shared the matter with her mother. When the mother asked to contact the doctor quickly, when she went to the doctor's chamber with her husband, her pregnancy was going on for four months and the tests revealed that her breast cancer was in the second stage.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Bangladesh. Due to social conservatism, women in Bangladesh do not even want to utter the word breast in public, but even if there are any initial symptoms in the body, they keep them hidden, which is why most of the patients turn to the doctor at the very last stage.

Every year in Bangladesh about 13 thousand women are newly diagnosed with this cancer. About 8 thousand women died. That is, the death rate is very worrying compared to the infected. According to the information of the international organization IARC (The International Agency for Research on Cancer), in 2020 breast cancer was at the top among the cancers detected worldwide. In 2020, more than 2.2 million new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed worldwide and nearly 6,85,000 people died.

There is no national strategy, action plan and program for breast cancer prevention, early detection and cancer screening due to lack of awareness. Cancer screening is a simple and painless procedure that detects hidden cancers in at-risk women even if they don't have symptoms. 90 percent of patients can be cured if breast cancer is diagnosed in the early stage through screening and given full treatment on time.

Public health professor Abu Jamil Faisal said that it is important to make people aware. Try not to get sick. It should start at the school level. In response to our demands, the subject of reproductive health has come up in school textbooks. At the same time, the subject of cancer should also be included in the textbook.

Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, Assistant Professor of Oncology Department. Tushar Das said, not only women but also men can be affected by breast cancer. However, the incidence rate and risk are higher in women. The number of breast cancer patients in Bangladesh is increasing day by day. The exact cause of breast cancer is not yet known in medical science. However, this type of cancer is more likely to occur in specific areas, such as age and gender, with the incidence of breast cancer being higher in women over 50. Genetics or hereditary factors, regular and excessive smoking and drinking. Side effects of body fat, radiation, hormone therapy. Apart from family history, many changes in our lifestyle and diet are also a factor.

However, he added, complete cure is possible if the disease is caught early. The sooner breast cancer is detected, the more successful the treatment will be. Our country now has all stages of breast cancer detection including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, hormone therapy. There are options for surgery and post-surgery breast reconstruction without removing the entire breast. No doubt it is expensive treatment, but those who have financial difficulties can come for treatment in government hospitals. There are very cheap treatments available. In many cases, free chemotherapy is given, thereby reducing the cost of treatment. So, if you feel any kind of lump/wave/wheel in the breast, consult the nearest doctor immediately.

Finally, although women over the age of 50 are more likely to develop breast cancer, the disease can occur at any age. So monitor your body for breast cancer symptoms with regular home remedies. If any of the symptoms persist for a long time (7 to 10 days), be sure to contact your doctor. Raise awareness about breast cancer among your acquaintances.