Breast Cancer Risk Factors You CAN Change

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Below find a list of breast cancer risk factors you CAN change. These are lifestyle decisions that are within your control. For instance, are you carrying extra body weight? Perhaps you can increase your physical activity and loose some pounds, both of these things will help reduce your risk for breast cancer.

At the Susan G. Komen Foundation website, there is a detailed list of breast cancer risk factors and specific data that shows how much your potential risk for breast cancer increases with each risk. The Susan G. Komen Foundation does not allow other sites to link to any of their web pages except the main home page. We have included the link to the home page below, or you can copy and past the following address in your browser to go to the table:

http://cms.komen.org/Komen/AboutBreastCancer/RiskFactorsPrevention/BreastCancerRiskFactorsTable/index.htm

http://www.komen.org

Childbirth

Women who have not had children, or who have children after the age of 30 are at increased risk of getting breast cancer.

Breast Feeding

Women who do not breast feed are at increased risk of getting breast cancer.

Alcohol

Consumption of 2 or more alcoholic drinks each day increases the risk of breast cancer by about 1 ½ times.

Weight

Obesity is associated with increased risk for breast cancer.

Exercise

Exercising has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends 45 minutes of physical activity at least 5 days a week as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Hormone Replacement Therapy or Post Menopausal Therapy

The use of estrogen and progesterone as part of a combined hormone replacement therapy to help with post-menopausal symptoms has been linked with the increased chance of fatal breast cancer.

Oral Contraceptives

Use of oral contraceptives has been linked to increased risk for breast cancer. However, when women stop using them, within 10 years, the increased risk is no different than that for women who do not take oral birth control.