Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Lifestyle Medicine Approach

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis in women in the United States. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and an opportunity for education, increased awareness of this disease, and a call to action- how can tools from lifestyle medicine reduce breast cancer risk?

As reported by the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the world’s most prevalent cancer. In 2020 alone, 2.3 million women were diagnosed, and 685 000 died globally.

This study shows that approximately 40% of all incident cancer cases in the United States (and likely the rest of the world) could be prevented through health-related choices such as vaccinations and modifiable lifestyle factors, including body weight, physical activity level, alcohol intake, diet, sun exposure, and tobacco use.
This article highlights the role that lifestyle plays in primary breast cancer prevention, breast cancer treatment, and tertiary breast cancer prevention.
Source: American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine