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Causes and effects of breast cancer essay
Causes and effects of breast cancer essay
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Breast cancer is cancer that starts in the tissues of the breast. According to Breastcancer.org, in 2013, an estimated 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S.. Breastcancer.org also says that one in eight U.S. women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Women that discover that they have been diagnosed with breast cancer will have to deal with the life altering changes. The effects of breast cancer on women can include long-term effects, how women cope, and large changes to their bodies.
Women can choose whether or not to remove their breast cancer, but it can also change the way they live their lives forever. They will have to endure ongoing treatment that will cause temporary side effects. Most of those side effect will disperse soon after their treatment is over, but some side effects can develop into long-term effects. Long-term effects after breast cancer can be hard for some women to handle. Every woman is different when handling treatment. Some symptoms after treatment that could turn into long-term effects include early or re-occurring menopause, hair loss, pain, fatigue, and sleeping problems, osteoporosis and infertility.
After treatment, a survivor of breast cancer can experience strong menopausal symptoms. The symptoms are usually more intense and painful than the natural feelings of menopause. Menopause can cause hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings, joint pain, weight gain, and loss of sex drive. Menopause usually occurs in older women but having breast cancer can cause menopausal symptoms really early in younger women. These symptoms can become permanent even though they are usually temporary.
Hair loss is very common when a woman with breast canc...
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...par. 10). No woman is alone in the way they are feeling. Women should talk to their families, friends, and professionals on the effects they are feeling. The support women receive can make their cancer a more positive experience.
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Although illness narratives are not novel or new, their prevalence in modern popular literature could be attributed to how these stories can be relatable, empowering, and thought-provoking. Susan Grubar is the writer for the blog “Living with Cancer”, in The New York Times, that communicates her experience with ovarian cancer (2012). In our LIBS 7001 class, Shirley Chuck, Navdeep Dha, Brynn Tomie, and I (2016) discussed various narrative elements of her more recent blog post, “Living with Cancer: A Farewell to Legs” (2016). Although the elements of narration and description (Gracias, 2016) were easily identified by all group members, the most interesting topics revolved around symbolism as well as the overall impression or mood of the post.
Ehrenreich’s essay states that corporations and community members are popularizing the celebration of the “breast cancer sisterhood,” while stemming the drive for the discovery of a cure. This can be used as a persuasive technique, because it permits the reader to feel more secure in the words that they’re reading. Ehrenreich’s anecdote is extraordinarily effective, because it transitions the events of a “normal” day into the horrific new lifestyle associated with cancer. She describes the stop to the doctors as a “.drive by mammogram, one stop in a series of mundane missions.”
Cancer is a deadly disease that millions of people die from a year. Many loved ones are killed with little to no warning affecting families across our world. My family happened to be one that was affected by this atrocious disease. This event changed the way my family members and I viewed cancer.
Over the past decade breast cancer has become one of the most predominant diseases in the United States. Breast cancer starts out as a malignant tumor in the tissues of the breast which is formed from the uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, but it can also appear in men. (Stephan, 2010)
Almost all of us have heard of a scenario such as this one: A woman battling cancer has lost almost all hope of recovery. She has not been able to turn to her family for support for fear of their reactions to her illness. One morning she finally breaks down and tells her husband about the cancer. Instead of being devastated and turning his back on his wife, the husband supports the wife, every step of the way, and she gradually seems to improve.
About 12% of women in the United States will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, more than any other type of cancer (www.breastcancer.org, 2015). Many people lack the knowledge of how breast cancer is developed. Some people think they will not get cancer because they do not smoke cigarettes, but this is not the only cause of cancer developing in the breast. Anyone can get cancer. Everyone is potentially at risk for developing some form of Cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015).
What is breast cancer? According to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health breast cancer is a, “cancer that forms in tissues of the breast" (cancer.gov). More specifically breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows inside the breast tissue. What happens is one cell in the tissue does not get the stop signal and keeps dividing into this big mass. This big mass continues to grow and grow and could eventually taking over space that is meant for other tissue or getting into the blood stream taking the dividing cells elsewhere. Breast cancer normally starts in one of two places.
She’s been struggling everyday of her life for the past 10 years; battling and fighting this horrible disease has made it hard on her and her family. The cancer has now metastasized, making it difficult for her to take care of everyday responsibilities and participate in daily activities. Her 13-year-old daughter is watching as her mother suffers and becomes brittle and weak.
Breast cancer is a disease that is frightening and can be harmful to many people, however as more time passes more is known. The thirty percent decrease in death due to breast cancer is tremendous and it is just a start. By understanding the prevention, treatment, symptoms breast cancer is a disease that can be beat.
Cancer is a disease that affects many different parts of the body and a various number of people. When it comes to women, breast cancer is the leading type of cancer they may encounter. Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that rises up from the cell within the breast. There are a vast number of risk factors, sign and symptoms and treatment that go along with breast cancer.
Breast Cancer is defined as “a group of solid tumor malignancies arising in the tissues of the breast” (Sarah Crawford, Richard Alder, 2013) in human and other mammals. It can happen to both men and women. For women, breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. According to National Cancer Institute, in the United States, the 2014 estimated new cases and deaths of female from breast cancer are 232,670 and 40,000, respectively. For male, it’s 430 deaths out of 2,360 new cases. From these numbers, we can see that women in the U.S. are greatly affected by breast cancer, thus, it’s not difficult to imagine the impact on a worldwide level. Although these numbers look frightening, people can actually survive from breast cancer if it is detected early and treated properly, so it is extremely important for all of us, especially women, to have a better understanding of breast cancer.
Isn’t it overwhelming to consider the fact that approximately one in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer? To make this more comprehensible, the number of deaths caused by cancer is greater than caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Along with the idea that this disease does not have a definite cure is a mind-staggering concept to grasp. If not caught in time, cancer means guaranteed death. These types of thoughts were floating around my head when my mother had told me that my father had mouth cancer.
"I Am Not Cured" Interview by Sarah Moughty. www.PBS.org. PBS, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 20
As defined by Majure, breast cancer is an “uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells” (Majure: 110). It is also one of the cancers that women fear the most. Not only do women get diagnosed with breast cancer, men do too. However, it isn't as bad, or as common, in men as it is in women so doctors don’t recommend screening for men. In the U.S more than one thousand men get affected by breast cancer every year and about two hundred thousand women are affected by breast cancer every year. Women are most likely to get diagnosed with it in their forties and fifties while some may be diagnosed with breast cancer in their twenties, if they started their menstrual cycles at an early age like 14. Typically, men are diagnosed with breast cancer in their sixties or seventies.
...e the cancer and look for the positives in the prognosis and treatment find encouragement for the future. There are various models and theories such as health belief model that are used to explain ones belief on risks and associated risks of a chronic illness and then there are theories such as Crisis theory when dealing with shock when diagnosed with a chronic illness and gate control theory when looking at pain and the psychological issues around dealing with pain. However even with various theories and models trying to explain crisis, pain and compliance to treatment the outcome and understanding and ultimately the way an individual deals with a chronic illness such a breast cancer falls very much down to self-efficacy and the belief the individual holds towards the illness itself the attitude and perception in the outcome of the illness, treatment and beyond.