Do I have breast cancer?

What you need to know:

  • Though breast lumps cannot be prevented altogether, it is generally advised that a woman should cut the amounts of caffeine and chocolate, take vitamin E, vitamin B complex, limit fat, address obesity and increase fibre in the diet.

Dear doctor, I recently noticed swellings in my right breast. I have not told anybody about it. What treatment can I get?
S. Attractor

Dear Attractor. Naturally, breasts feel bumpy or lumpy especially, before one’s periods due to an increase in female sex hormones that stimulate growth of fibrous tissue and water retention. Cancer of the breast first surfaces as a lump, making women wary of breast lumps.
Breast tissue responds to hormonal changes and, therefore, certain lumps can come and go. However, a thorough breast examination will show what is causing the lumps and hence how they will be treated.
Lumps in a woman are often caused by fibrocystic (hard and water filled) changes, fibro adenomas (solid), and cysts (water filled sacs) or infection.

Treatment of a breast lump depends on the cause. Solid breast lumps are often removed surgically and a biopsy taken. The biopsy is to check whether it is cancerous or not. Cysts can be drained. Breast infections require antibiotics to cure.
Though breast lumps cannot be prevented altogether, it is generally advised that a woman should cut the amounts of caffeine and chocolate, take vitamin E, vitamin B complex, limit fat, address obesity and increase fibre in the diet.