Introduction
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women of all ages. That is why it attracts the close attention of doctors considering the problem of the occurrence of this disease. For example, much attention is paid to a woman’s genetic predisposition to cancer. However, if nothing can be done with this factor, then there is always the opportunity to change a lifestyle. The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between various factors, primarily nutrition, with the prognosis, occurrence, and treatment of breast cancer.
Genetics and the Policy Issues
Before choosing the appropriate treatment for any disease, including cancer, a doctor needs to identify it. Many factors trigger the development of cancer, and one of them is genetics. This part cannot be taken into account in any other way than by conducting special tests. These analyses used in clinical practice can identify patients who are at increased risk for breast cancer due to a concentration of certain hormones (Smith & Farrah, 2019). However, the problems of genetics contribute to the identification of this disease, since the essence of the problem requires constant monitoring of the state of the mammary glands to detect cancer at an early stage.
Following this, particular policies are introduced in medical institutions related to screenings and regular examinations of women. Such tests are carried out at specified intervals, allowing to identify the disease as early as possible. At the same time, older women are advised to undergo such tests with an increased frequency, as the risk of breast cancer rises with age (Forman, 2020). Besides, there are special tests directly related to genetics, such as gene expression profiling, which identifies the risk of recurrence after surgery (Smith & Farrah, 2019). Thus, due to a possible genetic predisposition, it is necessary to introduce special measures aimed at continually monitoring the condition of the breasts of women. It is also important to develop tests that study their genetics to detect and prevent the development of cancer in time.
Nutritional Influences for the Cause of Breast Cancer
In addition to genetics, doctors consider many other factors that can contribute to the development of breast cancer. Various hypotheses and studies show that this disease can be caused by a combination of physical and biochemical factors associated with a patient’s lifestyle (Hanselmann & Welter, 2016). Although, at first glance, the relationship between breast cancer and nutrition is not so obvious, studies show that obese people are much more prone to this disease (Forman, 2020). Women over 50 are in particular danger since, for them, the risk of cancer increases significantly.
However, the need to track weight does not arise in late adulthood, but practically from infancy. According to Forman (2020), the rate and the place of weight gain in infancy naturally affect breast development in the future, and at the same time, the possibility of developing benign tumors. Eating fresh vegetables and fruits, i.e., having a varied and balanced diet, slightly reduces the risk of breast cancer (Bakker et al., 2016). Thus, a direct relationship can be noted between human nutrition and the risk of cancer, which manifests itself in a decrease in danger while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet.
Nutritional Assessment and Counseling
To determine how healthy and balanced a person’s nutrition is, it is necessary to evaluate it. This assessment can be carried out from many points of view, such as the relationship with health, prevention, screening, and diagnosis of cancer, as well as the choice of treatment and monitoring its effectiveness. It is worth noting that the presence and amount of carotenoids and vitamin C in the blood can conclusively indicate the number of vegetables and fruits consumed (Bakker et al., 2016). This allows doctors to conduct a kind of screening and diagnostics, since the presence of certain types of carotenes in the blood, namely alpha and beta carotenes, reduces the risk of breast cancer. Thus, after the assessment, it is possible to adjust the human diet, thus preventing the appearance of the disease. It is also possible to change the nutrition as a measure of additional treatment, since eliminating obesity can help avoid a cancer recession, as well as prevent some other diseases. However, unfortunately, it is impossible to get rid of breast cancer by only applying a diet, as this is just an additional measure.
Various methods are used to predict cancer, including those related to human nutrition. One of these methods, namely the prognostic nutritional index, has previously been used only to identify the long-term effects of non-breast related tumors. However, recent studies show that nutritional assessment using this index also works in cases of breast cancer and is a simple but effective marker for predicting possible consequences (Mohri et al., 2016). Moreover, this evaluation does not depend on the stage of the disease and can be used with an equal degree of effectiveness in the presence of a wide variety of tumors.
Prevalence Rates
The prevalence of breast cancer concerning nutrition, for the most part, comes down to comparing the number of obese people with the number of people with cancer. Although obesity is undoubtedly associated with this disease, for a more accurate analysis of the prevalence of cancer and the number of people with a predisposition to it, several other factors must also be considered. Some of them are also related to genetics, but this leaning can also be caused by the nutritional problems of their parents. For example, issues with an overweight mother can negatively affect a baby and serve as a risk factor for developing breast cancer (Forman, 2020). However, the women’s diet at the stage of breast development directly affects the risk of the disease in the future. Therefore, when assessing the prevalence of this disease, it is also necessary to take into account the number of people who already have a risk of developing cancer due to various factors. The same considerations must be taken into account when making predictions regarding the spread of diseases, conducting tests in women, and choosing treatment, as described above in the previous paragraphs.
Conclusion
Thus, a person’s nutrition is directly related to his health, so the better and more varied a person eats, the healthier he or she will be. This factor can be used as an auxiliary during treatment and also be taken as a general recommendation for a healthy lifestyle. However, it must be remembered that one healthy diet is not a guarantee that a woman cannot get breast cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly pass appropriate tests that affect not only nutrition but also, for example, the genetics of women.
References
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Forman, M. R. (2020). Breast cancer and nutrition: A paradigm for prevention in 3D across the life course. Frontiers in Oncology, 10, 129.
Hanselmann R. G., & Welter, C. (2016). Origin of cancer: An information, energy, and matter disease,Frontiers in Cell and Development Biology, 4(121). Web.
Mohri, T., Mohri, Y., Shigemori, T., Takeuchi, K., Itoh, Y., & Kato, T. (2016). Impact of prognostic nutritional index on long-term outcomes in patients with breast cancer.World journal of surgical oncology, 14(1), 170. Web.
Smith, A., & Farrah, K. (2019). Gene expression profiling tests for breast cancer: A rapid qualitative review. Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. Web.