Heather Little-White, Contributor

With October designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the breast cancer comes into sharp focus. Like all other cancers, breast cancer is not something that women and men want to get. In trying to prevent breast cancer, women should dedicate time to learn about the causes and ways to prevent it. Very often, misconceptions about breast cancer cause unnecessary anxiety resulting in fear that prevents successful diagnosis and seeking care.

There are common myths about breast cancer:

1. If breast cancer does not run in the family, you won't get it.

Truth: Every woman runs the risk of breast cancer. A large percentage of women who develop breast cancer have no history of the disease. The daily stress of life is the largest, single risk factor for women.

2. Not all women will get breast cancer.

Truth: All women run the risk of getting breast cancer and should take the necessary precautions to have regular checks for breast cancer.

3. Deodorants and antiperspirants cause breast cancer.

Truth: To date, there is no evidence to suggest that an active ingredient in deodorants and antiperspirants could cause cancer. Antiperspirants reduce perspiration in the underarm but do not prevent sweating in other parts of the body where toxins can be eliminated.

4. Birth control pills cause cancer.

Truth: The manufacture of birth control pills today emphasises the use of low doses of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone. In the past, high-dose contraceptive pills were associated with a small, increased risk.

5. A person at high risk for cancer can do nothing to prevent it.

Truth: There are many ways to reduce the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women. These include lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, no smoking or alcohol consumption and including a balanced diet with lavish amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.

6. If one is diagnosed with cancer, it means death.

Truth: There is evidence that up to 80 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no signs of mestastases (no cancer spreading beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes) and live for a long time. There are effective treatments for cancers and promising breakthroughs are emerging everyday.

7. A monthly breast self-examination is the best way to diagnose breast cancer.

Truth: While it is recommended as a routine process as a preliminary check for irregularities, a high-quality, film-screened mammography is the most reliable way to detect breast cancer.

8. Finding a lump in the breast means breast cancer.

Truth: Many of the of the lumps found in the breast are not benign (cancerous).

9. Breast cancer only affects older women.

Truth: Even though the risk of breast cancer increases with age, breast cancer can develop at any age.

10. Men do not get breast cancer.

Truth: The numbers of men diagnosed with breast cancer is small in comparison with women, but men do get breast cancer. Men are encouraged to give themselves monthly checks and note changes to their doctors.

11. Breastfeeding increases the risk of breast cancer.

Truth: The opposite is true. Breastfeeding may decrease the risk of perimenopausal breast cancer because the hormonal dynamics are different in women who are nursing.

12. If you are cancer-free five years after a diagnosis, you are cured.

Truth: The risk of recurrence of breast cancer is greatest in the first two years after diagnosis. However, breast cancer can and does recur at anytime regardless of how many years have passed since initial diagnosis.