Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

Lifestyle Relationships
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How common is it?

 I know it's common amongst Whites and Blacks (i think)....How about us Pakistanis, or Asians in general?

The doctor told my Mum that they found something in her breast…with further testing they r saying that it is not growing, but that they will keep checking it every 6 months…they didn’t say if it was or was not cancer, just some form of a lump i think…so they have to keep checking it, to catch the cancer early if it starts to develop.

 I hadn't really heard of many Pakistani women with this disease...Is it hereditary?
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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

no.. its not hereditary.. it occures naturally..

i've lost an aunt cuz of it .. and yeah its kinda uncommon for us..

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

I've read once that if someone in your family had/has cancer, there is a bigger chance you will too.

But a healthy life style reduces the chances of you getting cancer. Eat less fat, excersize more, etc.

And regularly check your breast. I'm sure if you go to some pharmacy in your area or some health centre you can find brochures with information how to check and see if there are any lumps yourself. That way if something really does happen, you are on time and can be treated without any huge concequenses like amputation.

May Allah protect your mother and all women from this horrible disease. Ameen.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

My dads sister (my aunt ) has been fighting breast cancer for the best partof her life now. 20 years, it keeps coming back and she keeps fghting it.

in our family ther eis a high prevelance of cancer - both mama and abus side.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

I have had a lump at the age of 20, but they found out it wasnt cancer. During my operation etc I found out how much tabi it is among pakistanis not to talk about a woman's breast so not many ppl knew where exactly I had the lump...

So maybe there are more women out there having the disease and us not knowing cuz of the tabu thing!

May Allah protect us all from these diseases.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

Sadya, it depends how many people have cancer in the family of that type and also on which side it is. It doesn't count if u have 20 people in your family who'v suffered from cancer but are from both side (mom and dads) of the family.
Then you are generally at a higher risk, but as someone said it also depends on other factors such as diet, environment (pollution) and genetic chances of getting it.
Yes i'v heard that most women in the middle east think it of as nuthing so don't go to see a doctor about it, so if u get any data it probably won't show the correct prevalence in that area.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

My nani's mother died of breast cancer.

My nani died of breast cancer too, she hid the fact that she had it from everyone. The cancer spread spread from her breast into her bones and almost all her major organs, and by the time she died she had skin cancer too that was deforming her skin.

game: guess the guppy
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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

Only have known a couple of Pak ladies that suffered through cancer. One went thru chemo and is now rid of it. The other battled it half her life and then finally passed away.

Ainak Walay Guppies
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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

Well, its definitely more common than we think it is. Plus we "desis" are very lazy about going to doctors and so early prevention may not always be the case. I have few women in my own family who have had breast cancer but luckily it was caught earlier than later.

I have had 2 friends who have had lumps in their breasts and have taken it very lightly. They were not serious about them at all. I think breast cancer can be cured and recovery is exceptional only if caught early and proper diagnosis is made.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

There can be familial predisposition to breast cancer especially when you have first degree relatives already affected. These people tend to do better because they are aware of their familial history so they get check ups.

Most cases are sporadic though. I know of at least 4 aunties who've gone through breast cancer. One of them had a total breast mastectomy, and had reconstructive surgery done. It's prevalent in the west, and less common in the subcontinent BUT that doesn't rule out desis that have been living in the west for decades because obviously environment plays a major role.

October i believe is breast cancer awareness month?

Ladies PLEASE do monthly exams before your ovulation time (midcycle). It doesn't take long.

^^^ 3 Uncles: 3 KahaniyaN ^^^
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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

Things to do to decrease the risk of breast cancer.

Breast feed for 2 years, either breast feed one child for 2 years or 2, 3 so that the total amount spent breasfeeding is 2 yeras.

Studies have shown that women who breast feed for 2 years have lowered risk of breast cancer

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

not uncommon - know 2 close family friends who are suffering from it. God save us all.

khalis Urdu boliyeye?
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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

my sister is battling it, in remission, praying that she stays okay.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

first of all the myth of BREAST CANCER BEING THE WORST KILLA is wrong .. its HEART CHRONICS thats killing ya women and nooo its not hereditary

ummm ALLAH KHER KERE but docz always scheduale check ups if there is anything suspecious going on .. i think second follow up is recomended betweeen 9 weeks to 3 months and then after 6 months and then 9 months and then a year and if docz dont find anything in 12 months then chances are RARE to develop some disease but sometimes disease like HIV takes up whole 9 months to show in results but dont worry .. sab theeeeek ho jai ga na .. even i had lumps on my side neck .. i had loads of tests taken but kuch bhi nai nikla :) just take a goood care n live normal as before.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

We have 2 family friends who had breast cancer. One had chemotherapy but had both breasts removed and eventually succumbed to it and died after the cancer became metastatic. At the terminal stage she was on continuous Morphine and it wasn't a pretty sight. At its latter stages it is a very horrible and humiliating way to die.

The other friend is over 70 and mashallah is still alive today, though the affected breast has been removed. But she is able bodied and healthy.

So it can go either way, just keep doing your regular checks as advised and attend your breast screening appointments every half a year or so.

And as someone mentioned above breast feeding DOES reduce the chances of one aquiring cancer, so keep that in mind.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

One of my mom's friends died last month because the cancer had spreaded so much. Another one also died and I am pretty sure it was because of breast cancer, not so sure though. But this one that died last month had been fighting it for a while but it didn't go away. This is pretty scary stuff. I think all women should get themselves checked up on regular bases. That's something a lot of desi women don't do because it's just a taboo in our culture to talk about breast cancer, cervical cancer etc.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

I know about three or four desi women who had it or have it..in my opinion thats pretty comon.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

So it’s not as uncommon as i thought unfortunately…

   faizy: Sorry about ur Aunt. May she rest in peace, Ameen :flower1:

sadya: Ameen…and i’ve heard that too…actually i’ve heard that cancer skips a generation…so if ur grandma/grandpa had cancer, u have a greater chance of developing it :frowning:

   hiccup: May Allah give ur Aunt the strength to keep fighting, Ameen :flower1:

Chameli420: Ameen…good to hear ur cancer-free, wot was the lump then? So does this mean u can have a non-cancerous lump? I agree with u about the taboo…we shud all spread the word to our mothers, sisters etc., and encourage them to do self-breast exams and get mammograms.

   Ugly Sem: So ur more likely to get a form of cancer if there's a history of it only on *both* sides? I think, it doesn't matter, but yes there r a lot of other factors like enviroment, lifestyle etc.
   
   Mad_Scientist: Sorry about ur Grandma and Great-Grandma...that is very sad...May Allah grant them places in Jannat, Ameen :flower1:
   
   Rukhsarbibi: May she rest in peace, Ameen :flower1:

Diva4U: I agree, desis take a back seat when it comes to their own health…plus, i think a lot of them may need to be educated more about the risks and of course, early detection is the key.

Sehar: Yes i agree, desis in the West need to be more aware that they too r at risk…i think October is breast cancer awareness month.

   amelie: Thank u, i didn't know that.
   
   cat-woman: Ameen :flower1:
   
   50.5 cents: Yes, heart disease is the number one killer of women...thanks for ur input.
   
   Starsky: Sorry about ur family friend, indeed a very horrible way to go...may Allah grant her a place in Jannat, Ameen :flower1:

From these stories, and especially this month…this can be a reminder to all of us to encourage ALL women we know to get screened…may Allah give us all good health, Ameen.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

Shikra: Yea ur rite, and lots of desi women won’t talk about any of their health problems, big or small…which is even sadder…i think any cancer is common amongst asians, so we shud definately get check ups regularly…my Nani died of liver cancer 20 yrs ago and to this day, bcos of how horrible her last few months were, my Mum won’t discuss the details with us…i just pray my Mum’s problem doesn’t grow…sorry about ur Mum’s friends…May they rest in peace, Ameen :flower1:

Tikhi Jalebi: Indeed, it seems that way unfortunately.

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Re: Pakistani Women and Breast Cancer

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer of women and the second most common cancer associated with mortality (right after lung).
the risk factors are age, family history, previous history of breast cancer. some other risk factors are women who have early menarchy, late menopause, no pregnancies or late first pregnancy. basically estrogen is responsible for breast cancer. so anything that increases estrogen (for example long term estrogen therapy) will increase chances of breast cancer.
it is more common in whilte females, but it is still the most common cancer in all woman. so its quiet common in desi women too, specially if u have positive family history. self exam every month and mamogram every year after 45 is the way to go. if u have some family members in ur family that had breast cancer at very early age, then u can get genetic testing for a mutation called BRCA-1 and BRCA-2. but that is very uncommon and people with these mutation get breast ca 100% of the time.