Cancer is a scary disease and it's not surprising how misconceptions can grow into myths with a fair dose of fear. But if you're facing a malady as serious as breast cancer -- or trying to stay healthy in hopes of avoiding it -- you need real information to help make your decisions (like planning changes to your diet, lifestyle or exercise regimen). You'll also want to know which supposed precautions don't hold water when it comes to actual scientific fact. Here, we set the record straight with 10 myths about breast cancer.
1: Breast Cancer is Hereditary
Myth: If breast cancer runs in your family, it automatically means that you’re going to get it too.
Fact: Getting breast cancer is not a certainty, even if you have one of the significant risk factors, like a strong family history or a known breast cancer gene abnormality. For example, of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 inherited genetic abnormality, 40 to 80 percent will develop breast cancer over their lifetime; 20 to 60 percent won't. All other breast cancer risk factors are associated with a much, much lower probability of being diagnosed with breast cancer.
2: Only Mom's Family History Predicts Risk
Myth: Only your mother's family history of breast cancer can affect your risk.
Fact: A history of breast cancer in your mother's or your father's family equally influence your risk. That's because half of your genes come from your mother, half from your father. But a man with a breast cancer gene abnormality is less likely to develop ...
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