It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which means it’s a good time to bring light to the kind of habits that can make you more at risk for this common form of cancer.
There are a number of contributing factors to breast cancer, including genetics, hormones, and lifestyle behaviors.
As far as which one of these you have control over, lifestyle changes is almost certainly the easiest. Here are some change you can make that can help you avoid this fate as much as possible.
- Taking birth control. Okay, this one may be necessary for a lot of women. However, it’s the unfortunate truth that high-dose estrogen birth control pills has been linked to a higher risk of breast cancer in younger women. Low-dose estrogen pills were not associated with this risk.
- Drinking alcohol. For those who drink two to five alcoholic beverages daily, their risk of developing breast cancer skyrockets. Even just having three to six glasses per week increased their risk by 15 percent.
- Working late. This is another one that you may not always be able to help, but working the night shift messes with your circadian clock. Sleep deprivation and exhaustion can raise your risk of breast cancer already, and one study showed that women who worked at least three night shifts per week for six years were at twice as high of a risk for breast cancer as women who worked two or fewer night shifts per week.
- Gaining weight. It’s sad but true—the more weight you put on, the more likely you’re at risk. In fact, the correlation Is pretty direct. Women who went up one pant size every decade between their 20s and 60s increased their breast cancer risk by 33 percent, and those who increased two sizes every decade increased their risk by 77 percent.
So if you want to cut back your risk, this is as good of a place to start as any.
